Dry Lining Advice

[Bon]

Hi all.

This Spring's project will mostly involve beefing up the insulation in our Lounge & Dining Room.

I plan to batten out all the external walls (3 in total) and add insulation before boarding over, before lining and painting the walls.

My question is, can I get away with just dry lining the boards (i.e. using tape and filler to cover the screw holes and joints in between the boards) or should I be getting the plaster board skimmed before lining.

I appreciate that nothing beats a full skim, but the experience we've had of plasterers to date has left me wondering if it's worth it (I'm talking cracks appearing and a generally poor finish).

We've had most of the walls in the house re-skimmed, but for our small 3rd bedroom, I had a go at repairing the walls and then putting 2 layers of lining paper over before painting. The results were pretty impressive and not to mentioned a darn site cheaper!!

So back to my question, if I can get away with not skimming, should I be using a certain type of board/tape/filler? I've had a quick look on the Knauf website so off to have a better shufty now. Just thought I'd ask the question in here too!!

 

[Richard C]

This Spring's project will mostly involve beefing up the insulation in our Lounge & Dining Room.

I plan to batten out all the external walls (3 in total) and add insulation before boarding over, before lining and painting the walls.

Why do you believe you need to upgrade the insulation internally? Have you though about using specialist plaster board;
http://www.british-gypsum.com/products/plasterboard___accessories/gyproc_thermal.aspx

My question is, can I get away with just dry lining the boards (i.e. using tape and filler to cover the screw holes and joints in between the boards) or should I be getting the plaster board skimmed before lining.

You can use taper edge boards & fill but it will never look as good as a fully plaster skimmed wall. OK for offices & commercial buildings but not really for residential use IMO. If it’s been properly plastered by someone with skill, lining simply isn't necessary.

I appreciate that nothing beats a full skim, but the experience we've had of plasterers to date has left me wondering if it's worth it (I'm talking cracks appearing and a generally poor finish).

You need to change your plasterers for ones that can actually plaster; sounds like the guys you’ve used so far can’t!

We've had most of the walls in the house re-skimmed, but for our small 3rd bedroom, I had a go at repairing the walls and then putting 2 layers of lining paper over before painting. The results were pretty impressive and not to mentioned a darn site cheaper!!

As you can probably gather, I’m no lover of lining paper but then I’m biased. Impressive; I’ve yet to see a paper lining finish I would personally call impressive! Sure it’s cheap & has its uses (but not many), it only masks underlying problems & what happens when you or some poor other unsuspecting soul in the future wants to re-decorate!

So back to my question, if I can get away with not skimming, should I be using a certain type of board/tape/filler? I've had a quick look on the Knauf website so off to have a better shufty now. Just thought I'd ask the question in here too!!

As above; sorry if it’s not what you were expecting to hear but I'm sure aficionados of paper lining will add their bit!

 

[Bon]

Why do you believe you need to upgrade the insulation internally? Have you though about using specialist plaster board;
http://www.british-gypsum.com/products/plasterboard___accessories/gyproc_thermal.aspx[/QUOTE]

I don't really want to go down the route of cavity fill insulation (due to cold spots and bridging problems I've read about) and our walls aren't in the best shape. I'm also planning on constructing a small porch as at the moment our front door opens straight into our lounge. As the porch will be made from 3"x2" the plan was to buy a bit more and batten out the external walls. The boards in that link youposted do look interesting though, I take it the battens for fixing needn't be as deep as you would fix both the board and the insulation across them as opposed to just the board??

You need to change your plasterers for ones that can actually plaster; sounds like the guys you’ve used so far can’t!

While I agree with you totally, it's still dis-heatening to pay for a professional to come and do a job, only to discover that a few weeks down the line, cracks have started to appear. At least if the cheaper option is taken here and it doesn't look as good as a skim should look, then at least we're better off financially!!

As you can probably gather, I’m no lover of lining paper but then I’m biased. Impressive; I’ve yet to see a paper lining finish I would personally call impressive! Sure it’s cheap & has its uses (but not many), it only masks underlying problems & what happens when you or some poor other unsuspecting soul in the future wants to re-decorate!

I can tell by this, and some of your other posts on here that you are a passionate perfectionist when it comes to plastering (I'm sure I've also read you're pretty much self-taught too) which is highly commendable and a rare trait these days. Again, I agree with you and see where you're coming from, but the lining papering we've done ticks all our boxes. Yes I agree there are places where it's not spot on, but weighing in the cost factor has lead me to looking down this particular avenue.

As above; sorry if it’s not what you were expecting to hear but I'm sure aficionados of paper lining will add their bit!

Don't worry about it, the reason I posted was to get other people's opinions!

 

[Richard C]

The boards in that link you posted do look interesting though, I take it the battens for fixing needn't be as deep as you would fix both the board and the insulation across them as opposed to just the board?

You can over fix to timber battens, use the manufacturers proprietary framing system but you can also dot & dab the insulation boards directly to the wall using dry lining adhesive & secondary fix using nailable plugs. Have a look here, it’s the TL system your interested in;

http://www.british-gypsum.com/pdf/wb_drilyner_08_06.pdf

There are other manufacturers of insulation boards, Kingspan is another well known & popular system;

http://www.insulation.kingspan.com/uk/k17.htm

 

[Bon]

Thanks for the info Richard. Just skimmed through it now and I'll have a read when I get home tonight.

I'll have to compare the costs of the 2 systems before deciding.

The budget we can work out will also determine if the walls get skimmed or not. There are a few internal walls which need a bit of TLC so it might end up being as much hassle repairing as just re-skimming the whole lot. If we get that done, then they might as well do the new boards too!