Wall linings

Internal wall linings have generally been hard lined.

In some situations, the sarking will have been removed and replaced by plasterboard linings. In other situations, the plasterboard will have been fixed directly over the scrim. The latter is probably more common as it enables the finishing timbers to remain in place – they are very difficult to remove intact as they tend to be brittle and therefore prone to splitting during removal unless a lot of care is taken.

It is a simple matter to determine whether plasterboard has been installed over sarking or whether the sarking has been removed by looking at the trimming timbers:

• If the skirtings and architraves are ‘modern’, that is a small profile, possibly with a rounded edge, and not contemporary to the house, they were probably renewed at the same time as the wall linings were replaced.
• If the plasterboard lining butts up to architraves and skirtings with little or no projection of the trim beyond the hard lining, particularly along the skirting, the plasterboard will have been installed over the sarking.

Where architraves and skirtings may have been removed and replaced, a 3/8” (9.5 mm) timber fillet will have been fitted at door and window jambs to allow for the thickness of the plasterboard lining.

Horizontally-fixed plasterboard sheets (the common method of plasterboard installation) allowed the tapered edge of the sheet to butt up to the edge of the skirting, reducing the likelihood of the plasterboard overhanging the skirting.

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Service areas

Relining of service areas such as kitchens and bathrooms, typically involved laying hardboard sheets directly over the TG&V match lining. Half-round beading trim was fixed over joints between the sheets of hardboard, and the lining was painted.

More recent bathroom renovations often have a ‘wet lining’ such as a laminated wallboard finish.

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Ceilings

Because the ceilings in bungalows were not as high as villa ceilings, they generally tend to be original.
In some rare situations, a new lowered ceiling may have been installed – and perhaps finished with softboard – as an easier alternative to refurbishing the original ceiling that may have been left in a poor condition.