Redecorating bedroom

Having removed the old fitted wardrobes, I've turned my attention to the walls. There are different combinations of wallpapers and paint layered on:

Area 1 - three layers of wallpaper (base is floral, then two types of anaglypta)
Area 2 - three layers of flat wallpaper, at least two layers of paint (one layer is me painting acrylic matt white over some weird dark blue paint)
Area 3 - two layers of wallpaper (lining and floral)

I've tackled Area 1 with Tiger paper scorer, DIF and a scraper. Top layer came off easily, next two layers were difficult.

Q1: Would steamer be better for Area 3? Or should I carry on with scoring, DIF and scraper?

Q2: How do I tackle the painted areas? Shall I try scoring anyway? Sand the top layer of paint? Do something else?

The previous owners made a fist sized hole between the wall plaster and ceiling plasterboard, to pass through a TV antenna. I want to neaten it up - was thinking of a plastic tube that I can cement or fill into place:



Q3: What can I use? Ready mixed plaster, or something like ronseal wall filler?
https://www.screwfix.com/p/ronseal-big-hole-ready-mixed-wall-filler-grey-1-2ltr/95289

Score the paper, apply hot water with a squeeze of washing up liquid (not too soapy) or even a bit of washing powder, allow to soak in and wet again, allow to soak, scrape with a heavy duty scraper.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/heavy-duty-scraper-4/16530

Steamers can often cause more damage than necessary by popping plaster or damaging plasterboard. If the above doesn't work, then try a steamer, but don't keep it in one spot for too long.

Various fillers are available for the hole you have, but I would probably choose a powdered filler which will set in about 30-60 minutes and is easily sandable.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/toupret-powdered-interior-filler-2kg/4911h

A small piece of 10mm pvc pipe/tube is a good option as a conduit for the coaxial cable so that it can be easily fed through or removed, if necessary. You can also use hole covers to neaten up the job.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/interior-hole-covers-white-pack-of-5/33725

misterhelpful said:

Score the paper, apply hot water with a squeeze of washing up liquid (not too soapy) or even a bit of washing powder, allow to soak in and wet again, allow to soak, scrape with a heavy duty scraper.

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That's what I've been doing except I added Zinsser DIF instead of washing up liquid.

misterhelpful said:

Various fillers are available for the hole you have, but I would probably choose a powdered filler which will set in about 30-60 minutes and is easily sandable.
https://www.screwfix.com/p/toupret-powdered-interior-filler-2kg/4911h

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I was thinking of premixed rather than attempting to make up some filler. Is toupret idiot-proof?

misterhelpful said:

A small piece of 10mm pvc pipe/tube is a good option as a conduit for the coaxial cable so that it can be easily fed through or removed, if necessary. You can also use hole covers to neaten up the job.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/interior-hole-covers-white-pack-of-5/33725

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That looks like an excellent option.

stealthwolf said:

That's what I've been doing except I added Zinsser DIF instead of washing up liquid.

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That's fine, but it wasn't around in the days that I started as a decorator. Soapy water was what I was taught to use and it served me well for 20 years. It is important to thoroughly soak the paper before scraping, and scoring painted and vinyl paper is vital for this to work. The Tiger you mention does a great job of scoring.

stealthwolf said:

I was thinking of premixed rather than attempting to make up some filler. Is toupret idiot-proof?

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Premixed is also fine, but a lot of them are light-weight and can be relatively soft when dry. I'm not sure about the product you liked to because I've never used it, but Toupret is a very popular product within the trade. You can mix it up fairly stiff for deep holes and thin for fine filling. It sets fairly quickly when mixed stiff but won't slump and can be sanded nicely.
Deep hole, ready-mixed, fillers have improved in recent years, so I imagine the Ronseal product will be suitable and you shouldn't have the worry of it setting before you use it.

Much more expensive, but this is the best scraper I have ever used.

https://www.ffx.co.uk/tools/product/Olfa-Xsr-300-0091511220063-X-Design-300Mm-Heavy-Duty-Scraper.

The last time I used a cheap one the blade holder buckled whilst trying to scrape off tile adhesive.

Olfa also make the best snap-off blade knives I have ever used. Quality Japanese tools.

This is the scraper I ended up buying:
https://www.screwfix.com/p/no-nonsense-long-handled-scraper-6/87299

Also bought some replacement blades.

Steamer from screwfix was useless. I had a better result from using my garden sprayer. There was a slight improvement if I used DIF in the water. Other than that it just took time and elbow grease.

Glnna patch up the screw holes where the previous wardrobes had been fastened to the wall, and a few places where a small amount of blown plaster had crumbled away.

Tomorrow I’ll repaint the skirting and the coving. Then next week I’ll put up lining paper.

I once made the mistake of putting DIF in my Earlex Steam Master. It took weeks to flush the crud out.

opps said:

I once made the mistake of putting DIF in my Earlex Steam Master. It took weeks to flush the crud out.

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I read that recently. Probably on here too.

I'm looking at lining paper.
Is there a good brand and suitable "all-purpose" grade to go for?

Most brands of lining paper are pretty similar, ie 560mm wide.

Probaby cheaper from a decorators' merchant than a DIY store though

My preference is for 1000 grade but I spend a lot of time filling and sanding the walls. The current defacto standard gauge seems to be 1400 or 1600 grade. The higher the number the thicker the paper.

