Bad walls after stripping wall paper

[Bubbauk]

Hey everyone I am just about finished stripping my living room and have noticed a few problems that I will need to sort before painting it.

There has been a picture rail at some point and when this was removed someone has filled it in pretty badly as it must have ripped chunks of the plaster off, most of it is sitting out from the wall and not that many dips so I am hoping I can sand this smooth, I have an orbital sander by I can get hold of a belt sander if I need to.

There was a dado rail that I have removed myself but when I did this it has removed a small bit of plaster in some parts, only a few mm deep and no more than 5cm wide.

There are some settlement cracks that look like that been previously filled with cement? It is pretty hard and is grey in colour.

Also in some points walls have been tracked and again look like they have been filled with cement but this could just been some plaster.

Most of the problems under the wallpaper I would estimate to be over 30 years old, the house is I think 70 years old and the wallpaper has been on there from before the central heating system was fitted (I think)

My plan is to buy a bag of plaster and fill all the holds and imperfections in, then sand with 120grit all over and then 220, then a matt base coat and then my top coat.

I know I should ideally get the room replastered but I am not exactly loaded and want to do as much work as I can myself, I am assuming that plaster will be pretty easy to work with in the small patches I need to use it in.

Thanks for any advice
David

 

[Richard C]

Hey everyone I am just about finished stripping my living room and have noticed a few problems that I will need to sort before painting it.

There has been a picture rail at some point and when this was removed someone has filled it in pretty badly as it must have ripped chunks of the plaster off, most of it is sitting out from the wall and not that many dips so I am hoping I can sand this smooth, I have an orbital sander by I can get hold of a belt sander if I need to.

Christ don’t use any of those on your wall; it will rip it to shreds, destroy any texture that’s left in the original plaster finish which will take gallons of paint to cover; 120 grit max on a sanding block but not in circles.

There was a dado rail that I have removed myself but when I did this it has removed a small bit of plaster in some parts, only a few mm deep and no more than 5cm wide.

Patch it with filler (easyfill), don’t use plaster.

There are some settlement cracks that look like that been previously filled with cement? It is pretty hard and is grey in colour.

Depending on how bad the cracks are you may need more than just filler; if the bricks are cracked underneath filler will never work for more than a few months/weeks.

Also in some points walls have been tracked and again look like they have been filled with cement but this could just been some plaster.

No way of knowing, it could be Bonding plaster (which could look like cement) but if sand/cement, the texture will be completely different; either way it will show through the paint finish & needs many coats.

Most of the problems under the wallpaper I would estimate to be over 30 years old, the house is I think 70 years old and the wallpaper has been on there from before the central heating system was fitted (I think)

Time for a major overhaul but whatever is required will depend on the base plaster/render is still actually stuck to the wall; tap it, does it sound hallow? Slapping loads of filler over it is going to be little more than a temporary bodge; the “decos” may advise lining paper but not me, I hate the stuff.

My plan is to buy a bag of plaster and fill all the holds and imperfections in, then sand with 120grit all over and then 220, then a matt base coat and then my top coat. I know I should ideally get the room replastered

Don’t do it, it will be hard work & most probably end in disaster for you; plastering is not easy despite what you may think & Gypsum plaster is not designed to be sanded. If you really want to fill & make the best of it with sandpaper, use Easyfill not plaster. But if the wall is in as bad a state as it sounds, a new plaster job will be the best option. It may seem expensive but it will (in all probability) be over in 1-2 days depending on size of room & problems found. Be careful what you do now as you could make future remedial work even more difficult & expensive.

I am assuming that plaster will be pretty easy to work with in the small patches I need to use it in.

Sorry to say my friend you’re completely wrong. As I said, plaster is not meant to be sanded, it’s too hard & causes problems with the grain, if you really must patch, use Easyfill!

 

[Bubbauk]

Wow, I was completely off the mark then, I did a quick search on google and a lot of people said sanding plaster shouldnt be a problem.

I do not want to put up any sort of paper again!

