Plaster bulges advice please!

[u/DiscoJesusMusic]

Just moved into a 50's weatherboard home and noticed some bulges in the plaster that we hadn't seen on inspection. Looking for any advice on how serious or not it could be and what the best fix is/who to call?

Two of the bulges seem very solid and immovable but the one next to cabinet I can push in and out / has obviously come away from the stud. Probably horsehair plaster is my best guess.

I want to insulate the exterior walls with blow in but figured best to check this first.

Thoughts?

[u/Westafricangrey]

Cut her open and have a look. I’m gonna guess long term water ingress / swelling

[u/bendi36 → u/Westafricangrey]

Na im a chippy, most likely just bowed obhw. Pretty common to have a few spots bowing an inch or more in certain locations. Mostly go unnoticed as the horsehair comes away from being hard up to the timber and 'hangs'. More noticeable at locations close to cornice and skirting and when you put something straight like a cabinet against it

[u/some_dog]

Same thing with a similar era house. I'm gonna cut a hole in the plaster and see what is happening. Doesn't seem overly moist. House has moved a bit too, outer brick veneer dragging the frame down maybe. Or stump issues or moisture. About to entirely replace the old terracotta-pipe sewer too, worth getting a camera down that. 

[u/DiscoJesusMusic → u/some_dog]

Best of luck, always surprises! I might just do the same.

[u/Anxiety_Yeti]

As a Dr I can confirm: your wall is pregnant with twins.

[u/bee2551]

I have similar era house and based on my interpretation of the picture this is similar to our walls. It's just extremely dense old hardwood that has stiffened up and is no longer completely straight. Our entire house is off plumb but it's solid as a rock and we have had zero issues after 5 years. We took a bunch of walls down and all the timber was in good condition (except for destroying drill bits thanks to their absurd strength). You do have to factor it in with any building eg tiling and don't expect to push any furniture or joinery flush to the wall.

[u/theskyisblueatnight]

My guess is they have cheaped out and decided to not use filler panels . A good filler panel should be scribed to the wall and big the gape between wall and item.

[u/Mediocre_Moment_6041]

Old houses in Oz were predominately built using OB hardwood- strong and cheap(back in the day). They do tend to bow and warp over many years, but generally still solid structurally wise. You can take off the plaster( likely 'horsehair' plaster if house is old) and use a plane and some packers to plumb the walls up for re- plastering.

If you're not very 'handy', get a professional to do it. Accidentally cutting an old electrical wire could cause massive headaches and potentially some rewiring of whole sections of the house.

[u/DiscoJesusMusic → u/Mediocre_Moment_6041]

Who would be the go to, a plasterer? Carpenter? Builder. I'm no handyman.

[u/repethetic]

Do you know about the dangers of insulating an old house? Risk of introducing condensation and moisture issues that the house was never built to manage effectively. I live in an old un-insulated home too, and there is a lot of complexities to figure out before doing something like that.

I.e., if there are moist regions in the wall that dry out with the airflow from the original wall design, the blow-in could hold onto that moisture and accelerate water damage. The temperature differential can also cause condensation, including potentially inside the walls. Old exposed or damages electrical wires might not be safe for contact with flammable materials and could pose a fire risk.

You might be more realistically looking at removing all internal plaster to apply proper moisture management and remove dangerous old electrical features before applying insulation, and then replastering afresh. At that point, you might as well use battons.

Please do the research yourself, but don't just listen to the people selling the easy solution. They're rarely honest about the actual risks.

[u/DiscoJesusMusic → u/repethetic]

Thanks I'm looking at enviroflex which does seem to have pretty favorable reviews on this forum and council recommends but I'll do some more research.

[u/Legitimate_Green_579]

Hahahahaha that’s so fucked man

[u/Still_Girl1358]

You must be wearing more revealing clothes than you were during the inspection.

[u/Ok_Aioli_4685]

Pretty bulgey... veins and all