Boarded and Plastered Wall Gap

the gap is supposed to stop damp rising from the floor up the wall.

 

''I have been left with a rather large aperture''


It should be only a inch gap I always use two bits of half inch plasterboard

 

the gap is supposed to stop damp rising from
the floor up the wall.

What, in the bedrooms?

This gap is left so that the plasterer isn't dragging debris back onto the new plaster. The floor edges will be covered with plaster snots and splashes which will be drying, get those picked up on the trowel and it ruins the new plastering.

 

btw, we always board right to the floor but the plasterer leaves a 50mm gap for the above reason

 

Sorry verycleverman. You're wrong.

You do not leave a gap at the floor to prevent pickup of ****. That is a poor excuse.

If it were the case that you wanted to plaster to the floor, you would allow for it by skimming from an inch up, then skimming 'along' the area to go behind the skirting. No difficulty there for a plasterer who knows what he is doing.


It is[the gap] indeed the reason for preventing rising damp, not just from beneath the floor(in this day and age a damp membrane is always in), but more from spillages.

If you have a spillage and the plaster is at the floor - too late. You can't dry it out. It's behind the skirting.

If the plaster is not at the floor, any spillage may hit the brickwork but can dry out at there is a gap.

Upstairs, where floors are boarded, it is still a good idea to leave a gap, as this separates the plasterwork from the boards and subsequent movement against the plaster.


Mr. HandyAndy - really

 

What, in the bedrooms?

where does it say the wall is in a bedroom?

 

if its a wooden floor i don't use packers

 

Sorry verycleverman. You're wrong.

You do not leave a gap at the floor to prevent pickup
of ****. That is a poor excuse.

If it were the case that you wanted to plaster to the
floor, you would allow for it by skimming from an
inch up, then skimming 'along' the area to go behind
the skirting. No difficulty there for a plasterer who
knows what he is doing.


It is[the gap] indeed the reason for preventing
rising damp, not just from beneath the floor(in this
day and age a damp membrane is always in), but more
from spillages.

If you have a spillage and the plaster is at the
floor - too late. You can't dry it out. It's behind
the skirting.

If the plaster is not at the floor, any spillage may
hit the brickwork but can dry out at there is a gap.

Upstairs, where floors are boarded, it is still a
good idea to leave a gap, as this separates the
plasterwork from the boards and subsequent movement
against the plaster.


Mr. HandyAndy - really

Complete bollix I'm afraid! How often do you spill stuff in your house? Not enough to adopt a special plastering method I'm sure!

Even if you were constantly spilling things, the blocks will soak it up and it's into the plaster in a few seconds anyway, gap or no gap.

Having employed many plasterers over the years, I feel that their reasons are the correct ones. It's to avoid picking up debris onto the trowel.

If you DID want to plaster tight to the floor (some jobs this is required) then it is a much more time consuming job to make a decent flat edge where the wall meets the floor. So if it's not needed (due to skirting being fitted) then why do it?

 

Mr HA and vcm; all the reasons you've both given are valid - damp/spills, easier, debris, expansion movement, etc. etc.

Why don't you two kiss and make up?




(can I watch?)

 

I know the reason why and its for damp traveling up then plastererborad, stupid I know but thats the reason, same goes for damp proofing you cant sand and cement to the floor your required to leave a 1 inch gap

 

Mr HA and vcm; all the reasons you've both given are
valid - damp/spills, easier, debris, expansion
movement, etc. etc.

Why don't you two kiss and make up?




(can I watch?)




Shan't.




Mr verycleverman, your reasons are poppycock. They may well be valid reasons for achieving what you want(an easy job, not too much faffing around), but they are not the reasons that for many, many years the plaster and plasterboards more recently are/is left off the floor.

Being in the trade, you of all people will know the effects of water on the 3 substances in question(plaster/board and render).But don't forget brick.

You will know exactly what will happen when you flick a wet brush at plaster. You will know exactly what will happen when you do the same to board, and render.

It soaks in almost before it hits. Yes ?


Not so for bricks, and even less so for engineering bricks(which are more likely to be seen at floor level).

So a bit of spillage or rising damp will take a long time to travel up the bricks and will have a chance to dry out before it does, but as I said before, with plaster, too late.

The inch gap gives you that breathing space.


I shouldn't be telling you this really. You should know it.

Mr. HandyAndy - really

 

You will know exactly what will happen when you flick
> a wet brush at plaster. You will know exactly what
will happen when you do the same to board, and
render.

It soaks in almost before it hits. Yes ?

Where is all this water coming from? Do you live under a waterfall?


> Not so for bricks, and even less so for engineering
bricks(which are more likely to be seen at floor
level).


Engineering bricks? Show me any house with engineering bricks at dpc level? Externally the face bricks are used, internally flettons or regrade facing are used. Engineering bricks are a speciality brick, used only on rare occasions in house building (We never use them)

> So a bit of spillage or rising damp will take a long
time to travel up the bricks and will have a chance
to dry out before it does, but as I said before, with
plaster, too late.

The inch gap gives you that breathing space.

Once again you're obsessed with this spillage thing! Are you a very clumsy person who's constantly dropping buckets of water everywhere? And what's this 'rising damp' thing? Rising damp is extremely rare and has been completely designed out of modern construction. Floor screeds are completely dry and have carpet on them but you reckon a plasterboard edge sitting on it will become saturated! But what about upstairs walls - do they suffer from rising damp? No of course not, neither do ground floor walls in properly built homes.

If rising damp was a problem then that 1" gap to the plaster would mean nothing, problem properties with rising damp have to be replastered <u>39"</u> up from the floor!



> I shouldn't be telling you this really. You should
know it.

Yes, I do, that's why I'm a house builder and you're just a handyman.

 

The alternative of
hairy a*d builders kissing each other or worse
doesn't bear thinking about!

you never know, maybe some builders get their ar*e waxed! ....

 

> Many thanks to you all.

To settle the matter, I've decided to leave a reduced
gap! How's that for diplomacy. The alternative of
hairy a*d builders kissing each other or worse
doesn't bear thinking about!

I've also learned something - I think!

Lol! But whatever method you adopt, be sure to have a mop at the ready in case of spillage.............;-)

 

Verycleverman, you are living in a blinkered and careless world.

1 (one, uno, un/une, ein, und) spillage is enough to ruin the plaster. It immediatly soaks in at the bottom. You never mop it up because it's under the skirting and rising up the plaster before you've picked the bucket up.


"Houses with rising damp have 39" of plaster removed and replaced"


Yes, but you don't remove all the brickwork/blockwork too, do you ? Wonder why.


It's because the plaster(and it's bond) has suffered, not the bricks.


If you'd left an inch+ gap, that bucketful of water would have caused one problem. Soggy skirting. Now skirting is not a big job to sort out.

Removal and replacement of plaster/plasterboard IS.


Sounds like a GOOD argument for leaving a gap to me.

NOT 'to stop me workers picking up the **** from the floor'





Mr. HandyAndy - really

 

on a timber frame building you need a bit of a gap around your bottom in case you suffer from shrinkage

 

Ooooo'er!!!!Missus.


Mr. HandyAndy - really

 

10 years later, I wonder if Mr.A finally found out about the dpc