rough plaster wall

[Steve]

I have just stripped textured wallpaper from one wall of my kitchen. The resulting surface is awful - cant paint it, dont want to wallpaper it.

The wall I've exposed is all over the place. In one corner its an inch out at the top! Despite it being an outside wall and the outside is plumb! And its a solid 9 inch wall! So there must be an inch more plaster at the bottom of the wall.

Is there any alternative to skimming it that is quick and easy? How hard is skimming really? I just watched a couple of videos on youtube and it doesnt seem very hard. But I know there's a skill to it.

I also dont want to loose any space in the room. So extra layers of board etc are not an option, and I dont want to take it back to brick if I can avoid it - the plaster is stable. Any ideas?

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

Your not going to get an inch back purely by skim coats, if you wanting levelling you will need to bring back using either a basecoat or a one coat universal plaster.
If you are restricted with space, might be worth considering taking it all back to bare, then either base-coat/render or dot'n@dab plasterboards.

 

[Steve]

I'm not wanting to level the wall, nor get rid of the undulations, I just want a smooth surface. If I had the time and patience and guts to strip back to brick I would. But its not really an option at the moment.

 

[Richard C]

How hard is skimming really? I just watched a couple of videos on youtube and it doesnt seem very hard.

It’s dead easy really once you’ve watched a couple of youtube vids, all you need to do is get yourself a trowel, bucket & some plaster then go for it.

If I had the time and patience and guts to strip back to brick I would.

Float & set isn’t much more difficult than skimming really, I’m sure there must be some youtube vids of that as well.

Can’t be as difficult as shoving three different coloured cables into some plastic boxes fixed to the wall can it.

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

nor get rid of the undulations, I just want a smooth surface

Anyway if you are wanting re-skim the wall to tidy it up.
I am sure you are capable of that.
Firstly remove any loose debris from wall, including wall paper, clean dirt, grease and residue from area and repair any damages, such as cracks and holes.
Then you need to prep area with a two coat prime of a good quality PVA (dilute 4 parts water to 1 part PVA). Leave first coat to dry, then apply second coat allow to go tacky.
Then you need to apply two coats of multi-finish, mixed at a ratio of 25kg to one bucket of water (12l) this will cover an area of 10sq metres.
You can apply this in any technique you like, but I start from top left hand corner, working top left to right, then down, left to right and so on. Laying the plaster at a depth of around 2mm, using a three stroke action, moving the trowel right-left-right. This will help you get a good even bond to wall.
Once this has been applied to wall, you then set about flatten the surface of plaster, filling in any low points, don't be too concerned with trowel lines at this time.
Then clean your tools and prepare for second application, this mix wants to be a little wetter than the first coat and this time the depth of plaster you are laying on, will be about 1mm, so you only need half the amount of the first coat.
Lay this on as you did with first coat but only 1mm depth and one stroke with the trowel, rather than three.
Leave to take and flatten off, again trying to fill any low points. Leave a while (tools cleaned and cup-pa tea) Then once stiffened up, you can do a wet trowel, I use a mist sprayer but you can use a brush to splash the water on. Generally you would hold the trowel at somewhere between 30-45 degrees to wall, when laying on and troweling up.
You can once the wall has started to set, do a dry trowel which will move the plaster a little and polish the surface up, but I would not bother if you are painting or tiling the wall, in fact if you were tiling I would just be happy with a flat even surface, not necessaries smooth.
Hope this helps!

 

[Steve]

Wow, thanks for that PrenticeBoy. I think I might just give it a go. Most of the wall area in the kitchen will be cupboards or tiles anyway.

When I said "undulations", I meant the fact that the wall isnt straight or plumb. I dont want to even this out, and I know you cant do that with plaster!

I'll invest in some cheap plasterers tools to practise.

 

[Richard C]

Most of the wall area in the kitchen will be cupboards or tiles anyway.

Not usually a good idea to plaster re/plaster if your thinking of tiling; it has a maximum weight limit of 20 kg/sq/m (including adhesive & grout) which can be a problem of your going for large format tiles; although these are usually more common in bath/shower rooms.

You will need a flat tile base though & usually the best way of achieving one is to level it all up with 12.5mm dot/dab plasterboard (OK for a kitchen)
& provide additional mechanical support (through fixings) to cope with the weight of the tiles. The weight limit of raw plasterboard is 50% greater than plaster skim & is usually enough to cope with all but the largest/heaviest of tiles. Don’t be tempted to use base coat plaster to level it out, it’s not suitable as a tile base.

 

[Steve]

Given that RichardC, and the fact I've just stripped a load more wallpaper and found similar and worse plaster, im rethinking the situation (I tend to overthink). The plaster seems to have been layered on in this place. Some of the paper fetched off a top layer of plaster which revealed beautifully smooth plaster! But other areas are dead, with those awful colours on them you find in old houses, and others are just bare rough plaster.

