How to remove a skim coat from plasterboard?

[FiscoKing]

Hello,

New to diy and plastering. Tried my first skim job on a few practice boards and all went reasonably well (passable). Went to plaster a wall in the house and the results are less then satisfactory.

I've heard it mentioned by some plasterers that if it all goes pair shaped, you can always smash the plaster off and start again.

How do you go about removing plaster from plasterboard without damaging the board?

Would the board need pva'ing before the new skim coat goes on?

Would like to have another crack at the wall without replacing the board behind.

Thanks.

 

[brist]

Should have scraped off while still drying. PVA wall and re skim

 

[FiscoKing]

I take it pva increases your working time?

1. I notice screwfix has 'plastering pva' and a cheaper 'no nonsense pva'. Will any do?

2. Should I water it down first? Multiple coats at varying strengths? I looked over some posts and some people seem to put it on neat, and other go with a diluted coat first and re-apply with 50-50.

Will also look at the instructions on the back. Just wondered if ther's any brand to avoid.

Looking into some hands on plastering courses in Manchester...

 

[FredFlintstone]

Hi fisco,

if re-skimming an already skimmed wall then you need to PVA it (well, actually, you need to PVA anything you're plastering or skimming with the exception of bare boards).

I usually use a 5/1 mix first and then once that's dried use a 3/1 mix, skimming once it's gone tacky.

The reason your plaster dried almost as soon as it touched the wall is because the old skim coat will be sucking all the water out of it. not only does this make it impossible to work with, it will also cause it to crack because it's dried out too fast.

As for the plastering PVA, I asked a similar question but haven't read the replies yet. I've never used it, I've always just used the cheapest PVA I can get my hands on without a problem, but I'd be interested to know what the difference between PVA and PVA is.

regards

Fred

 

[brist]

Any PVA WILL DO THE JOB

 

[FiscoKing]

Will pick some of the cheap pva up on my next run to screwfix then,

and a low speed mixer,

and a 500w site light so I can see what I've just done to the wall....

Thanks.