Plasterboard edge - question
Plasterboard edge - question
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M4cruiser

Original Poster:

4,987 posts

176 months

A question about plasterboard.
Two of my walls are bulging, as in the pictures below.
I didn't know that there is a vertical metal edge, until it started bending.
Question is, what do I do about it?
Can I cut it with a hacksaw, bend it in and cover is with filler? Or will that risk the wall collapsing?
You will see that my first attempt to fill it hasn't worked.



ecs

1,432 posts

196 months

Definitely need to cut it out and see what's going on behind it - looks like something is wet behind it? Or something is moving?

The plaster is just decorative, so the wall won't fall down!

Herbs

5,052 posts

255 months

I would be looking into why its bulging.

I'm not builder but worked enough with plasterboard over the years and plasterboard tends to crack, not bulge if there is a weight /collapse issue. Is there any water pipes in the vicinity? That looks water related to me.

dxg

10,430 posts

286 months

If it's a modern house and has been ames taped rather than skimmed, then it will just be a paper tape with the thinest slivers of metal to form the edge. There's no mechanical fixing involved and you can damage it like that just by knocking it with something solid.

But, as other suggest, the only way to fix it is to cut it out and replace like-for-like.

Sheepshanks

39,999 posts

145 months

It looks like the corner has been bumped, but the OP writing "it started bending" is a bit concerning. Is it continuing to bend?

M4cruiser

Original Poster:

4,987 posts

176 months

Sheepshanks said:
It looks like the corner has been bumped, but the OP writing "it started bending" is a bit concerning. Is it continuing to bend?
Yes, looking at the previous filler, which now has gaps around it, it's still bending, but only at the rate of about 1mm in 5 years.
It's not been bumped.
There are no other indications of subsidence, which was my first thought.

Actual

1,632 posts

132 months

I would use a multi tool to cut out a section at least 100mm all around larger than the area showing the problem so that I can get a full appreciation of what is the cause.

One the cause is removed I would fill using Easi Fill and Easi Plaster and use long trowel to level using the existing flat plasterboard faces as a guide.

JoshSm

4,140 posts

63 months

Usual problem is the metal strip reacting, corroding and bulging out. Easiest solution is to rip the whole thing off (it'll usually take a strip of the skim/filler with it), then tape (paper or mesh) over the corner joint then put some filler or jointing compound or whatever suits over it to restore it.

Relatively quick and easy if you have a corner trowel. Not too tricky if you don't.


Jap90s

1,938 posts

147 months

Cutting it with a hacksaw will work perfectly well

Probably easiest to cut through the metal corner bead entirely above and below and then reform the corner using light weight filler

I'm sure there'll be a guide on YouTube