Help with weird cupboard built into plaster?

[SarahJ89]

Not sure if this is plaster...or woodwork...or... so feel free to move me if I'm wrong.

Moved in a few years ago, my bedroom has a strange cupboard built into an alcove. It's always been too shallow for anything other than as a dumping ground.

I've set aside some time to rip it out and put up shelving - I honestly thought it would be a case of unscrewing it all and dismantling bit by bit, and fixing up the wall after, but half of it appears to have been plastered onto the brick - and the rest seems to glued onto that, no obvious screws or joints and it's stuck solid.

The interior walls are thicker and than the actual walls and shoddily plastered and hollow sounding.

I've removed the door and the first shelf no problem, The second shelf, well one side is sat in plaster, the other side sits on a support. Now i'm at a loss.

Any ideas how to get rid of this monster?

 

[Gerrydelasel]

Alcoves are usually norrower at the back than the front, so it was common for joiners to chase shelves into the wall rather than try to cut a perfectly-shaped shelf. How to get it out? Brute force and ignorance! You've already managed to break some off the shelf -I'd keep doing it!

 

[SarahJ89]

I feared that would be the answer... Need to go find my ignorance chisel.

 

[foxhole]

Put a saw cut thru the middle then you should have enough leverage to rip out.

 

[SarahJ89]

Mmm, yeah I did that. The lefthand side is a little looser, but the right side is stuck fast. and sunk about an inch into dodgy plaster or somesuch. Gonna chisel out the whole surround tomorrow and see what's what.

 

[Gerrydelasel]

Mmm, yeah I did that. The lefthand side is a little looser, but the right side is stuck fast. and sunk about an inch into dodgy plaster or somesuch. Gonna chisel out the whole surround tomorrow and see what's what.

If you remove the loose half then you can drive a chisel into the sawn end of the remaining half, splitting it into kindling. The fragments should come out much easier.

 

[SarahJ89]

Mmm, that's what I'm going to do. Just gone and bought myself a shiny new death-chisel. This ugly-ass cupboard isn't gonna know what hits it.

 

[SarahJ89]

Done and Dusty.

Huge pins driven through the wood and into the brickwork were keeping it in place. Now I'm looking at a lot of exposed brick. Which at one end the shelves were actually sitting on. This can't be normal can it? Meh, time to get a plasterer I think.

Thanks for all your help Gerry.

Girl with Chisel 1 : Ugly-ass cupboard 0.