Advice on removing basement plaster (damp)

[Gldn]

Hi All,

I'm looking for some advice on what to do about the old plaster and metal lath in my basement (Victorian ground floor flat in London). For some background, there was previously drywall in the basement and the paper on it had gone extremely mouldy. I've been researching a lot about improving breathability of old basements so removed the drywall. I've discovered that behind it is a pink plaster on metal lath, which is coming away from the wall in parts. I'm pretty sure the plaster is gypsum as its pink in patches (but also beige/ sand coloured) and very

There's also a lot of hard crystal like build-up on the bricks I can see behind the plaster. My current plan is to remove all the plaster and lath (as gypsum isn't porous) and scrape all the build up off the bricks. There aren't any leaks that I can see, I think the efflorescence (if it is that) is from a general build up of damp air and I'm hoping removing the plaster resolves this. The mortar between the bricks also seems very crumbly so I think it may need repointing at some point.

Would you do something different, maybe just leave the plaster in place? We don't really use the cellar so it doesn't have to look nice. Another question I have is, would this kind of plaster and lath have any purpose beyond aesthetics? Is there a possibility it was put there for structural purposes?

 

[noseall]

The render serves little purpose in this instance. The EML is just rotting. There is little you can do other than spending thousands on tanking etc to prevent a sub-terranean structure being damp.

Either live with what you have presently or remove all the loose plaster etc, give the walls a good clean and apply a solution to just stabilise the masonry surface. I doubt anything cheap will last though.

 

[Gldn]

The render serves little purpose in this instance. The EML is just rotting. There is little you can do other than spending thousands on tanking etc to prevent a sub-terranean structure being damp.

Either live with what you have presently or remove all the loose plaster etc, give the walls a good clean and apply a solution to just stabilise the masonry surface. I doubt anything cheap will last though.

Okay great thanks! I can live with the damp (plus can't afford tanking anyway) but happy to get confirmation that removing the plaster won't cause any issues. At least that will make it look a bit nicer and hopefully improve breathability.

 

[George_engineer]

Tanking internally isn't a good solution for a habitable space.

Type C waterproofing to BS 8102 is the only reliable way to retrofit a true habitable space. More expensive again so not helpful, but for future reference.