Odd smell from old plaster

[MinimalistMommi]

Just stripped several layers of wallpaper from wall with a wallpaper stripper. Now the plaster that has just been revealed underneath smells slightly. My daughter thinks it smells slightly 'woody' and noticed it straight away from coming in from school. Why would this be?

It's an old victorian terraced cottage.

was the old plaster painted? if so it is probably the distinctive, rather unpleasant smell of distemper, which is made by boiling up the hooves of dead horses. It can be softened with hot water, but not cold, and removed with a broad metal scraper.

Getting all traces of loose paint and old paste off the wall is important if you want to paint it.

PigletJohn there were several layers of old painted wallpaper, then there was very patchy 'peachy' coloured plaster which has started to come away on top of a brown plaster. Waking up this morning, the smell has gone so I don't know if it was just damp plaster from all the steam?

Doesn't appear to be anything like plaster board anywhere either which I expected to see for some reason (I know nothing about DIY) but we are definitely going to need to replaster because the plaster on the base of the wall seems to be crumbling away and revealing what I guess to be the bricks directly above the skirting board....

Pink and brown plaster are modern gypsum, not Victorian lime. Crumbling at the bottom suggests long-term damp. In an old house it is often due to a leak, but look outside to see if there is a slate DPC, if it has been bridged by raising ground level, how many unblocked airbricks you have, does the gutter or downpipe overflow.

PigletJohn we had extra airbricks added before we moved in front and back here as we had a full damp and timber survey done. They also added a waterproof fillet at the wall/ground junction to divert water away from the wall and applied a silicon water repellent on exposed brickwork at the front of the house.

They said the Sub-floor ventilation was inadequate which is why we had the airbricks put in.

The house is gradually drying out now I guess from the slight damp it had front and back.

The wall I have been working on is a side wall and it is a terrace. Will damp still be there? According to the report we had, all the internal walls were checked.

Definite crumbling on small section above skirting board though! What's best to do about that then?

Also, to clarify, nothing nearby the wall that would leak, no pipes or anything.

if it's a party wall, there might be a leaky radiator or sink on the other side. Or they might have laid a solid floor.

pull the loose plaster off and see if the bricks seem damp, pull the skirting off and see if it is damp or rotting, and if the nails are rusty.

If you get the chance to lift any floorbaords, clear up the rubble, and especially scraps of wood, from the void, and have a good sniff around for damp. You need a good cold airflow from front to back of house, if terraced.

I wonder why that section of wall was replastered?

Not sure why that section was, it's the first wall that I have stripped wallpaper from....I was assuming all the walls would have this plaster underneath that I have found under this wall.

When we sort out floor we will check under floorboards to see how it is under there and check skirting etc. I will definitely clear out under boards. Thank you for tip.

When the company did their damp report thing they said the internal walls had 5-6% moisture which they said is quite usual for building construction.

Just went and sniffed crumbling bit and it doesn't smell damp through the holes.