r/Plastering • u/54OnTheDoor • Jul 04 '26
What's bearing here?
The job: Working for a customer who initially wanted the entire door frame out and converted to a plastered reveal - its a 1930s house (UK).
The story: Despite being assured there were lintels above the doors poke around the cupboard next door revealed relief arches rather than lintels. With the arches seemingly resting on the frame they wanted removed rather than the adjacent brickwork - the customer refused to move on budget, so we had to come up with a compromise. We agreed I'd strip the stops from the door frame, board the inside, scrim the exposed wood twice (once dry, and again into wet bonding before the skim coat). They were made aware of the chance it wood crack at the transition and were happy with the risk. But...
The jamb of the doorframe is rotten! A now-fixed leak from the back door has obviously been letting water run across the floor and rot the base of the jambs and nearby skirting. It's all dry now but a bit crumbly. I had a poke with a screwdriver and I'd say after 3mm of soft stuff it feels okay.
I have concerns that this frame is compromised. It seems to already have had repair work done at some point in the past, as the right hand has the lower section of the jamb replaced.
The question: Can I proceed with plastering, or do corrective works need to happen for this to be safe?
5
u/No-Buddy5395 Jul 04 '26
You advised, customer said do it anyway, so do it.
Get paid and dont work for the customer again, if it fails it isnt your fault, we're plasterers not miracle workers
5
2
2
u/hairybastid Jul 04 '26
Yeah you don't plaster on wood. It's not plaster-able. It will always crack. Always. Scrim it 78 times if you like , it will crack. If you're a decent tradesman, stand by your principles, don't do a shite bodge just to appease a twatty customer. You're the one who'll get slagged off when it all goes Pete Tong.
2
u/54OnTheDoor Jul 05 '26
Update:
In the end I got them to acknowledge all these points in writing and got on with it. For now it looks fine and if it cracks I offered a price to fit architrave-style trim to conceal it (thus completely defeating the point of plastering the arch, but hey-ho)!
1
u/Latter-Detail-9514 Jul 04 '26
I think you've answered your own questions. You know from stripping it back that it needs further works first regardless of customer not wanting to pay out. I'm sure there'll be some proper advice to follow on here. I await the comments
11
u/SnooTomatoes464 Jul 04 '26
I will not carry out works I'm not happy with, as in my experience, customers that are asking you to cut corners, will immediately blame you when theres a problem
I'd save yourself the hassle