Plasterer didn't skim walls!!!

[Turnsnip]

Hi. I had a couple of patches of blown plaster in an old wall I needed redoing. I was on the verge of trying to tackle this myself before a guy decided he could do it. When I saw the finished job it was just pure bonding plaster filling the entire hole back to brick, now nicely level with all the adjacent surfaces. This wall is going to be wallpapered and he said to just seal it with pva and the wallpaper will stick. If that's going to work I don't really care as the rougher finish will never be seen. I'm skepical though.

It was a quick and cheap evening job so no chance he's going to sort it out.

If the bonding plaster isn't going to have wallpaper adhere to it, what can I do now that the wall is all level short of knocking it all out and doing it all again myself having ****ed money down the drain? Maybe a paper thin layer of multi finish? But that would leave a lip around the edge which probably will show through the paper.

Anyone got any ideas?

 

[Alastairreid]

You should be able to scrape the bonding back a couple of mm with the edge of your trowel if its just a patch..pva then skim flush.
Either that scrape back the edges, pva skim and feather in.

 

[Turnsnip]

You should be able to scrape the bonding back a couple of mm with the edge of your trowel if its just a patch..pva then skim flush.
Either that scrape back the edges, pva skim and feather in.

It's quite a big patch... 6' high by 18"/24" or so wide.

I take it the wallpaper won't adhere to the bonding plaster then regardless of what I put on it?

 

[terryplumb]

if you are only talking about smallish areas sand down ,see if you can get it smooth ,if not ,reduce down further and then apply filler and sand further.

 

[Alastairreid]

The paper will stick to the bonding if you seal it first..a couple of coats of paste will do...It wont be so easy to get the paper back off the bonding in the future.

 

[Turnsnip]

The paper will stick to the bonding if you seal it first..a couple of coats of paste will do...It wont be so easy to get the paper back off the bonding in the future.

In that case I'm happy just to paper straight onto it. Most the plaster on the wall is at least 80 years old and has accumulated lots of gouges and nicks over the years, it would be want the whole wall knocking out and replastered if it was to have anything but wallpaper on. When the time comes to redecorate I will just have to paper over the top or get the whole wall redone properly. It's an expense that can be put on the back burner whilst funds are eaten up elsewhere at the point of moving into a new house so if it's going to do the job I'm happy.

I just wasn't sure it would! Undercoat plaster seems to suck up everything...

 

[Doggit]

How big is the wall, as the bonding being to the same height as the rest, would now allow you to skim the wall, as that would normally be the next step.

As Alastair has said, you can paper onto the bonding, but it might be worth putting up lining paper first.

 

[Turnsnip]

How big is the wall, as the bonding being to the same height as the rest, would now allow you to skim the wall, as that would normally be the next step.

As Alastair has said, you can paper onto the bonding, but it might be worth putting up lining paper first.

I think it's 2.9 wide x 2.6/7ish high. Has a window in it too. Just a big strip of bonding up the middle around 3/4 of the way up. The bonding is perfectly flush with the rest of the wall, if I put a skim on it would either stick out or I'd have to skim the whole wall.

I'm not bothered if the paper is a bastard to get off, if it ever comes off it would only be to paint it instead in which case all the plaster would come off and the whole wall done again properly.

 

[Doggit]

Yes, the next step would normall by skimming the whole wall, but I think you're going to be fine as is. Best of luck.

 

[Turnsnip]

Brilliant, thanks all. I'm perfectly happy with it the way it is then and a paltry sum well spent for the purpose. Just wanted to make sure and not find out the hard way a couple of months down the line after £300 worth of wallpaper started falling off

 

[chappers]

Wouldn't have thought it would fall off but the patch may show through.

 

[Doggit]

Hence if you put up lining paper first, that'll ensure you've got a good surface to work from.

 

[Turnsnip]

I've got some contract Matt for other areas which have just been replastered properly. Plenty of left over. I could just splash a few coats of that over to blend the patch in with the rest of the wall?

 

[Doggit]

Not the best of ideas to be honest. If there are any issues with the paint not sticking, then the wallpaper can delaminate. The problem you've got, is that bonding can get wet, and crumble, and PVA can become live again when it gets wet from the walpaper paste. You really need a waterproof PVA that won't reconstitute itself, but it's not worth it for that size patch.