Cornice & ceiling rose restoration

I’ve been posed one question often recently which is; do you use a chemical paint remover or steam machine to remove paint from a cornice/ceiling rose. In this post I’ll explain my preferred choice, and a brief summary of the two options.

I use a chemical paint remover; however, I can easily argue for and against in this debate. For one, I’ve never encountered a problem myself using a chemical (although I’ve heard many others have). The chemical I prefer to use must be applied and left for a minimum of 24 hours to take effect which can seem time consuming and costly to the client. Once the chemical has been removed, the distemper and general build-up of dirt must be removed with lots of clean water, various brushes and ‘picking tools’. On average, one would hope to apply and remove 3 metres of paints per day, including the cleaning with water. There must be strong health and safety measures adhered to when carrying out this method as the chemical is extremely potent – I have the scars to prove this! As long as the chemical isn’t left on the plaster for more than the recommend maximum allowance of 72 hours, then there is no reason for the plaster to be damaged. A test patch is always recommended before carrying out any extensive work to determine the suitability of the chemical for the job (there are lots of chemicals available for use).

The steam method is an interesting one which I’ve seen used to good effect. There are two reasons I choose not to use it which are as follows:

1)    I don’t like to pressure water into old plasterwork for obvious reasons. Although you can debate that you may only need to use the same amount as required in the chemical method, I don’t like the fact it is forced in with a pressure gun.

2)    Adding water is one thing, but boiling hot water puts me off even more. Although I haven’t tested this in a lab, my gut instinct tells me that this method brings more risk and therefore more chance of damaging the existing plasterwork.

As previously mentioned, I’ve seen other companies use the steam method correctly with an equally fantastic outcome, and I’m sure that I could find bad attempts on both options. Perhaps I’m just a one trick dinosaur who likes what he knows and knows what he likes!

Deciding whether to restore your original plasterwork or start again

This week I’ve had three separate site meetings, all of whom have received conflicting opinions from building contractors relating to the title of this post. Here I hope to offer some clarification.

When purchasing a house which has original plasterwork, or even if you already own a home with original plasterwork, before beginning a big renovation you will often invite a minimum of two building contractors to propose a scope of works. It isn’t uncommon to have a difference of opinion among the potential workers – often reflected in the price, after all, every construction worker will have their own vision - and with this vision they will have their own method of achieving it.

            So, who do you listen to? You’re probably looking at an original lath & plaster ceiling with original cornicing and ceiling roses to match, listening to someone telling you to rip it down and install a new plasterboard ceiling. DON’T LISTEN! As previously mentioned, three times this week I’ve visited potential clients who have been told the above, all of whom I’ve instructed not to listen. I will say it simply, when deciding what to do regarding specialist plasterwork, GET A PLASTERWORK SPECIALIST TO HELP YOU.

            I can only speak from my personal experience; thus, I would hate to generalise in this post. Too often however, contractors are looking for the simplest, most cost effective method to complete a job. This method is often not the most beneficial to the client. There is no calculation to determine whether a ceiling is safe or unsafe, indeed this is down to the professional opinion of the person you are speaking to. The person you are speaking to, therefore, needs to be someone that can determine whether or not the plasterwork HAS to be removed, or whether it can be restored. Of course, the question after this is decided will be how the cost of restoration compares to the cost of replacing it. This, however, provides more options to the client – which surely is the best outcome, isn’t it?

Plaster Cornices

Here are some points worth noting to aid your decision when contemplating different cornice products, as well as to help eliminate paying for a poorly-made product:

·      Traditional cornices were cast using three materials; Plaster of Paris, hessian and wooden laths.

·      Modern cornices are now made from polystyrene, plasterboard or glass-reinforced plaster (GRP) commonly.

·      Many companies still make cornice traditionally, particularly in England.

·      There are many different quality plasters available for manufacture; varying from approximately £5 per 25kg bag, up to £40+ per 25kg.

·      There are different lath thicknesses. Naturally, you will want to use the thickest lath possible, which will benefit the strength and fixing of the cornice.

·      Traditionally made plaster cornices adhere to most fire regulations rules, if made correctly.

·      Every cornice should have a bracket (lath or hessian) on the back to increase strength.

·      Hessian allows the cornice to be flexible. This is a great advantage when working in a building where the walls and ceilings aren’t straight or level.

