Removing plaster coving

newnhak

Hi

I have some decorative coving in my bedroom that I want to remove. Is there a way of removing it without damaging the walls and ceiling?

Thanks

Karen

phill99

Do you know what it is made from?

aliasojo

A wallpaper scraper will do the job if slid in between ceiling/coving edge and wall/coving edge. When I say slid....I really mean whacked with a hammer...but gently, lol.

I've just done the same last week. Coving came off in one piece with no damage to wall or ceiling. I was left with lumps of hard adhesive on the wall and ceiling which I had to then chip / sand off.

newnhak

Ok I will try a bit like that and see what happens.

And as to what it is made of - It seems like plaster (I think) - it is very heavy and very ornate with loads of flowers on it.

K

newnhak

I have been told it is made from fibrous plaster. Will it still come off ok as described above or is it going to damage my ceiling as in that case I will leave it up until I can afford to have the ceiling replastered.

jason_s_2

Run a sharp stanley blade along the joins a few times 1st, then get a sharp scrapper and scrape the remaining adhesive off the wall.

owls

if it is made from fiberous plaster then you will not remove as previously described.
this is because it will have been run in situ at the same time as the original ceiling was put up to the old lats,so the cornice as it is called will have gone up before the rest of the ceiling and then plastered up to it,it was done by this method because of the sheer weight of the cornice.

cove and cornice are two different things and from your desrcription it sounds as though it is fibrous plastering ie made from casting plaster.

so to answer your question it will damage your ceiling and leave a hole around the perimeter of your ceiling.

newnhak

Hi Owls

Thanks for the info but the coving/cornice is not an original feature of the house - it has definitely been put up in the last 20 years. I am not sure if the ceiling was replaced at the same time or it is still the original ceiling.

K

owls

bit difficult to say with out seeing it first hand,but as previously said if it is cove it can easly be removed with out much distruption.

if it is a decrotive cornice it may be more of a challenge as it would have needed a good fixing, if they have fit it correctly to support the weight of the cornice, but again with out seeing it im just guessing.worst case senario if it is a modern ceiling ie around 20 years ago i would have thought it would have been boarded and then plastered and then it put up, so you might have a few holes left once pulled down to fill.

Madahlia

Hi,

Thanks for the useful tips, my partner's home has loads of this type of coving (it's a 70s semi!!) and it would be nice to get rid of it cheaply.

It also has a decorative plaster niche in one corner, which I think is a monstrous carbuncle. Does anyone know how this will be fixed to the wall and how easy it would be to remove? I was hoping it could be eased away without leaving a terrible scar. Also, would it be in sufficiently good condition to sell on Ebay afterwards?