prefab home help!

[kateap]

I've posted this in decorating as well, but thought I'd post it here too.

My house is a nightmare! Moved in about a year ago, and now finally getting round to decorating.

It is a prefab (post war I think) property. The previous occupiers put up nasty embossed wall paper, covered with beige gloss finish paint in every room. I have no idea what is behind the wallpaper, but on a hunch I think it might just be plasterboard, as you can see the joins quite easily. I've taken a bit of the wallpaper off in one room, but have no idea what I am looking for. The wall is bright orange underneath, what is this? All my previous homes have been plastered, and am a bit of a DIY novice, so not entirely sure where to start!

Ideally I don't want to plaster anything, can you paint straight onto plasterboard? Or does that increase the risk of damp?
Help!

 

[Alastairreid]

It will just be emulsion under the paper.

Painting directly onto plasterboard is quite normal and causes no issues.

I doubt your walls will be good enough to paint onto without a lot of sanding /filling and even then will still look naff.

 

[kateap]

Have pulled off a fair amount already, and so far they dont look to bad, no cracks or anything. What should I do so it doesn't look naff?

 

[Alastairreid]

Wait till you have it all stripped then you can decide if you can sand and paint it, line and paint it or bite the bullet and get it skimmed.

 

[roy c]

Be careful as if I remember rightly we had a lot of prefabs in Birmingham and I think that some of the construction consisted of Asbestos.So before you do anything else just get it checked or enquire around .I hope I am wrong ,But you must make sure.

 

[wallcoatingsbloke]

hi is it a house like this?

http://www.***************.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/postwar-housing-whitleigh-plymouth.jpg

If so the fella is right, it may contain asbestos. They used it before they knew it was harmful. Just to be sure, i would be wary of sanding down the walls, maybe get a builder in to take a look?