·      There should be no hessian visible on the finished face of the cornice once dry.

·      The cornice should be around 7-10mm thick in all places – to avoid weak points.

·      If there is cracking visible on the face of your cornice, it is likely because the laths were dry in the process of manufacturing the cornice.

Women in Construction

Traditionally construction work was deemed too physical for women and thus it became rare and even frowned upon for women to look to work in construction. Gender stereotypes are becoming a thing of the past and over the last Ten years I have noticed a shift in mentality towards women in construction. Here I am going to write about what I have noticed and my hopes for the future:

I started my apprenticeship around ten years ago in Lambeth college. I was pleasantly surprised to see such a diverse range of students boasting a 30 year difference in ages as well as an evenly proportioned amount of males and females. I wondered if this was common or if I simply had an unusually high female presence in my class. Sadly, it was the latter.

I’ve had the pleasure to work in several beautiful areas across England, from Dover to Brighton, London to Oxford, as well as abroad in Australia. As you may imagine, I have noticed a significant male presence in my industry – so I wonder why there aren’t more females in construction and how I think having women in construction would benefit so many of us. Building sites in the UK have a real stigma attached to them – from the God forsaken ‘white van man’ to the pack of wolf whistling yobs. What I have found is that construction has been laboured with a stereotype which makes the industry unattractive to potential female employees. Why would anyone want to work on a building site which is dirty, where there is a lack of supposedly ‘highly educated’ people, where there are men with a tendency to forget their manners, and where there are few obvious examples of female progression up the ladder as it were.

I’m currently working on a project where there is a female decorator, with whom I shared an interesting conversation which offered me a rare insight into the opposite sexes opinion. Whilst the general theme of the conversation was positive – that the vast majority of her male co-workers welcomed her and acted appropriately as you’d expect, the surprising find was that her biggest negative experience was actually towards the facilities provided. This site had a large container unit with a working microwave and fridge, clean drinking water and a sink to wash in (may I add this is actually not too common on work sites in London suburbs) as well as a ‘portaloo’. The portaloo’s waste was recycled regularly enough to adhere to health and safety regulations however the actual toilet was far from clean. Not only this but the chairs provided were old garden chairs, the fridge had an unpleasant smell and the microwave was growing something I daren’t try to explain. Standards have to improve across the board to make construction sites more appealing to work in.

Another interesting observation is on the flip side – as an employer. Some employers have commented on physical disadvantages women have which leave men better suited to the plastering industry. This is a fair point – it is true that the ‘average’ man is likely to be more capable of lifting more weight and faster than the ‘average’ woman however there are certainly ways around this. Employers in construction should not discount the positive impact having a diverse team can have which include: Increased productivity, improved creativity, increased profits, improved employee engagement, reduced employee turnover, improved company reputation, wider range of skills, improved cultural insights.

To summarise I feel that although we have come a long way, there is still so much more we can do to encourage both employers to be more open minded in their recruitment processes as well as women to look at construction jobs as a positive career choice. Only once we have rid ourselves of the stereotypes will we truly see the positive impact women can have on the construction industry.

Listed Buildings

There can be some confusion with regards to listed buildings – so I thought id write a short explanation to highlight the important bits which I hope you’ll find useful.

So, what is a listed building? A building is listed when it is deemed to be of important architectural or historical importance and therefore is worth protecting.

How many categories are there for listed buildings? 3. Grade I Grade II* and II with grade I buildings being the most significant. Over 90% of listed buildings are Grade II.

How do I know if my property is listed? Here is a link from Historic England’s website. https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/ type in your post code or address to see if the proposed building is highlighted.

What does purchasing a listed building mean regarding future works, such as extensions or renovations? When a building is listed it simply means that there are extra measures in place to control what changes can be made both internally and externally. It is often the case that you will need to apply for consent before carrying out any works. The person you need to contact is often a conservation officer who works for your local authority.

I own a listed building in need of major renovation, where do I begin to start getting advice on how I can renovate it? The first person you should contact is a relevant experienced trade/craftsperson. For example, I have been tasked with writing several plaster reports to assess the current state of the plasterwork in listed buildings. My report which includes necessary and advisory information is relayed to a conservation officer who will liaise with the client to decide the best course of action. It is often the case that damaged plasterwork must be reinstated using the same materials as were originally used – although the method of course is down to the craftsperson.