Advice on walls in 1930s redbrick UK semi please
Hi, we recently moved home into a 1930s red brick semi. The walls feel very thick and solid but there's wallpaper everywhere and the plaster underneath is in poor condition.
We know the roof was replaced a few years ago and suspect there were damp issues back then and the previous occupant has just not put anything right since. It was an older lady and it doesn't seem like she had done proper maintenance of decorating in many years. But thankfully there are no signs of ongoing damp that I can see.
There is wallpaper in pretty much every room, mostly in very poor condition.
I'd appreciate any advice that can help me understand:
**1) What type of walls are these?**
A patch came away with the wallpaper so you can see the layers underneath, including this very black substance.
Google AI reckons this is black ash plaster or "clinker." I can believe that looking at how black the stuff is.
**2) How can I go about renovating these walls?**
Google reckons if it's mostly not blown then I can just *"scrape off the remaining wallpaper and blue distemper, treat the exposed black ash holes with a stabilizing primer, patch them up, and have a plasterer apply a fresh modern skim coat over the top to tie it all together."*
I should more that, as can be seen in the photos, there is a lot of efflorescence in some areas, making the surface very craggy.
Can this be primed and skimmed? If so, what products are recommended?
Does it all just need hacking off back to brick and I give dot and dab a go?
Many thanks