My room is about 21foot by 11foot, How much roughly would it be to replaster the entire room including the ceiling, I have an artex ceiling I want to get rid off, some of it is already peeling off, will the plastered just chip away all the lose bits and plaster over the top of the rest?

Thanks for the help.

 

[Bubbauk]

Just took some pictures of the bad areas to show what I mean, this is just some of them, there are multiple areas similar to the pictures, also notice how close a nail hole is to the wall that has been tracked for a power socket, whoever was putting up the dado rail must not have even checked, the nail is actually directly above the socket but luckily it is tracked slightly to the side of the socket.

http://img811.imageshack.us/img811/1263/image559.jpg
http://img687.imageshack.us/img687/6771/image554.jpg
http://img820.imageshack.us/img820/6263/image555h.jpg
http://img535.imageshack.us/img535/2295/image556.jpg
http://img832.imageshack.us/img832/9223/image557.jpg
http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/5126/image558.jpg

All the walls feel very solid and none of them sound hollow, I assume this would mean the plaster has came away from the brick?

 

[Richard C]

Just took some pictures of the bad areas to show what I mean, this is just some of them, there are multiple areas similar to the pictures,

Images aren’t very clear & not sure exactly what I’m looking at, maybe taken too close; it does look a bit rough & some of the cracks may be more than skin deep needing more drastic repairs; lots of work & even more dust if you just intend to fill & sand. No guarantee the deeper cracks won't reapear if the blocks/bricks underneath are cracked.

All the walls feel very solid and none of them sound hollow, I assume this would mean the plaster has came away from the brick?

Have you miss-typed your reply? If the walls sound solid when tapped, you may not have any problems!

also notice how close a nail hole is to the wall that has been tracked for a power socket, whoever was putting up the dado rail must not have even checked, the nail is actually directly above the socket but luckily it is tracked slightly to the side of the socket.

Unfortunately you will have no way of knowing if the cables have been skewered unless you check. During a recent lounge refurbishment & had to strip back large areas to repair cracks in the substrate & in doing so, I unearthed (sorry) that 3 of the 4 wall light cables had been penetrated by the light fixing screws, thankfully 2 on the earth conductor one on the neutral. They weren’t the original light fittings as there were other holes so whoever fitted them after the original wiring was a complete dick. The only way to know for sure is a resistance test or visible check if it doesn’t continually trip the RCD (if you have one). In the case I found, the consumer unit had actually been replaced but the RCD still wasn’t tripping!

 

[Bubbauk]

Hi, thanks for the help, I think it will be best to just get it plastered, I know a few plasterers who will give me mates rates so shouldn't be too costly, will get them out and get a few quotes.

 

[Bubbauk]

Hey

Had a plasterer come out and give me a quote tonight, to do the entire room and ceiling he quoted £220 plus materials, I would have to strip the old artex ceiling though, but seems easy enough as its mostly falling off.

Does this seem like a reasonable enough price, he said he was doing it a bit cheaper as he is a friend of a friend, but then he said it would take him all day, £220 seems like a lot for a days work, now I understand that he can charge more because he can be quicker and plaster to a higher standard than other people and I have seen his plastering and it is very good.

I will phone a couple more people tomorrow and see what they say.

Cheers.

 

[opps]

the 220 might include someone to mix the plaster for him. Sounds reasonable. Can't comment further though without seeing the job and the quality of his finish.

 

[Richard C]

Had a plasterer come out and give me a quote tonight, to do the entire room and ceiling he quoted £220 plus materials,

Has he checked the soundness of old plaster? If you’ve got cracks that go through the substrate, they will only return if proper remedial work is not undertaken; such repairs would be more than one days work!

I would have to strip the old artex ceiling though, but seems easy enough as its mostly falling off.

Fair enough if it’s falling off but you can usually skim over it sucessfully.

Does this seem like a reasonable enough price, he said he was doing it a bit cheaper as he is a friend of a friend, but then he said it would take him all day, £220 seems like a lot for a days work now I understand that he can charge more because he can be quicker and plaster to a higher standard than other people and I have seen his plastering and it is very good.

