problem: stripping old wallpaper from wall / loose wall?

[steve]

Hi,

I thought I'd take a shot at repainting my bathroom today. It is an old flat (built in 1880) and has about three or four layers of different wallpaper. I started by removing the wallpaper. On the section of wall that I've been working on, I've removed the layers of wallpaper and also the plaster has been coming off too. Underneath it is stone (I think), but the stone is very crumbly in places. I'm not sure if this is going to cause problems for re-plastering it.

I've taken a photo of the section so you can get an idea of the state of things:

I just replaster on top of this?

Also, the whole job is getting to be a bit bigger than I expected. Now that I've started, is there any way I can abort this, or am I comitted now?

Any help would be *greatly* appreciated!

Steve

[Phil L]

That's not stone, it's the backing plaster, probably sand and lime, and very often horse hair, you may want to remove the lot and get it all plastered properly

You can but it will be very patchy, especially if the backing is loose, which it looks like it is.

If you've not touched any of the other walls yet, you may be as well not bothering...this one wall needs re plastering completely - you may get away with dry lining it.

[steve]

It did feel very sandy, know I know why: because it is!

I've only touched this wall. Dry lining sounds like a very good idea - I'll look into that tomorrow, thanks!

Steve