Help with plasterboard

[Steven2907]

Hi,

im in the middle of decorating a rented house, which i will be moving into in 2 weeks but i've come across a major issue! Whilst stripping the wallpaper the protective layer of paper on the plasterboard came off(wallpaper has been up since the 60's)! My issue is that i don't want to spend loads of money getting a plasterer to come in and replaster everything as we are only renting and will be moving out again in 1 year!

What do you suggest is do? i was thinking about sealing it with PVA then applying Primer then painting it? Would this protect the plaster board from damp?

 

[crj]

Without knowing the extent of the damage it's hard to give good advice. A more detailed description or even pictures would help.

 

[Steven2907]

the damage isn't too severe(i think), The walls are back to the dark grey material(slightly flaky, rough looking). Cant get pictures at the moment! Digital camera is packing in a box somewhere?!?!?!

 

[NickStone]

Try lining paper, Steve. It's cheap and will give you a decent surface on which to paint. (And next time you strip wallpaper, you might try using a steam stripper. That melts the glue and you can take the paper off without spoiling the plasterboard.)

 

[joe-90]

I hope you got the landlord's permission to do what you are doing or you'll lose your bond. Wash it over with cheap watered down emulsion 20% water added) and see what it looks like. If it's not too bad then you can just patch up the rough bits.

BTW A steam stripper doesn't melt the glue it reconstitutes it with hot water.

 

[NickStone]

BTW A steam stripper doesn't melt the glue it reconstitutes it with hot water.

According to my dictionary, 'melt' is synonymous with 'dissolve' and that's what happens to the glue once it's mixed with the water from the steam.

 

[Steven2907]

The lanlord doesn't mind what we do to it as she is going to take the house back to its shell in a years time to put in a new heating system before she sells it!

We are planning on either, sanding walls, PVA, then painting with good quality paint

Or

Sanding, PVA and lining paper, then paint?

What do you think?

Thanks

Steve

 

[NickStone]

Steven, before you go down the pva under paint route, have a look at this thread:

//www.diynot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=342008#342008

 

[joe-90]

BTW A steam stripper doesn't melt the glue it reconstitutes it with hot water.

According to my dictionary, 'melt' is synonymous with 'dissolve' and that's what happens to the glue once it's mixed with the water from the steam.

Synonyms aren't accurate but a loose relationship. If you put a hot iron on plastic it will melt - but it won't dissolve. Alka Saltza dissolves in water - but it doesn't melt.

 

[joe-90]

Don't put PVA on walls you are going to paint - it'll peel off.

Do as I suggest and apply a thinned down coat first - then see what you've got.

 

[NickStone]

Synonyms aren't accurate but a loose relationship. If you put a hot iron on plastic it will melt - but it won't dissolve. Alka Saltza dissolves in water - but it doesn't melt.

Joe, I take your point but I think we'll have to agree to disagree on this one. Words can often mean more than one thing, depending on context, as in 'the crowds melted away.' If you prefer to use another word instead of 'melt' that's fine by me.

 

[Steven2907]

Thanks!!!

Just to confirm(can you tell DIY ain't my thing! Ask me to do anything else, not a problem!)

Sand the wall, 20% watered down emulsion, if it looks ok paint over with good quality paint?

Thanks!

 

[spice]

All good advice there, but I will just tell you what I would do regarding the flaky peeled bits of the plasterboard.

The problem when the PB is ripped/torn/flaked, is that when you try and sand it down it will rip/tear up again, not everywhere on the PB, but it will happen somewhere along the way.

Depending on what your actually going to do, IE, just paint over the existing PB or line it.

Try and sand as much of the torn bits as you can without making it worse, then I would use diluted PVA on the actual ripped bits, this will stop it from ripping, flaking, tearing up anymore.
I daresay you have gouges or indents along the way, then fill these, using a powder filler that you knock up.
When the filler is dry, and your happy with the indents/gouges, then brush on some diluted emulsion on these filled areas, do this a couple of times.
Then you can start on your normal painting, but thin well the first coat down, as the PB will soak it up no end, and even slightly thin your second coat.

If your going to line, then I would do everything above, but when the filler is dry, then just dab on again instead of the emulsion diluted PVA on these filled areas.
This will stop the filler from blowing/cracking, (specially if there is a lot of filler in the one area), when the paste from the lining paper hits it.

You do what suits you, but I am telling you what I would do, as I have done this on ripped PB many a time.



YIPPEE!!!! ITS FRIDAY....