to line or to skim??? advice please

[stresshead]

Following a weekend of removing woodchip wallpaper I have discovered that my 3 bedroom walls are unskimmed plasterboard – with only the joins between boards skimmed. (Apparently this was common practise in the 70s – prepping walls for wallpaper only and not for painting. Before I can even consider painting my options appear to be the following:

a. get the walls skimmed (at considerable cost)
b. buy some good quality lining paper and line the walls

I have little experience in lining paper so my questions are as follows:
Is it difficult to put up?
Does it look good?
Does it last well? What can you do about tears/rips in the paper?

Or is getting the walls skimmed the better option in the long run? I am really unsure of what to do but am leaning towards lining paper… help please!

 

[Third_Eye]

In your situation i would skim all walls with plaster.

 

[sm1thson]

Is it difficult to put up? -easyer than normal wallpaper
Does it look good? -yes, it is possible to completely hide the joints, but expect to see some so your not disapointed.
Does it last well? -yes
What can you do about tears/rips in the paper? -filler

 

[stresshead]

great thanks for that, I'm going to attempt to put up lining paper at the weekend!

stupid question though - I've read through a lot of posts on this forum and the importance of leaving the paste to soak for 10-15 minutes has been mentioned on a number of occasions. When you say "soak" does that mean brush the paste on, leave it lying on the table for 15 minutes, then apply to the wall OR do you literally mean soak, in a big basin or something?

Don't laugh

 

[price it right!]

m8 ur gonna struggle u sound like a total novice, my advice is get some 1 to skim ur walls or line them 4 u.

depending on the grade or thickness of paper it varies and the absorbancy of the walls and so on....... the best thing to do is if ur still going to do it is mix ur paste thick n put a little pva in it, paste ur paper up n stick it on wall straight away, see how it looks; if its still on the wall when u go back to it, ok; if its stuck in places n not others let it soak for longer n put more paste on the paper; try it again.

oh and dont forget to size ur walls