Replacing Lathe & Plaster walls - help!

6 years ago

Hello houzzers,

We are 60% way through our project, which involved a loft conversion, GF extension, full re-wire, re-plumb and renovation of an edwardian house. We hadn't budgeted to replace the existing first floor internal walls, which are lathe & plaster, and the builder has suggested that we should take down these walls and replace them with more modern structures. His concern is that they are not in good condition, and whilst a touch up might be an option, it won't be suitable for the long term.

The first floor plan is attached. How much would you expect to pay to remove and replace these walls? And is this really necessary?

Your advice is appreciated as always!

Thanks.

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Comments (5)

Karen
Original Author
6 years ago
Photos of the first floor bedrooms, if they help (before work started)
Siân Vygus Keast
6 years ago
We recently did this on our renovation of a similar aged property, my dad was the builder so I’d trust that for us it was the best option and not a money making ploy.
The old plaster was in an ok condition although I’m not sure how great it would have looked after the wall paper stripping.
For us the pros and cons where:

Pros:
We could easily hide all the pipes and wiring inside the new walls.
We could also put the plug sockets, light switches, internet ports, were ever we wanted them.
We got a nice clean finish that’ll last and is inline with everything else that’s newly fitted.
We could add insulation between the external walls and new plaster (we used Celotex which have has made a huge difference)
We could shuffle the walls a little bit to make the bathroom and hallway bigger.
Piece of mind, you might uncover something hidden under the old plaster that needs fixing. We found a dividing wall that wasn’t tied in and a crack that needed pinning.
Getting it out the way while the House was a mess anyway.

Cons:
Cost, it wasn’t cheap.
It took a while, it added around 4 weeks onto our project.
It was hard work as we did all the finishing decorating ourselves.
The new plaster will need to be mist coated and painted which is around 4-5coats of paint.
You’ll need to have new skirting, picture rail and architrave fitted (and this also needs painting).
The plaster will crack as it dries out over the first year, so you will need to touch it up. We did this ourselves and it took a weekend.

We intend for the property to be our ‘forever’ home and were doing a complete renovation upstairs and downstairs anyway. So for us it was worth while.

Let me know if you have any more questions.
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My first comment would be that whoever decided the place the Velux window there did not think about this carefully enough and if this is an architect/designer then I would seek a suitable solution from them. I also believe that Minipie's suggestion is the only practical solution available to you , i.e. the rectangular section should be angled down enough so that the line can be achieved in one piece. This will need some messing around with the plasterboard, but it is a simple fix. You will obvious need to do this with the other Velux window so that they match up. As a comment the skill of your plasterers, I would never accept a crooked line on a new ceiling... ever! Granted their solution to the velux window is not their problem, however they should have spoke to you about it and they should have seen this conflict before they started the work. Theirs has been a slapdash approach to your project. There is no excuse for not having a nice crisp line at the joint between the two ceiling sections and I would get them to rectify this. It will require a skim coat of pre-mix plaster and some sanding, however the crisp line can be achieved. Bearing in mind their sloppiness on this joint, have you checked the joints between the walls and ceiling? Again these should be crisp and completely horizontal. If this is not fixed properly then it is going to irritate you for the rest of the time that you spend in this property! Best of luck and do not allow them to compromise your project.
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hi Adam, looking at your photos it would appear that the window company fitted the windows on the old timber bearers that were set for the old windows. this is not great as they could rot of water get under the new windows. I think you need to remove the cover pieces that are around the edge of the window. this will probably dislodge the loose plaster around the head and side of the window. this will allow the new plaster to be carried out and give you a better result. the architrave can be then fixed to the sides on the window in either a plastic finish or a timber finish in keeping with the age of the property. the plasterer will probably use a hard wall plaster and finish with a skim of finishing plaster. hope this helps! best Rowland
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Karen
Original Author
6 years ago
Thanks Sian! we're in a similar position, we're currently not living at the property due to the immense disruption, so if we need it done, now's the perfect time.

Would you have any idea roughly how much the job should cost? We are also doing the decoration ourselves.

Thanks!
Siân Vygus Keast
6 years ago
We did all the stripping of the old walls ourselves, then had a family friend that's a carpenter put up the stud work, before getting a plasterer in.

So it's hard to know exactly what we paid but as a rough estimate I'd say it cost us around £10k the stud & plastering of 4 large bedrooms & 3 small bathrooms. It's worth pointing out that this does including new ceilings (which are 3 metres tall) and the external walls which weren't stud.

Then for replacing the picture rail & skirting (in the same style to what you currently have), we paid around £100 a room.
Karen
Original Author
6 years ago
Thanks for your help. I'm leaning towards replacing them now, as it will be better in the long run .....decisions!

Replacing Lathe & Plaster walls - help!

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Replacing Lathe & Plaster walls - help!

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