Hi all, hopefully someone can point me in the right direction. I've just had a wall hatch closed off and skimmed level, for decorating next month. The original wall is plasterboard that appears to have been lined prior to painting. The new skimmed bit isn't lined and as it's level with wall I don't know if I'll be able to line it. If I paper straight onto plaster, are there any issues I should be aware of? Thanks gents.
wallpapering plaster
- Thread starter David1983
- Start date
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Found this [paraphrased] advice elsewhere:
Newly plastered walls and ceilings need to be sized (sealed). New plaster is very porous. If you apply any kind of ordinary paste directly onto new plaster, moisture will immediately be sucked out of that paste. In simple terms this leaves the paste going dry on the surface only and because the moisture has been sucked out so quickly, it has no "roots" or "key". The paste may soon start to lose its grip.
To seal a surface before you hang wall paper the wall also needs to be totally dry. The reason for not sizing (sealing) before the wall is completely dry is that it will form an air tight skin over the wall. The moisture from the new plaster is then trapped behind this skin and cannot evaporate off. The damp then either retreats back into the wall where it develops mould growth or reacts with the salts in the wall.
Sealing a surface for papering can be done using a proprietary product called size. This is a gelatinous solution which is mixed with water and applied straight onto the wall and allowed to dry. It can be papered over while still wet but, with the addition of wallpapering paste it sometimes makes the wall too slippery to hang paper properly. A dilution of the wallpaper paste you are going to use can also be used as a form of size to seal the wall. Most pastes will have a sizing solution on the packet but a rough guide is to use 25% more water in a sizing solution.
If you intend to apply a vinyl paper to the surface, it is best to prepare the walls by sizing with a dilution of a paste with fungicide in it. Vinyl papers are air proof and as a result any dampness at all that is trapped behind the paper will not be allowed to evaporate out. This could turn to mould.
Apply the size or diluted paste with a large emulsion brush.
Hope it helps,
Tone.
Newly plastered walls and ceilings need to be sized (sealed). New plaster is very porous. If you apply any kind of ordinary paste directly onto new plaster, moisture will immediately be sucked out of that paste. In simple terms this leaves the paste going dry on the surface only and because the moisture has been sucked out so quickly, it has no "roots" or "key". The paste may soon start to lose its grip.
To seal a surface before you hang wall paper the wall also needs to be totally dry. The reason for not sizing (sealing) before the wall is completely dry is that it will form an air tight skin over the wall. The moisture from the new plaster is then trapped behind this skin and cannot evaporate off. The damp then either retreats back into the wall where it develops mould growth or reacts with the salts in the wall.
Sealing a surface for papering can be done using a proprietary product called size. This is a gelatinous solution which is mixed with water and applied straight onto the wall and allowed to dry. It can be papered over while still wet but, with the addition of wallpapering paste it sometimes makes the wall too slippery to hang paper properly. A dilution of the wallpaper paste you are going to use can also be used as a form of size to seal the wall. Most pastes will have a sizing solution on the packet but a rough guide is to use 25% more water in a sizing solution.
If you intend to apply a vinyl paper to the surface, it is best to prepare the walls by sizing with a dilution of a paste with fungicide in it. Vinyl papers are air proof and as a result any dampness at all that is trapped behind the paper will not be allowed to evaporate out. This could turn to mould.
Apply the size or diluted paste with a large emulsion brush.
Hope it helps,
Tone.
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Thanks for your advice, I'm curious that if I paint it as suggested by Robbie UK or size as suggested by toneless, if I come to strip the wallpaper anytime in the future would the wallpaper take the plaster off with it? Forgive me, I'm a total diy novice! Once again, thanks!
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