Some questions on first time decorating

[Damian Carter]

Hi All,

I am not an absolute newbie but come across some issues I have done previously so have bullet pointed some questions I could do with some help on.

I had to strip a dado rail off a wall and also there were a number of lumps and bumps etc that needed sorting. Worst still when I removed the dado rail a fair bit of plaster came off and when I tended to some hollow sounding bits more came off.

A friend put me onto something called Gtec easy finish extra which he said could be used to skim over the plasterboard that had been unearth as part of my tidy up and also for some of the holes. Which made sense as its meant to be good for repairs and skimming over, its also really easily sandable. He gave me half a bag but I 've not been able to find any more and would appreciate someone finding me an alternative that does the same job.

Then some more questions:

Having done my best to sand it down I have found some blemishes and deviations I wanted to cover over, tried Brewers plaster which you mix yourself but if done thinly it just flakes off so rubbish, as above any suggestions.

Next I have had to remove the skirting board and behind it there are lots of holes and bashed up bits. Are peoples general thoughts you are replacing the skirting forget about it, or deal with the holes? If there are holes in the plasterboard part of the walls do I try and cut out the damaged plaster and put replacement in and then do I have to properly replaster the walls or can I use the gtec style stuff?

Having done all the work with the gtec, I did a 50/50 mix of paint and water, do I need to do anything else before painting or papering?

If I buy superfresco wall covering (patterned lining paper) does it mean if I go for super subtle texture that the deviations or odd bumps I wish to hide will be just as evident as if I had used normal lining paper?

Got some screwfix decorators caulk for the corners where plasterboard meets wall. I caulked it and then found a bit sticking out pulled on it and the rest peeled away far too easily from bottom to top. Is the caulk rubbish or have I done a bad job of prepping before applying it?

Thanks all for any advice.

 

[Damian Carter]

Can seriously nobody help?

 

[misterhelpful]

You have a lot of queries in that initial post which has probably put people off answering a little.

I'll do my best.

The GTEC is basically a jointing compound. You can find many similar types at DIY stores and trade outlets, such as Gyproc Easifill - even some of the stores own brands are perfectly acceptable and are usually all easily to sand.

If the holes behind the skirting are not going to be noticeable once the new is fixed, I wouldn't worry too much about addressing them, unless you need a fixing point where the holes are.
If plaster has come away from the plasterboard, you might be able to just use the jointing compound, but it would be wise to use some self adhesive scrim in the bare areas (depending on depth) to give the compound something to cling to. Trying to patch with plaster is much more difficult as there is no real scope for sanding, so the repair has to be done perfectly.

A 50/50 mist coat is all that is required to seal the bare filler/plaster, Personally I use around 20-25% water but 50% is common.

Textured blown vinyls, such as Super Fresco, will hide some pretty poor surfaces (and the heavily textured patterns even more) so, if you can't get a perfectly flat surface, it would be a good idea to use that.

I tend to avoid cheaper 'own brand' caulks and usually opted for Evo-Stik Decorator's Caulk, which always worked well for me. Other good brands are available but I used to buy trade size Evo Stik cartridges in bulk from Toolstation. Most usually still adhere well enough though, so maybe you had a dusty or very porous substrate - which could be sealed with a mist coat before caulking.

All that said, with the amount of repair work seemingly involved, and with the price of wallpaper, it may well be worth getting the walls skimmed so that you can just paint them.

 

[Robbie uk]

Ideally when caulking, the surface really needs to have a coat of paint on it to stick properly. It doesn't like raw surfaces and this can make it come off easily.