Plaster falling off walls

Hi all,

Would really appreciate some help...

I've just bought a new house (1930's terrace) and following a full rewire I had all the walls re-skimmed so that they were finished properly after all the chasing etc. (this was done about a week ago).

I went to visit the house this evening to meet the electrician before he begins the 2nd fix of the rewire. When I got there he showed me big patches of the wall on the hallway (upstairs) where the plaster has now come away from the wall and fallen off.

Apparently the plasterers had put two layers of pva on before re-skimming but they had some concerns when doing the work on the hallway that the moisture was being sucked out the plaster very quickly.

Where the plaster has come off, it has taken not just the newly skimmed layer off but also the original layer of plaster leaving the original render exposed.

They have had a go a filling the area where the plaster has come away and have said that they think they can sort it by applying another layer and sanding it all down smooth.

I've added some photos so you can see what I'm talking about.

I'd be really grateful for some advice on what to do next.

I'm a bit concerned that this may continue to happen (I tapped a very dry looking patch of wall while I was over tonight and after applying some pressure the plaster just gave way in that spot (as in one of the photos) - so could be there is more of this to come?

I'm also wondering if adding the mist coat before painting could cause further drying out issues with more plaster coming away?

Should I just fill in all the patches and get someone to re-skim over this - would that work?

I just want to make sure that this is the end of the issue and then get proper finish on the wall I as really don't want a patchwork of filler everywhere unless it is not noticeable.

Any advice would be really appreciated!

Cheers,

J

 

Thanks guys. Great advice.

So maybe a dumb question, but would you leave the walls that look fine alone I.e. where there is no evidence of plaster coming away or major dry patches?

Are there any signs I should look out for on the walls where the plaster is still all intact to assess and confirm its ok (rather than stripping off the plaster from every wall)?

 

KIAB, I've only seen the issue in the hallway and every room in the whole house has been reskimmed at a cost of thousands of pounds, so I'd really like to avoid taking everything off and starting again if at all possible.

I really do understand your point though.

If I got a really decent plasterer in to give a full assessment of the walls could that be worth a shot?

Or maybe I could leave the walls as they are (I.e. Not decorate them for a few more weeks or even longer) and reassess the situation then?

Another problem is that we're moving into the house next weekend

 

Thanks guys