Help with plaster

[WheresWally]

Hi all,

First post here. I have two questions regarding walls and player in the home.

1. What is the stripe for shown in one of the photos? The house is a 1986 transportable house. It’s not very thick so I can’t see it being used as conduit. Does it have a purpose? Can it be safely removed? I don’t look like the look of them.

2. In the other photo is a section of the wall above the door frame in a corner that has really thick plaster. I was wondering if that was just someone’s attempt at repairing cracks before selling the house or not. What would be the best way to fix it up?

Thank you in advance to any help provided :

[Jason]

Welcome to Workshop @WheresWally. We're pleased you could join us and trust that you'll receive lots of helpful advice and inspiration for your home improvement projects from our members. Please feel free to post whenever you need a hand or have a project to share. 

Do you think your walls are plasterboard or solid plaster? I'm sure members will be able to assist you. 

Jason

[WheresWally]

Oops! Plasterboard, not solid. 

[MartyH]

Would the stripe be there to help conceal the join between plasterboards? 

For the second pic, it just seems you have a lot of sanding back to do. Keep going until you get a nice smooth surface. If access is a little tricky, a multitool might help. 

[juliancanhelp]

Are you sure that the walls are plasterboard. Those type of joint strips are usually found on asbestos sheet houses. Could possibly be asbesto, I would check first and not sand it at all if it is.

[Jason]

Very good advice thanks @juliancanhelp. Many thanks for joining in the discussion and a very warm welcome to Workshop. 

I thought this was an important point from the Asbestos awareness website:

"Most people can’t tell whether building materials contain asbestos just by looking at them. Only scientific testing of a sample of material by an accredited National Association of Testing Authorities (NATA) asbestos testing laboratory can confirm the presence of asbestos. For a NATA Lab List call 1800 621 666 or refer to their website at www.nata.com.au. When searching for an asbestos testing facility use a capital A in Asbestos."

@WheresWally: for information on the dangers of asbestos and tips for dealing with these materials, contact your local council’s Environmental Health Officer or click on the links contained on the Health and Safety section of the Bunnings website.

Jason

[MitchellM]

@WheresWally my advice was based off your reply of it being plasterboard. If it is a fibrous cement then you need to be following @Jason . DO NOT TOUCH it if it is not plasterboard. I have removed my above post as I feel it may be mis-leading to others. Classically this timber jointing method was used on fibrous cement sheeting and I feel the chances of it being asbestos are too high to leave my advice up.

[WheresWally]

Sorry for some confusion. The walls I’m pretty sure are gyprock. They are hollow walls on a timber frame.

[Brad]

Pre 1990 house the chance of Asbestos is high.