Drying out wet plaster

big ste

Not sure if anyone can help.
I've had a little bit of a water leakage in the bathroom,where the shower door and bath meet,it's been running onto the wall,and the plaster has starting to fall off,not in big lumps,just bits.
It's a timber frame house,and it's only plasterboard with a skim over it.The wall has started to go black in the affected area.
How do I dry it out,what is the best way to seal it,and can I just re-skim over the affected bit,or is it a bigger job that that.

Any help would be great.

Thanks Steve

Sleipnir

Have you stopped the leak?

The black is mould and while drying out the wall may stop it, you really would be better off cutting away the wet plaster and replacing it.
Is it a large area?

Pics would be useful.

ART6

I'd suggest the first step is to hire a dehumidifier (any plant hire firm will have them). That will dry out the plasterboard. If it's not bulging away from its battens then cleaning off the mould and reskimming as necessary should cure it.

Sleipnir

The only problem with a dehumidifier is that it would take ages to dry it out if it's a small area of wall, e.g. if it's 50cm x 50cm you're dehumidifying the entire room to get one small bit dry.....
Unless you could direct it at the patch affected?

You can also get a dessicant material in DIY shops (it's a chemical solid) and place it beside the damp spot.

If it was me, I would cut out the damaged plasterboard leaving a square hole, fix 4 short battens around the inside of the sqare hole tucking it in so that it's half-way under the edge of existing plasterboard.
Then I'd go and buy some plasterboard, cut out a square to match the hole and fix it to the battens and then skim over it.

Joey the lips

Sleipnir wrote: »

Have you stopped the leak?

The black is mould and while drying out the wall may stop it, you really would be better off cutting away the wet plaster and replacing it.
Is it a large area?

Pics would be useful.

i agree with this pic as well

ART6 wrote: »

I'd suggest the first step is to hire a dehumidifier (any plant hire firm will have them). That will dry out the plasterboard. If it's not bulging away from its battens then cleaning off the mould and reskimming as necessary should cure it.

Not to sure if your allowed use these is a timber frame house. It can cause the timbers to dry out to fast and crack and as its structural you dont want that.

skingtile

a hair dryer would be far more effective than an humidifier,use intermittently over a day or so as you will only dry the moisture as it soaks to the surface, if slab is any way damaged recommend renew

johndavison7

I have just been told by my most trusted plumber that plasterboard and dehumidifiers don't mix. One should only use dehumids in brick and plaster buildings. Allow plasterboard to dry out naturally, he says.