Wallpaper stripping damaged skim-layer, what now?

[squarepeg77]

Hi,
I have had something of a (common?) disaster when stripping wallpaper - the skim layer of plaster also came off.

Everything was fine on the walls. The problems started when I came to the bay window which is of wood construction. Here the skim layer came away easier than the paper! The plaster had already cracked in a lot of places, so rather than try to patch it up I have resolved to remove all the dodgy skim before continuing.

Beneath the skim is Redland Wallboard and it looks in good condition.

What do I need to do the the wallboard in order to wallpaper onto it? Do I need to reinstate the skim layer? Or can I just prime the wallboard and paper it?

Many thanks,
Jonathan

 

[roughcaster]

If i were you, i'd get a plasterer to re-skim the wallboard again. It wouldn't be a big job if it's just the bay window area. Get a couple of quotes though.

Roughcaster.

 

[joe-90]

You can either paper directly or use a lining paper first.

 

[squarepeg77]

I am keen to finish the job, so I'd rather not get it re-skimmed if it is not really necessary. Please forgive my ignorance, but what does skimming wallboard achieve? Is it primarily to sort out the joins between boards? Other than the joins it looks like a good surface to work with.

The area in question is very small, about 3.5 square metres. If I did want to get it skimmed, can anyone offer a ball-park cost estimate?

If I just want to paper on to the wall-board is it a good idea to seal it with thinned primer? I think I read that somewhere.

Cheers,
Jonathan