Anyone in the know...does this plastering job look like it is drying out ok?

[FOF44]

The wall is an external wall in my new understairs loo and I am a bit worried about how damp it still looks in places (this is after 4 weeks.) Should it be dry by now? I don't like that you can see the outline of bricks and wondering if it should have had some kind of insulating before plaster boarding? Anyone with experience of plastering able to comment? Thanks!

Four weeks! No that should have dried in a day or 2. I think (assuming you are in the UK) that all the wet weather we have had has soaked through that wall. I think you may need to look outside, maybe a leaky gutter?

Did they plasterboard it? Why can you see brick imprints? What was there before you put the toilet in? How old is your house? Is it cavity wall or single skin bricks? Many questions.

And yes it should be dry by now.

Eh? It's not dry. Should only take 2-3 days. And the plastering isn't even. It's a really really poor job.
What are you going to do now?

Is it an outside wall? What is on the other side?
It doesn't look like it was plasterboarded to me- did you see it before the plaster went on or how many coats?

It doesn't look right at all. It should have dried after a couple of days.

It should have had plasterboard on it first and should have dried within 3 days.

if you buy a gadget like this, you can measure how damp the wall is & see if it improves over time

www.amazon.co.uk/KKmoon-Handheld-Moisture-Detector-Sheetrock/dp/B08BCLVH61/ref=sr_1_5?dchild=1&crid=QC1ZKWSXM6XC&keywords=damp+measurement+tool+for+walls&sprefix=damp+wall+meas%2Caps%2C143&tag=mumsnetforu03-21&qid=1625588073&sr=8-5

Is there any way that water could be coming in from the outside to make it stay wet? could the bricks have several weeks / years of dampness in them?

I agree it should be dry now especially as it’s been such mild weather. My flat was replastered in February and I was told to keep the heating off for a day or two in each room when they’d been finished so they didn’t dry too quickly. It was freezing weather and the walls went from dark to pale putty colour in two days. Is it possible theres water getting in somewhere what with all the rain ?

To answer some of the questions - not aware of any damp issues, but the wall was tiled before so may have masked something I guess. Tiles were removed, then it was plaster boarded so far as I recall. It is an outside wall, tho there is a sectional garage next to it with maybe 5cm space between garage and house, enough for air to circulate I would have thought? I will have to get the chap that did it back to have a look!

I'm no expert , however that looks partly plaster directly on the wall, in places

Absolutely no way in the world that was plasterboarded... you can see the outline of the blocks

@Alexalee Unless the bricks are so damp that it has permeated the plasterboard? Could this be the problem?

No that would be impossible
In all honesty tho you don't have to plasterboard the wall first
The other way to do it is to put a thick undercoat on and then skim the top... that way can take weeks to dry
It does appear there is some mind of damp issue to me though

I really can't see how you'd get brick marks if you had had it plasterboarded. Did you actually see the plasterboard up before they skimmed it? Did they 'dot and dab' or batten out before they put the plasterboard up, did they use foil backed plasterboard?
If I was guessing it lookes like a window or other niche of some sort was boarded (the dry bit) but the rest of the plaster went straight on the bricks. Seems odd all round.

Definitely get them back and ask questions, send some pictures first if needs be. Something odd is definitely going on there. Hope it’s an easy fix!

It’s not been plasterboarded. Do you have enough ventilation in the room? It should have dried within 2-3 days, maybe 5 days max for a room with no windows / poor ventilation.

It should have had browning on first and been left to dry, then had skim over the top. Browning stops the brick/stone showing through and is quite a thick coat, it can take a while to dry especially in winter. Skim should be dry in a couple of days especially at this time of year

It’s hard to say what’s going on from a photo. I too thought it looks like the blocks showing through but you say it was tiled previously? We plastered a bathroom that had previously been wallpapered and we got some weird oil spots coming through the plaster, presumably leftover from the wallpaper adhesive (though the wall was prepped). They didn’t come through the stain stop thankfully.

I’d be asking your plasterer to come and look at it.

Do you have an extractor fan for ventilation. If there is no natural ventilation (window) then it probably will take weeks for plaster to dry out in a small understairs room. Try leaving the door open and a heater or fan in there to circulate the air.

A dehumidifier will also help it to dry out quicker but I would also be getting back in touch with the company that did the work to see what they say.

How is the room being ventilated?

It looks to me like there used to be a window, which has been blocked up, and there is, or has been, water penetration round the window, perhaps due to a spilling gutter above, or a leaking downpipe.

Or it might be that the window was blocked using bricks or blocks that had been left outside in the rain and were saturated with water.

Photos of the other side of the wall would be informative.

There's nothing wrong with plastering directly to brick, but yeah that does look like there is damp penetration coming through the bricks. I'd ask the plasterer what steps he used & get advice for another plasterer if what he's done is correct when skimming an external solid brick wall

We had plastering done directly on the wall and were told it would take up to 2-3weeks to dry: that’s why they did it now so our plasterer can take some time off.