Chimney breast plasterboard splitting - any advice?

[hindsight]

Hi everyone

The front of the chimney breast in my upstairs bedroom is falling away - I think it's plasterboard which has split. It's only really being held in place by the (woodchip) wallpaper. There seems to be a layer of plaster behind the plasterboard and it is crumbling.

I have attached a few pictures and would appreciate any advice on approaching the job - is it a job for a professional or could an amateur have a go? If it needs a professional, any idea how much it might cost? Money is always a worry.

The chimney is no longer in use, so there is no problem with heat.

Thank you.

 

[roughcaster]

You can't repair it the way it is,, it will be better to take it "all off", (which you could probably do yourself), and start again.
It might have been plasterboard, dot and dabbed onto the original chimney breast. Once it's off, you'll get a much better idea of what's needed to repair it.
Show us a picture of it if you do remove the old board, and we can probably give you some more advice. Be careful too if there are any electrical sockets nearby.

 

[trowelmonkey1]

agree, nop way of making good of this situation, your ONLY choice is to take a hammer and bolster to it and clear it back to brick, you have a number of options then but depends on a few things.

 

[hindsight]

Hi, thanks for your replies.

I agree there's no repairing it as it stands and that it needs stripped down and redone. I'd been holding back from doing that as I'm not very experienced at this kind of thing and I don't want to cause any more damage by accident. But it would be useful to see just how much work is involved. If it's a simple plaster or plasterboard job, I could just about handle it - any more and I really would need professional help.

I'll see about removing the board this week and post again.

 

[1john]

to my eye i would say that isnt plasterboard.

 

[roughcaster]

to my eye i would say that isnt plasterboard.

I would tend to agree with you there John. Looking at the longer shot pic, it looks as though the whole plaster coat has blown from the brick/block. Still the same remedy,, strip it all back to find out, and see what's needed.