Plastering in kitchen

[stuartcotterell]

I've recently moved into a flat the needs a lot of work. It's basically a case of polystyrene tiles and textured wallpaper everywhere!

Anyway, one of the first things I'm looking to do is get a new kitchen. I've had people round for survey, quotes etc, and have a design and spec that I'm happy with. So tonight I thought I'd get rid of the textured wallpaper that's above the units and rounds the door frame etc. The ceilings are 12 foot high so there's a fair amount there.

I'd been crossing my fingers, but the plasterwork underneath the 2 layers of textured paper is pretty poor. And nicely includes and area of plasterboard that's been directly papered onto. I'm pretty sure that the plaster will have to be replaced in order to get a nice finish, but I'm just wondering about how this is usually done in kitchens.

Is it normal to strip all the units away, plaster all the walls, and then install the new kitchen? My worry here is that this will lead to a long time without any kitchen facilities. Alternatively, is there any problem with leaving the walls as they are, having the new kitchen installed, and then having the areas above wall units plastered?

[DIY]

If the walls only need a skim coat of plaster you might just get away with having the new units installed first, but this job sounds too complicated for that to work. Were the people who have given you kitchen quotes aware of the poor state of the walls? Usually the electrics and plastering need to be sorted out first, then units and worktops installed, then plumbing and wall tiling. Presumably you need to get estimates for plastering, in which case the plasterers will advise you on your situation. If any wall units need to be hung on plasterboard that is only possible if the brackets can be fixed to something solid behind the plasterboard, such as wooden battens or brickwork. Regarding disruption, I have had to make alternative arrangements for cooking, washing up etcetera for several weeks during DIY kitchen refurbishment. It is possible with thought and planning.

[Andrew Gabriel]

Likewise, I've done this a couple of times.

Save one or two of the old kitchen units with a suitable length of worktop, and move it into another room temporarily with the fridge/freezer. That's your kitchen area. In one case, I kept the sink unit temporarily in the kitchen too but detached it from the wall, and connected up one of the taps with a washing machine fill hose, and a large bucket under the waste outlet. This made for a movable sink which I could move out of the way of whatever work was going on in the kitchen.

[Lobster]

Yes you need to plaster first. Other than the electrics issue, your plasterer won't be happy trying to plaster round units and it will be pretty hard to get a good finish. It's likely to look like a bodge. Also one day that kitchen will need to be renewed again, and once the units come off the walls you'll be left with a right old mess to sort out, ratherthan flat plastered walls.

David