Building up depth advice

[andy2306]

Hi all.

Just need some advice on building up the depth to level and what to use.

I have an inglenook fireplace in the kitchen, which is currently artexed inside, most of the fireplace, im just goint to knock the peaks off, bond and skim,

However, this morning i had a closer look and saw that someone had used concrete slates as to build up the depth and they had used too much so the plaseter stood very proud is this area, also there used to be a boiler in the corner, so this left a lip around an inch deep, between the red brick and stone, but this has been carved out at the bottom of the stone. which would need building up, I just pulled on the plaster bonded to the slate to see if it was sturdy and the whole lot came down.

So now im wondering what to do.

1. What should i use to get the levels correct? Bonding or sand/cement

2, will i need to bond the the upright for the fireplace as well before skimming?

3. How long should i wait between each stage.

Ive added a picture, as my explanation is a bit rubbish, please respond asap, I was hoping to get it bonded this afternoon!!

Cheers

Andy

Untitled

• andy2306
• 16 Feb 2009
• 1

 

[Richard C]

I would use a sand/cement render in view of the fact that conventional Gypsum plaster is only good up to 49 degrees C. What’s going into the fire place when finished? As above, you will need to use a specialist plaster if it’s going to be subject to elevated temperatures or it’ll crack & probably fall out.

 

[andy2306]

Hi,

For the time being, there wont be anything going back into the fireplace, it will just be a decrotive feature, eventually, I hope to raise it and hopefully use as a shower, for a shower room, but that is way off, when i get round to doing a kitchen extension. and i'll be tanking and tiling it!

Render it is then, once rendered, can I use multifinish on the render? how long do i need to leave the render to dry out?

Cheers

Andy

 

[Richard C]

Well that sort of changes things a bit; if it’s never going to be used as a fire place & heat is not an issue, you could build up the brick wall with Bonding plaster or even Hardwall instead of using render, it'll be slightly easier to work with. As long as it’s sound, you can build out to the existing plaster & rough fill those other bits so it’s all reasonably flat & then skim the whole lot. Another alternative may be to line it out with dot & dab plasterboard & skim that, it’ll give you nice clean lines & corners.

The base coat has to be set before finishing but should ideally be skimmed before it dries or it’ll suck the life out of your finishing coats before you have a chance to get them on the wall. If you let it dry out, just seal the whole wall 24 hours before skimming to control the suction & then PVA again before skimming.