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Plastering & Rendering

Soft, crumbly plaster

Anonymous user 21/09/2026 - 8.33 AM

Hi, A few years ago I had some old skirting taken off in my lounge and it took the plaster behind with it. The guy re filled the gap from floor to about 20 cm up with new plaster before attaching new skirting. There is one particular wall, an interior wall that seperates the lounge from the hallway/stairs that appears to have maybe not set right? The plaster has always been soft and crumbly all the way along just this one wall. Very fine almost soft sand consistency falls off with ease but no large chunks or gaps. Wallpaper won't stick to it. There are no signs of damp, it doesn't feel wet, just very soft, no water lines, skirting appears fine. All other parts in the same room are fine with no issues. I'm selling my house and a survey has flagged up damp so a damp survey is being arranged. There are no signs of damp, mould etc anywhere in the house! So I'm now in a panic that this wall is actually damp even though there are no other indicators. Google searches aren't providing any answers other than a possibility of "blown" or "bad mixing" I can't even find a photo of anything similar. The same work on the external walls have been fine. Does anyone have any ideas of what could actually be happening? And if it is due to damp would there be other signs? Or is it just due to a bad batch of mixing and materials?

Are you a tradesperson and able to answer this question?

1 Answer

Daren budd

Rating: 5 out of 5
Rayleigh
Going on what I have read I would say that someone has used carlite bonding on exterior walls. Carlite bonding is a gypsum-based backing plaster designed exclusively for internal use. It is hygroscopic, meaning it actively absorbs moisture from the air and surrounding masonry.
Answered21 September 2026
0