What plaster is on my walls?

[Couperin]

Hey All,

I'm new to this forum and would love to have some advise on whats on our walls in our spare bedroom (soon to be bathroom). I'll try to provide as much information as I can but let me know if there's anymore info you need.

It looks like there's a mixture of plasters on the walls as they're all different colours and as we want to change this room into a bathroom any advice would be amazing.

Looks like some type of sandy render underneath.

Walls = Solid brick no cavity and an external wall.

Thanks very much guys!

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[JohnD]

how old is the house?

what part of the country?

The light-brown, pink or orange is "modern" gypsum. The speckled grey, if fairly soft, is modern gypsum. There might be a harder, smoother skim on the surface, very thin. You might have a sand and cement or a sand/lime render on the original brickwork. Older houses may have a lime plaster which is creamy white, but I can't see any in your pics.

There may also be patches of polyfilla or similar where patches have been done before decorating. They will usually be small and/or thin because it is difficult and expensive to do a large patch.

 

[Couperin]

Hey John D,

The house was built in the 1930's I think. Its pink plaster on the bottom of the wall which ends half way up. The top half is speckled grey as you mentioned which is quite thin. The sandy stuff underneath is quite hard to scrape off.

There's lots of cracks in the grey stuff too. It looks like there is a sandy render then the grey speckled plaster and then the pink plaster on top.

how old is the house?

what part of the country?

The light-brown, pink or orange is "modern" gypsum. The speckled grey, if fairly soft, is modern gypsum. There might be a harder, smoother skim on the surface, very thin. You might have a sand and cement or a sand/lime render on the original brickwork. Older houses may have a lime plaster which is creamy white, but I can't see any in your pics.

There may also be patches of polyfilla or similar where patches have been done before decorating. They will usually be small and/or thin because it is difficult and expensive to do a large patch.

 

[JohnD]

Its pink plaster on the bottom of the wall which ends half way up.

this may have been an attempt to deal with a damp wall, especially if the floor is concrete and it is a kitchen.

Look at the DPC and compare it to ground level outside, or any drains that may have broken or leaked.

 

[Couperin]

Hey JohnD,

The room is on the first floor so not sure it was for DPC. What I'm worried about is mould and damp coming through the walls after we've replastered. Would it be best to go completely back to the brick work and build up from there? What type of plaster should be used if its an external solid wall for a bathroom?

Cheers

Its pink plaster on the bottom of the wall which ends half way up.

this may have been an attempt to deal with a damp wall, especially if the floor is concrete and it is a kitchen.

Look at the DPC and compare it to ground level outside, or any drains that may have broken or leaked.

 

[JohnD]

if it's on the first floor, it is less likely to be damp, unless there is a bad bay window or porch roof outside, or water was getting in from gutters or decayed windowframe. Maybe there is some other reason for the replastering.

 

[Couperin]

Thanks again for replying JohnD.

When I stripped the wall paper back there was a lot of mould so I cleaned it off with Ronseal Mould killer. This made me think why was there mould there in the first place? The wall must have moisture inside it at some point although it doesn't feel wet at all.

if it's on the first floor, it is less likely to be damp, unless there is a bad bay window or porch roof outside, or water was getting in from gutters or decayed windowframe. Maybe there is some other reason for the replastering.

 

[JohnD]

it might have been condensation, especially if someone draped wet washing around.

Look at the outside for potential water penetration. Binoculars will help. Go out on a rainy day and look for spilling gutter. Look for loose, cracked or bubbled render or pointing.