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• Steve
• 29 Jan 2012
• 1

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• Steve
• 29 Jan 2012
• 1

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• Steve
• 29 Jan 2012
• 1

(there is still some paper backing on the walls)

I want a good finish to the kitchen, and it needs rewiring too. I also want to renew the ceiling, so I can fit downlights (currently L&P overboarded with plasterboard so too thick).

The obvious idea is to strip the whole kitchen back to brick and rip the ceiling down. I'd have to seal off the rest of the house obviously - thats mostly finished. Then dot n dab the solid brick walls, and reboard the ceiling.

I'm a competent DIYer, but this is daunting for me. I've never stripped plaster back to brick in a whole room! Would I need an SDS chisel? Would it be much quicker than hammer and chisel?

When a wall is dot n dabbed does it NEED skimming? Or is the resulting paper board finish acceptable to paint? Same question for the ceiling - would that need skimming?

Timeframes I'm thinking of are:
One day to strip kitchen units out
One day to strip walls and ceiling
One day to 1st fix electrics and plumbing (use opportunity to hide plumbing for radiator and washer and taps)
One day to board out walls and ceiling

My concern is I have a gas engineer booked to fit a boiler in this room 19th feb, and am off work for a week before this. So the above would NEED to be finished before gas engineer turns up!

Any pointers?

 

[Richard C]

Given that RichardC, and the fact I've just stripped a load more wallpaper and found similar and worse plaster, im rethinking the situation (I tend to overthink).

IMO planning well is everything.

The plaster seems to have been layered on in this place. Some of the paper fetched off a top layer of plaster which revealed beautifully smooth plaster! But other areas are dead, with those awful colours on them you find in old houses, and others are just bare rough plaster.

I want a good finish to the kitchen, and it needs rewiring too. I also want to renew the ceiling, so I can fit downlights (currently L&P overboarded with plasterboard so too thick).

The obvious idea is to strip the whole kitchen back to brick and rip the ceiling down. I'd have to seal off the rest of the house obviously - thats mostly finished. Then dot n dab the solid brick walls, and reboard the ceiling.

If all the plaster has to come off, I normally advocate a new float/set/skim as original; in an old house, it’s doing a proper job really. Given you may have reasons for dot & dab & time constraints, does all the original plaster need to come off? If it’s basically sound & well bonded then why not just overboard or at least those walls that will accept it. You can even pop some mechanical fixings through the boards (& the dabs) if the over skim has any local bonding issues.

I'm a competent DIYer, but this is daunting for me. I've never stripped plaster back to brick in a whole room! Would I need an SDS chisel? Would it be much quicker than hammer and chisel?

You need to be careful when using an SDS breaker; it’ll strip plaster & make short work of cable chases but, in the wrong hands, the vibration can do an awful lot of damage to the mortar joints between the blocks/bricks to the point where old walls can become unstable. I tend to stick with a lump hammer & bolster chisel but a flat bladed garden spade can work well for stripping back.

Also be aware when stripping old external walls back to brick; if you change more than 24% of a thermal element (in this case the internal plaster/render), Building Regulations require you upgrade to the latest thermal insulation requirements. Now unless you’re having other work inspected, nobody is likely to be any the wiser but there are several cases (on just this forum) where people have been caught out when the BI has spotted it whilst inspecting other work; it can lead to a rather nasty & expensive surprise!

When a wall is dot n dabbed does it NEED skimming? Or is the resulting paper board finish acceptable to paint? Same question for the ceiling - would that need skimming?

I’m not a fan of tape & fill; it’s OK in commercial properties or for dividing up open plan office space but, personally, I think has no place in a domestic environment so I would skim every time. Plaster is much harder wearing, looks better & will last for many years, by the time you asre about filling & sanding the joints & gaps & then sealing it’s quicker to skim it but I appreciate this may be more expensive if you have to call in a spread; it’ll look far better though. Remember you don’t need to skim the bits of the wall your tiling, in fact it’ll work against you reducing maximum tile weight although tile size/weight isn’t normally an issue with kitchens.

Timeframes I'm thinking of are:
One day to strip kitchen units out
One day to strip walls and ceiling
One day to 1st fix electrics and plumbing (use opportunity to hide plumbing for radiator and washer and taps)

One day to board out walls and ceiling

My concern is I have a gas engineer booked to fit a boiler in this room 19th feb, and am off work for a week before this. So the above would NEED to be finished before gas engineer turns up! [/quote]

How big is this room? No idea how young & fit you are but that looks like a pretty hectic 4 days to me; it would certainly be overly optimistic for me if working alone. Why do you need to be finished before Gas Safe turn up? Just clearing up the mess from taking down the lath ceiling could take you a day. After stripping out, I would concentrate on the wall where the boiler is located so this can proceed, giving me a bit more of a relaxed programme on re-boarding & finishing.

Just how old is this property; are the external walls cavity or solid brick? If any solid external brick walls are involved than the above needs a rethink, on those walls at least.