Lining Paper Woes...cant fill the gaps!!!

[moorsd]

Hello All,

Was hoping someone might be able to point me in the right direction to save me pulling out what hair I have left!!

I have lined my walls with 1700 grade lining paper (Wish I had them skimmed now!) and being a novice at paper hanging, took some advice to leave a small gap of 1-2mm between joins and then fill them afterwards to leave a seamless finish after painting.

I have tried filling with layers of paint...which hasn't worked! Tried using Polycell premixed fine surface filler, which sets rock hard so cant sand properly without ruining the paper and leaving an obvious "fill line", and normal GP filler (mix your own), which has probably had the best results....but you can still see a slight gap

Can anyone tell me what I'm doing wrong...surely it shouldn't be this tricky??? Is there a technique to use when filling, or am I using the wrong products??

Thanks in advance

Dan

 

[Robbie uk]

The papwr should be applied once pliable and butt jointed up to the previous one, just like with a finished paper. It will usually dry tight and can be over painted later. You should have to leave gaps and fill later.
As you already have i would suggest to mix some polyfilla and smooth it across the joits and leave to dry. Then gently sand off after. This should be sufficient to paint on after.

 

[Nige F]

Try Gyproc Easifill and have a look @ British Gypsum website - dry lining.

 

[lasors]

Get some of this...

http://www.duluxdecoratorcentre.co.uk/servlet/ProductHandler?code=DDC300046

I guarantee you it is the perfect stuff for the job. I rave it about it all the time since someone recommended it to me. I have also used it to fill any small gaps in lining paper. It's like a bucket of snow, very lightweight. Get a good, small filling knife/spatula to apply, which is easy. It doesn't really need sanding if you apply it smooth enough, but if you do sand it, it sands very easily, as smooth as glass with a fine grade sandpaper.

 

[237]

I had a real problem with paint crazing and it mattered none that i even used a PVA sealer and it still came through the emulsion..So i rubbed the entire area right back.. Cleaned all dust from area and wiped down clean.
I used 800 grade lining paper covering around 5.6m2 and left to totally dry out for 24 hours. I also made sure that the edges were all well pasted and no kinks in them.
I left a very small gap between each lining paper and then filled my gaps over with Polycell smooth over as i had some left.. The good thing about this stuff is that it is very easy to sand and much better than using normal filler. I too have used Gyproc easy fill this is nice and easy to work with. However i would not go out and buy a tub of Smooth over just for this purpose as it is quite expensive. If you make sure that you fill the gap and not overdone it like too thickly applied all that is required is a very light sand with a very light grit sandpaper. Take care not to rought the lining paper up too much. Also try and use a fully flat sanding block so the whole area is level. Rubbing with sandpaper in hand is not advised as this may leave high spots. make sure you use the minimum of filler, just enough to fill the gaps. Use a plaster trowel if you have one and slowly work the filler from top to bottom with the the trowel held upright to the wall slowly working the filler in. Let dry and lightly sand and apply more if needed. This stuff will hide the gaps and i mean perfectly. Leave to dry out fully for at least 24 hours and then once dried and perfectly sanded apply a watered down emulsion coat to the whole area. leave to dry 24 hrs and then lightly sand again but very lightly.. Vacuum any dust away after and then put a non watered down coat of emulsion over this.. Check coverage and if needed apply a 3rd coat.
Dont use polyfiller as this tends to cure too hard and you will sand the paper too much that you will see the lines.

 

[xr4x4]

Get some of this...

http://www.duluxdecoratorcentre.co.uk/servlet/ProductHandler?code=DDC300046

I guarantee you it is the perfect stuff for the job. I rave it about it all the time since someone recommended it to me. I have also used it to fill any small gaps in lining paper. It's like a bucket of snow, very lightweight. Get a good, small filling knife/spatula to apply, which is easy. It doesn't really need sanding if you apply it smooth enough, but if you do sand it, it sands very easily, as smooth as glass with a fine grade sandpaper.

Yup, used this for years, would never use anything else.

 

[237]

Do they sell this in most DIY stores? Never seen it. Will have to try this out.

 

[JohnD]

...I had a real problem with paint crazing and it mattered none that i even used a PVA sealer and it still came through the emulsion...

Never never never put PVA on a surface you hope to paint.

My decorator has been using easyfill on walls that are being lined and emulsioned, his results are first-class. He wipes lightly with yellow abrasive paper off a roll.

 

[opps]

I too use the RED DEVIL filler- you wont find it in most of the DIY sheds though. Sand it back with 180g silicon carbide- not aluminium oxide!!!

Sand lightly though- I prefer to use it after the first emulsion as it hardens up the paper a tad.

There are other brands of light weight fillers- Wickes used to rebrand the red devil stuff- now they have a different but crap filler.

I did find a new one the other day that is better than red devil for fine filling- will post the name once I can remember it- bloody expensive though.

 

[xr4x4]

I buy red devil from brewers.

 

[237]

...I had a real problem with paint crazing and it mattered none that i even used a PVA sealer and it still came through the emulsion...

Never never never put PVA on a surface you hope to paint.

My decorator has been using easyfill on walls that are being lined and emulsioned, his results are first-class. He wipes lightly with yellow abrasive paper off a roll.

I don't but have never in all honesty come across this problem have i just been lucky upto now? No the PVA sort of stuff i used was Polycell 3 in 1 problem wall Primer and says on the container ok to paint with what ever. It dries just like PVA and has a film like PVA. The other walls this was used on were fine no problems but one wall in particular was a real problem. Anyway sorted this out now and the walls now are very impressive. The paint that was on the wall prior to the emulsion i put on and started to craze must have had something in it maybe like distemper? which affected the primer i put on the wall.. The previous paint job appeared to be emulsion and was not oil based. Is there any treatment that works? rather than lining paper.

 

[opps]

Just wondering- but why would anyone want to leaves gaps if they are intending to paint?

I can almost see the logic if cross lining. Even then I always thought it was an "lame" excuse. Different horses I guess...

 

[TheDec]

Opps,

There is often a litte confusion attatched to the leaving of open seams in lining paper, I can cast my mind back to when I was an apprentice when it was always drummed into us that it was better to not quite butt the joint than to overlap.

This however would only concern paperhanging and not painting, it seems to me that the confusion still exists.

Dec

 

[xr4x4]

I understand the gap logic, although I've never heard of it before.

Unless your very very good at hanging lining/wallpaper, there's always a line.

 

[TheDec]

I understand the gap logic, although I've never heard of it before.

Unless your very very good at hanging lining/wallpaper, there's always a line.

Well it isn't so much as logic, in my day we always crosslined if we were to have left the smallest of gaps it would'nt have had any effect regarding the finish paper. Yet if we had overlaped the seams the end result would have been disaster.

I think that this was the point that the Tutor was trying to drum into us, It matters not really what type of paper you hang, if the seams are correctly butted the entire surface would be uniform. Of course regarding both lining paper and the reliefs such as the Glylptas, you will always be able to see the seam yet the surface should be uniform and if hung correctly the seams would be obliterated with the application of paint.

Dec