What size is the room? It’s a little on the high side these days (£180-£200) but not a lot if he’s as good as you say & he may be pricing for a long day. However, I reckon all he’s quoting you for is a re-skim, albeit should be a good quality one; he won’t be doing any serious remedial work on cracks for that &, if bad, they will return!

I will phone a couple more people tomorrow and see what they say.

Good idea but bear in mind what I’ve said, be sure of what needs to be done & what you’re getting for your money.

 

[Richard C]

the 220 might include someone to mix the plaster for him.

Not necessary on such a small job, if he brings someone along it should be at his expense.

 

[Bubbauk]

Hey everyone, thanks for the replies, the room is 21 foot by 11 foot I think, I have also removed my fireplace so its back to the bare brick, he will be tidying this up for me also, he will also be doing my window frames which are made of metal, he will be bonding plasterboard on there first the night before. Only problem I see here is that my vertical blinds might not fit as one one of the windows (there are 2 in total) there is little to no room either side, can you cut vertical blinds shorter so they are not as wide or would I need to buy new ones?

This is the materials he has asked for

6 bags of finish
2 bonding
roll of 2" scrim
8 skimming angle beeds
2 and half litres of pva bond

The artex ceiling is falling off and he even removed a bit to check what its like and it literally just fell off in most bits, and shouldn't take too long to remove, I will have to confirm with him about the quality of the current plaster as he didn't even touch the walls apart from the corners to check the angles?

He has done some plastering for us in work and for my boss, he is one my bosses best friends nephews, the work he has done in our work place I would consider perfect very very smooth and not a mark on it although he only did a couple of walls for us and nothing major and he did replaster a couple of rooms for my bosses mum and she was very happy with it but I havent seen this myself.

Thanks again
David

 

[Richard C]

the room is 21 foot by 11 foot I think, I have also removed

That’s a big room for the money & it’s a very good day’s work; not sure about NI rates though.

my fireplace so its back to the bare brick, he will be tidying this up for me also,

DO NOT let him “tidy up” the area around or inside the fire with Gypsum plaster (either base or finish) it wont stand more than 50 degrees C & if your going to run a fire, the heat will blow it off the wall in less than a month, Use only heat resistant render (or sand/cement/lime render mix) & heat proof plaster within 300mm of the sides & 700mm of the top of the fire opening; if you don’t, it WILL fail.

This is the materials he has asked for

6 bags of finish
2 bonding
roll of 2" scrim
8 skimming angle beeds
2 and half litres of pva bond

At standard ceiling height, I make that around 50 sq/metres without the ceiling; I rekon he’s well light on the Multifinish unless skimming just one coat; I bag =10sq/m @ 2mm thick.

Depends what he’s doing with the Bonding, is he going to base coat the ceiling out with it?

 

[Bubbauk]

Yes, bonding is for the ceiling and fireplace, I will not be putting a fire back in as I have mounted my tv above the fireplace, I dont really need the fireplace tidied up but he said it would only be an extra £10 for materials do it, I am building a unit that will cover it all anyway but for the sake of £10 its worth while getting done just in case I have a change of plans but doubt I will ever put a fire in, if I do I will get it all done properly then. He said it will take him from 9-7 which I work out at £20 an hour which seems reasonable for skilled labour.

I can only assume that NI should be dearer than mainland UK as pretty much everything else usually is lol.

There are 2 doors and 2 windows in the room, here are a couple of pictures to give you an idea of size.

http://img251.imageshack.us/img251/1285/36792994.jpg
http://img638.imageshack.us/img638/5619/36792993.jpg

Thanks again for all the advice and information.

 

[joe-90]

That's a 2 day job.

 

[Richard C]

That's a 2 day job.

Well I'd certainly want 2 days for it, especially if Bonding & skimming the ceiling & I think he's going to struggle finishing that in 10 hours if he’s working alone. Think youve got a bargain there, lets hope he's a good un.