Skimming painted surfaces

[FredFlintstone]

Evenin all'

Question for y'all. How do you go about skimming a surface which is painted but where the paint is nice and sound and well adhered to the wall but so damn smooth and glossy it's like glass?

I usually ask the customer to remove te paint prior to me skimming but I've been caught out on a couple of jobs now where I've failed to notice before quoting. Once I've quoted. that's it, I won't change it unless the error is down to the customer so I've ended up sanding back to provide a decent key before skimming. This costs me time.

Also, if there's an easy solution it means I can just go ahead and quote without asking the customer to put any effort in which will obviously be more attractive for the customer.

I'd considered mixing a handful of sand or bonding plaster to neat PVA but my worry here is that while the "rough" PVA layer may very well stop the skim from sliding all over the place when applied, there is every chance that the PVA could simple de-bond from the smooth painted surface.

Regards

Fred

 

[ColJack]

get yourself a piece of wood with nails through it and scratch the surface up good..

or use a stanley knife..

 

[FredFlintstone]

Cheers ColJack,

I've done that once and it caused the paint to de-bond from the wall as the moisture from the PVA solution / skim coat got in behind it. I've never done it since but have also never been able to figure out why sanding it back doesn't have the same effect.

Maybe it was just a one off occurrance. I'll give it another go, cheers.

Regards

Fred

 

[brist]

Two good coats of PVA

 

[makitaman]

I'd say 2 coats of pva too

 

[Richard C]

I use this method for skimming over vinyl gloss. VERY stiff wire brush to knock the glaze off without breaking through the paint; PVA coat (slightly thicker) to dry off thoroughly, at least overnight; PVA coat immediately before plastering but don’t over brush it!

I don’t think there is any way to save prep time ‘on the day’ &, personally, I would never trust anyone to do it for me as there is always the risk they will get it wrong & the plaster will fall off; I always prep myself the night before to get a reliable surface to work on.

 

[makitaman]

Sorry but who as a pro plasterer has got time to prep and pva the night before? You generally have a very short time scale for the whole job - 2 coats of pva (have so far) been succesfull in my experience, but who knows ?

 

[Richard C]

Sorry but who as a pro plasterer has got time to prep and pva the night before? You generally have a very short time scale for the whole job - 2 coats of pva (have so far) been succesfull in my experience, but who knows ?

So let’s get this right then; being a 'pro' means you skimp on the prep work, spend as little time as possible on the job & don’t really care if what you put up stays on the wall or not in 3 months time!

Were not talking new builds here but small refurb jobs, which can be far more hassle! If the job needs it then do it; it’s an hours work at most & will make your life much easier the next day; but then again, it rather depends if your interested in doing a good job or not!

 

[makitaman]

Judging by the amount of ! in your message you sound a little uptight. I fully agree that proper preperation is absolutely vital to doing a good job. Your way obviously works for you - but I couldn't afford to prep the night before and I'm not sure what the customers would think either. The most important thing is that the job is done to the best of my ability, I take a view on every job about the amount of prepping needed, I do not go for prep overkill, but ensure that the correct methods of prepping have been achieved.

Regarding your note about not caring if the plaster sticks to the wall or not - 23 years in the trade and as far as I know its still all sticking to the walls and ceilings.