thought it would be easy to replace a faceplace for a plug socket....but when taking the old one off, most of the surrounding paint/plaster has come away. now im left with a sandy/crumbly area around the back box.
how can i repair this?? the hole now is a lot bigger than the faceplace. should i get plasterer to do it or can i use filler? will i need to put pva on the sandy area to seal it ?
How big is 'a lot bigger'? Inches, feet? How deep?
I'd start by using a slightly dilute PVA mix (2 water, 1 pva) to seal and glue up the sandy crumbly area. Then build up with filler in several layers if necessary followed by decoration.
Guy
Definitely PVA. Bonding plaster is excellent for filling big holes quickly in one go, and it will hold the metal patress box in place too without the need for any screws. Then finish off with a thin layer of filler, or if it's a big area better to use finishing plaster - it's not as difficult as you think for an area of just a square foot or two.
Cheers!
Martin
this is what it looks like now, as you can see i brushed on 50/50 pva.
i've got a plasterer skimming a ceiling later he uses thistle multi purpose stuff. should i ask him to tidy it up or have a go myself with standard filler?
how do you mean the bonding plaster holds the back box? i need to sort that out too, because it had a single nail in the centre but it wont hold any more.
cheers
I've you've got a plasterer in already, I'd ask him to do it - much less effort in return for, presumably, beer tokens.
The plaster usually comes around the edges of the box "holding" it in. However, I would make the nail hole a bit bigger, put a plug in it, and then screw the box in place. (I would never use a nail to hold a back box in place but it's just not secure enough.)
This doesn't help you now, but whenever I'm taking off a socket, if it looks like anything is stuck to it (for example paint from the wall), I always score around the socket with a stanley knife - to ensure I don't pull anything away. It might be that in your case there was a good deal more stuck to the socket than that, or that your wall was just itching from the chance to crumble away.
..and if you cant plaster to save your life, use an orbital sander to get it all nice.
But be aware of the dust it's get everywhere.
Coming in late, I'd drill out the nail hole to take a plug and refit the box with a screw and grommits in the cable holes. Then mix up some filler to a fairly stiff mix and fill around the box and roughly below the main surface. Don't worry too much about getting filler into the box, wait untill it's partialy hardened then cut/carve it out. Leave to more or less fully set then fill to the top surface. Again don't worry about getting filler in the box but this time use a wet float to level and polish the surface before it sets. Wait again then trim out the filler from the box. The main trick is a stiff mix for the filler, "soft butter" rather than a "dropping" mix in cooking terms. That it is stays where you put it and doesn't flow/slump under it's own weight.
Try some "Sticks Like Sh*t".
Sounds right to me. My earlier bonding plaster suggestion was assuming you had a bigger, deeper hole to fill, no need for it in this case.
all done now, sealed the crumbling with dilute pva, fitted the backbox in with 2 screws/plugs. then the plastered just went over the whole area, and before it dried too much removed the plaster in the way of the box. once its completely dry i'll fit the front and paint around it. cheers guys.
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