painting nightmare!!

[michaela]

Hi

I haven't been on here for a while as things were going so smoothly on the decorating my house front - I knew it wouldn't last!!. I have started decorating in my front room. I was confronted with a dado rail halfway up the wall which I have removed, below this was wallpaper (it's very friendly with the wall and is hanging on for grim death) and above the rail is paint. I have begun stripping the wallpaper only to discover that as it peels away it takes a lot of the paint that is under it off with it. This paint appears quite thick and has been put directly onto a very nicely plastered wall. It appears that no mist or undercoat has been used. The paint is slightly shiny, as I move my scraper up the now patchy wall I discover that I can even strip the paint that was above the dado. This paint has under it the same paint at the bottom wall. I am now left with patchy areas of bare plaster and paint. The paint that I have left on the walls does not come off easily. My question after this long winded explanation is : I want to paint not paper the walls, the original paint (both lots of it) was rollered on producing the orange peel effect. Do i have to persevere and get ALL the old paint off and if so what is the best way? or can I rub the edges of the patchy paint and roller my colour choice on - I usually use a paint brush as I hate rollers but as it has already been rollered, painting won't make it look any better - all advice from you wonderful people out there will be gratefully received, many thanks

 

[Magnolia Matt]

Hmmm, if the remaining paint is stubborn, I would prime the areas of bare plaster with thinned emulsion 20% water - then give the primed area a full coat of emulsion to bring it forward to the rest. You then have a uniform surface to fill edges/ridges and mabye consider 1000 grade lining paper before final emulsion to achieve 'perfection'. You need to be a competent paperhanger though to avoid overlaps or gaps.

 

[michaela]

Thanks for the advice Matt, I'm no good at hanging wallpaper so I think I'll try the painting option, could you tell me the best filler to use. Thanks in advance

 

[joe-90]

The best way to do it is to get a flat plastic scraper from Wilkos and then mix up some Polyfilla and use the scraper to lay a very thin layer over the missing paint. When it is dry use a sanding block (not fingers) and sand it very lightly until the whole area is perfectly flat. Then paint as you would fresh plaster.


joe

 

[michaela]

Hi Joe-90 I have some polycell fine filler (already made up stuff) and a filling knife - will that do? just to save buying more.

 

[joe-90]

Hi Joe-90 I have some polycell fine filler (already made up stuff) and a filling knife - will that do? just to save buying more.

The filler is good but not the knife. You need something like a grout spreader that has a flat end - something that looks like a large credit card. This will let you wipe on a very thin layer and will save you sanding back too much. The scraper must be big enough to bridge the damaged area though.


joe

 

[spice]

The same method can be used with a wide filling knife.

 

[joe-90]

The same method can be used with a wide filling knife.

Yes, sorry, for some reason I thought she meant putty knife. My mistake.


joe

 

[Zampa]

Dont bother with the ready mixed fine surface filler..its like rubbing concrete down when it dries.

Stick to the powder type.

 

[michaela]

Thanks to everyone who has given advice - mix it up yourself filler it is.