I'd recommend buying double, rather than single rolls. The looser winding/rolling means the paper is less inclined to want to roll itself up as you try to paste it on the pasting table.

Consider using a paint scuttle and roller to apply the paste to the paper. I seldom bother mixing size for the walls. I use the same roller and paste to paste both the wall and paper simultaneously. I find helps on hot days to ensure that nothing dries out prematurely. Note- if you are working on gritty old horsehair plaster walls, there may be bits of grit that get dragged out of tiny holes- if that is the case then size the walls and give it a light sand once the sixe has dried to dislodge the grit before papering. Any tiny bits of grit that appear later after papering can often be tapped with a hammer to eliminate them.

I smooth the paper with one of these

https://www.bridgetools.co.uk/wallpaper-smoother-12in.ir

The same tool can then be used as a straight line with a knife for trimming the paper at the skirting/ceiling. In reality I use varying lenghted straight edges depending on how straight things are, additionally I use 9mm snap off blades to ensure that I have a consistently sharp knife.

Lining paper is amazingly forgiving. If you use a sander with dust extraction you can even sand through it once it is dry. If, for whatever reason to need to stop papering you can fold the paper back, come back the next day, give it a light spray with water and then continue (eg you notice that you forgot to fill around a socket, crease the paper, let it and the filler dry, next day sand the filler and wet the paper and then continue with that length of paper.

When running the paper around irregular external corners, let the paper run around by 4cm, lay the next layer over it and then use a straight edge to cut through both layers and remove the excess.

When papering ceilings on your own, you can put tight creases in to the lining paper as you concertina fold it. As the paper dries the creases disappear.

Well we did some papering over the weekend. A little daunting since it was our first time.

Used Erfurt 1400 lining paper in the end. Easy to use. A bit trickier to cut with a blade (it would tear) so used scissors. Left one sheet to soak, cut and pasted the next one. A brush helped adhere it to the wall. I used a vinyl blade tool to smooth it perfectly. Most walls were fine. Around the chimney stack, the plaster wasn't as good and there were a few ripples in the paper that were unavoidable (unless I'd reskimmed the whole room).

I couldn't find recommendations for paint roller for pasting (didn't know if short pile or medium pile was best) but used a pasting brush and solvite ready mixed glue. The walls had been sized the night before with the glue watered down by 25%.

A couple of sheets have tiny gaps intermittently along their length. I've seen loads of recommendations for different types of lightweight filler (red devil, easifill, polyfilla, caulking) to be applied after painting first coat and then sanded lightly before applying second coat. But the reviews on the websites seem to be variable so I don't know what to go for. I've seen some forums recommend sealing the filler with zinsser 1-2-3 before painting the second coat to prevent flashing (or grinning).

Is there a recommended filler?
Do I need to seal the filler?

Am painting over with matt acrylic primer for undercoat for now (haven't decided on final colour).

If the paper is ripping when you trim it you aren't doing it correctly (sorry, yes, I appreciate that sounds condescending- it is not intended to)

Let's assume that you are trimming the paper where it meets the skirting- use your thin wide filling knife to push the paper down towards the skirting (from above the skirting). The paper is now tight up to the skirting, if your blade is sharp, the paper should not be able to rip as you run the knife againts the edge of the filling knife. Use a snap off blade knife and snap the blade off as soon as it goes blunt.

opps said:

If the paper is ripping when you trim it you aren't doing it correctly (sorry, yes, I appreciate that sounds condescending- it is not intended to)

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No offence take. This is what I used:
https://www.toolstation.com/trimming-edge/p35714 and https://www.toolstation.com/olfa-snap-off-wallpaper-cutting-knife/p48883

I snapped off the blade after each drop. The bladd would cut fine and then snag, causing a small tear. I ended up going freehand and was more successful.

stealthwolf said:

No offence take. This is what I used:
https://www.toolstation.com/trimming-edge/p35714 and https://www.toolstation.com/olfa-snap-off-wallpaper-cutting-knife/p48883

I snapped off the blade after each drop. The bladd would cut fine and then snag, causing a small tear. I ended up going freehand and was more successful.

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I suspect it is your technique. Ideally you want the knife to be tight up against the flat edge (ie almost parallel with it). I see you purchased the 12mm Olfa knife- I prefer the 9mm knife as if flexes more. I normally have about 1.5" of the blade sticking out of the knife to maintain the optimum angle. The downside is that on the odd occasion the blade snaps if you apply too much lateral pressure the blade will snap, additionally when extending and contracting the blade so frequently you increase the risk of cutting yourself.

In your defence the flat edge you have is far too long to apply sufficient pressure, and the design of it makes it more difficult you keep the knife blade snug and tight. I normally use the 12" flat edge that I linked to earlier but if the walls/skirtings etc are all over the place I use much smaller straight edges, sometimes as small as 2" when cutting the last bit along the top of the skirting in a corner.

opps said:

I suspect it is your technique.

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Completely agree. I would allow about an inch or so of the blade to protrude to provide some flex in the blade. I tried different cutting angles. Annoyingly some cuts were perfect, others needed repeated cuts or I resorted to scissors ut there was no obvious rhyme or reason.