Should a decorator be able / willing to remove a picture rail and make good?

silvercar

1930s house with a wide (9cm) picture rail with attached architrave below it. I guess it was designed for displaying plates rather than hanging pictures.

It needs removing as part of a revamp of the room. I’m having some fitted units built and so it is in the way of the units. The designer has got a quote from a plasterer for its removal and make good, plasterers are difficult to find in my area, so the price is high, I’m wondering if this is something that a competent decorator should be able to do.

I don’t know how it’s attached, or I might attempt the removal myself, to save some of the cost.

Keep_pedalling

If it’s anything like the 1930s house I moved out of last year it will be nailed in place, and  chunks of plaster will come away with the nails. Not large enough to require a plaster I filled the holes myself when I removed some. 

DullGreyGuy

If it's going behind a cabinet do you care if they make good? Presumably you just removing it where it will go behind the new cabinetry rather than remove it all?

Its one of those things that doesnt really fit to any particular trade so a range of people can potentially do it but its also a small job so many won't be interested in travelling to you etc for a small sum. 

35har1old

DullGreyGuy said:

If it's going behind a cabinet do you care if they make good? Presumably you just removing it where it will go behind the new cabinetry rather than remove it all?

Its one of those things that doesnt really fit to any particular trade so a range of people can potentially do it but its also a small job so many won't be interested in travelling to you etc for a small sum. 

I think OP is removing all of the picture rail not just at the units.
Even if he was only removing at the units likely would run into having to fit to it on the side wall

WIAWSNB

If the room has ever been reskimmed, then good chance the main walls will be at a slightly higher level that the strip above the rail. That would make it more tricky to blend once removed.
But, yes, a half decent PD should be able to make good any damage from it's removal. It's just normal hole-filling.
Get two or more recommended PDs around to view and quote, and listen to what they say. Ideally they'll have done something similar before, so should be able to relate the pros and cons.
Obviously don't bother making good where the units will go. And, are you certain you want to remove the rest? 
Any chance of a photo, both wide and close up?

silvercar

WIAWSNB said:

If the room has ever been reskimmed, then good chance the main walls will be at a slightly higher level that the strip above the rail. That would make it more tricky to blend once removed.
But, yes, a half decent PD should be able to make good any damage from it's removal. It's just normal hole-filling.
Get two or more recommended PDs around to view and quote, and listen to what they say. Ideally they'll have done something similar before, so should be able to relate the pros and cons.
Obviously don't bother making good where the units will go. And, are you certain you want to remove the rest? 
Any chance of a photo, both wide and close up?

We think it has been reskimmed. The room is narrower below the rail than above, using the laser measuring gadget.

It’s going to look odd if we don’t remove the rest. I may have been tempted if it was a shallow picture rail, but this is deep.

silvercar

Caveat - the main wall has been painted an off white - it’s not dirt! I can see that above the rail is some wall paper/ finish that is also on the ceiling.

WIAWSNB

silvercar said:

Caveat - the main wall has been painted an off white - it’s not dirt! I can see that above the rail is some wall paper/ finish that is also on the ceiling.

That's an unexpectedly large difference in wall thickness - no idea why.

As for the moulding - are you sure they aren't made up of two separate rails? The lower moulding looks very similar to conventional 'picture rail' from the '30's.

Albermarle

WIAWSNB said:

silvercar said:

Caveat - the main wall has been painted an off white - it’s not dirt! I can see that above the rail is some wall paper/ finish that is also on the ceiling.

That's an unexpectedly large difference in wall thickness - no idea why.

As for the moulding - are you sure they aren't made up of two separate rails? The lower moulding looks very similar to conventional 'picture rail' from the '30's.

That is what I was thinking, the bottom one looks just like the picture rails that remain in our late '20's house.

Section62

The main reason for using two pieces (if it is) would be that the overall moulding is large and would need a large section of timber, much of which would be cut away or be waste.  The amount to be removed by moulding plane (or spindle moulder) could be reduced by making two plunge cuts first (by saw) to remove  a rectangular or square section from one of the corners, but you'd still need to start with the large section of timber and deal with the potential issues of warp and twist.

Designs for mouldings were fairly formulaic - there were pattern books showing the different styles. So it is easy to see an element in one moulding which looks near identical to another.

ic

If its original plaster, be prepared for swathes to fall away.  Try tapping on the wall above and below the picture rail, if it sounds hollow, the plaster there is likely no longer attached to the wall, and instead is only held be the adjacent plaster surrounding it.  I replaced window boards recently, and just removing them caused all the plaster below to just fall away.  Luckily I was having the room replastered anyway, so I just boarded those areas ready for the plaster.