Removing old embedded rail and skirting and blown plaster

[Fishwalker]

Hi,

We are decorating a nursery to be and me being particular, I am sick of the lumps and bumps in the walls and the way the dado rails and skirting have become embedded in successive coats of skim plaster over the years (this house is from 1904!). When you paint the lining paper on the walls, you get no clean line above the dado or skirting and it is all uneven.

I had the 'bright' idea of installing tongue and groove (beadboard) under the dado to hide some lumps and so that I could leave the existing skirting in place and over board it with new skirting, meaning I'd have to remove the dado rail so I could raise it's height a little to give a clean line there.

Since levering the dado off the wall adjacent to the hallway, I realised it was a stud wall with very unstable sections in the centre e.g. blown plaster with bits of hair or fibre glass in the crumbly grey. So now I'm left thinking, do we need to get a plasterer to rip down this stud wall (the wall in the hall is still sound) and re-plasterboard it?

If we do, any idea how much it would likely cost ballpark to remove and replace a section of plasterboard of 3m width by 2.4m height + possibly the section above the doorway also on the run?

I'll contact plasterers tomorrow for quotes but my other half is not happy with me uncovering more to do!

Oh I should add, that I know the stud wall is unstable as when you press it, it moves and feels spongy, though this is only on the centre section.

Below are some pic's. Not sure why they are not rotated as they are on my mac.

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[Fishwalker]

Just seeing if anyone has any advice on this post as I never got a reply and is still untouched. I got 3 quotes from plasterers, both wanted £250 - £300 to replace full wall with plasterboard but only if we pulled down the lath and plaster, which has horsehair and original 1904. Have looked online and seen videos of repairs made to patches of blown plaster and I'm talking about a section roughly 50cm x 50cm maybe a little more around dado rail removed. I wonder if it is DIYable but as 26wk pregnant worried about the mess even if we do get someone in. Cant do anything with preparing a nursery meanwhile so its stressing me out. Naturally I wish I hadn't removed the rail but it came off so easily on one side and only revealed the wobbly section in the center!

 

[OwainDIYer]

By 'stud wall' do you mean lath and plaster?

A 50x50cm patch of blown plaster should be DIY patch plasterable if the lath is still solid. If the lath is wobbly I'd fill the hole with squirty foam to within half inch of surface then patch plaster over that.

 

[Fishwalker]

Hi, lath and plaster yes but no brick behind, just wooden studs albeit original 1904. Seems weird but have same wall downstairs too along stairwell.
Skim layer has chipped off in areas along dado rail removed and you can see the laths, which are dusty and crumblely. I would need to remove the heavyly painted lining paper first to assess and then I guess chip and brush away at the damaged bits till I find keyed bits again. The laths are close to the surface but I did think a bit of expanding foam maybe low expanding foam then polyfiller skim, which I've used successfully down the side of the staircase. The wall does move under pressure along damage. I just hope I can repair as its depressing not being able to start on painting nursery.