Skimming over old plaster

[WaveyDave]

Hi

Builder I'm thinking of employing has told me his plasterers don't like skimming over old plaster. I've got to strip wallpaper from some walls, and I want to just have a painted wall. I expect that when I've stripped the paper, I'm not going to have a decent enough surface to paint.

Is there a reason, assuming the plaster isn't hollow/blown, that it can't just be patched/skimmed?

Cheers

Dave

 

[AndyBill]

2 coats of PVA then skim over, i would.

your walls might be ok to just fill up and rub down when youve got the paper off.

 

[summo]

Sorry to hijack your question, but does the 2 coats of PVA also apply to plastering over a very battered painted wall?

It is well past the point of just filling and sanding, the previous owners must have moved shelves about a dozen times!

 

[AndyBill]

Sorry to hijack your question, but does the 2 coats of PVA also apply to plastering over a very battered painted wall?

It is well past the point of just filling and sanding, the previous owners must have moved shelves about a dozen times!

any bigger/deeper holes i would fill first , then 2 coats PVA , then skim

 

[WaveyDave]

2 coats of PVA then skim over, i would.

your walls might be ok to just fill up and rub down when youve got the paper off.

Thanks for that.

What might be the reason for them refusing to skim it? Builder seems a very genuine guy and has been recommended by family, so I doubt he'd be trying it on. He said he can get plasterers to do it, but not his usual guys.

 

[AndyBill]

some plasterers wont skim over artex either,
maybe they believe that if you add moisture to the old plaster it could blow.
Fred Flinstone or Diyisfree will probably be able to help you more than me.

i just did a short plasterers course last week and one of the things we did was skim over previous plaster.

 

[noseall]

the main reason any spread does not like overskimming old plaster is the unpredictable nature of the existing product.

in other words it can crack like bu***ry!

the spread can do his best to prepare the wall with pva, use decent materials, apply 2/3 coats, trowel it up nice and smooth, only for the blessed finish to end up with hairline cracks everywhere, a couple of days later.

the same goes for artex. believe it or not, some artex finishes are applied to lining paper of all things! plasterers nightmare.

you just can't beat the predictability of boards and browning.

 

[WaveyDave]

The only thing is, I've been told the cost or replastering is likely to be 2-3 times the cost of just getting it skimmed

Thanks for the advice both.

 

[noseall]

The only thing is, I've been told the cost or replastering is likely to be 2-3 times the cost of just getting it skimmed

Thanks for the advice both.

in that case the onus is on you to decide wether you go for expensive/reliable or cheap/risky.

don't automatically expect to get cheap/reliable

 

[WaveyDave]

The only thing is, I've been told the cost or replastering is likely to be 2-3 times the cost of just getting it skimmed

Thanks for the advice both.

in that case the onus is on you to decide wether you go for expensive/reliable or cheap/risky.

don't automatically expect to get cheap/reliable

I take your point. TBH I'd already resigned myself to getting the whole lot plastered, until this weekend I was shown someone's house. Same age, they'd stripped the wallpaper and only had it skimmed, looked like a nice job. This is what prompted me to ask the question.

Thank for your help noseall. I think I'll strip the paper and see how the land lays.

Cheers

Dave

 

[noseall]

in the same breath, don't automatically expect cheap to be unreliable either. .

overskimming is about 70% reliable in my experience.

 

[WaveyDave]

in the same breath, don't automatically expect cheap to be unreliable either. .

overskimming is about 70% reliable in my experience.

So I'm guessing the spread will have an idea of whether it will work or not when he takes a look at the wall? Or is it just a gamble?

 

[joe-90]

It's all to do with the condition of the undercoat plaster. If you poke it with a screwdriver and it seems pretty firm - then PVA and skim.

If it just turns to powder when you poke it - then it has to come off.