Some kind of silver/grey paint behind wallpaper, what is it?

[smp50]

In a bedroom here there's wallpaper, which has itself been painted on at least once. Underneath patches I've lifted, all around the room, there's some kind of silvery metallic coating on the wall. Any idea what this could be? It seems extremely unlikely that the previous owners ever had the room painted silver.

It's not smooth, either - often bobbled and feels rough to the touch. I've found smooth plaster in a few patches, but mostly it's this silver stuff.

My plan was to remove the wallpaper and paint the walls, but I'm not sure if it will be possible with this stuff underneath.

 

[wallcoatingsbloke]

Hi. It sounds like your internal walls have had a thermal lining paper, at least an old fashioned one, or it may be an internal damp proof membrane.

Is the OTHER side of the silver paper black by any chance, when you peel it off? If so, the silver paper could be hiding an underlying problem in your walls, probably caused by damp penetration from rain, conning into the house, through porous walls. If this is the case, i would recommend looking at the exterior walls too, for cracks or hollow render, if applicable. Let me know what you think

 

[smp50]

Hi. It sounds like your internal walls have had a thermal lining paper, at least an old fashioned one, or it may be an internal damp proof membrane.

Is the OTHER side of the silver paper black by any chance, when you peel it off? If so, the silver paper could be hiding an underlying problem in your walls, probably caused by damp penetration from rain, conning into the house, through porous walls. If this is the case, i would recommend looking at the exterior walls too, for cracks or hollow render, if applicable. Let me know what you think

Thanks for the reply. I’ll investigate when I get home but it seemed that the silver layer was solid, not a membrane of any kind. And very hard – it felt just like a painted breeze block or something.

 

[wallcoatingsbloke]

Hi. Its hard? OK then its probably drywall, or foil backed gyproc plaster board. Often put up to stop damp coming into a room, but doesnt cure the problem, just moves the damp elsewhere. I wrote an article ages ago, hopefully it is ok to post it here, purely to help you. This gives you some information anyway, about damp. I hope it helps


Top tips to get rid of damp and mould
http://www.***************.co.uk/blog/ten-top-tips-for-getting-rid-of-damp-and-mould/

 

[smp50]

Hi. Its hard? OK then its probably drywall, or foil backed gyproc plaster board. Often put up to stop damp coming into a room, but doesnt cure the problem, just moves the damp elsewhere. I wrote an article ages ago, hopefully it is ok to post it here, purely to help you. This gives you some information anyway, about damp. I hope it helps


Top tips to get rid of damp and mould
http://www.***************.co.uk/blog/ten-top-tips-for-getting-rid-of-damp-and-mould/[/QUOTE]

Hmm, well there are no signs of damp as far as I can see. I've lived in houses with all that black mould everywhere and there's nothing like that at all. Even the wood-framed single glazing is pretty clean around the edges, maybe a bit of what might be mould in some rough corners but that must just be from condensation and not having been painted recently.

I'm currently minded to just repair the wallpaper and paint over it - it's going to be a guest/lodger room and though smooth (i.e. not textured) walls would be preferable to painted wallpaper, it might not be worth the trouble.

 

[smp50]

I've had a poke around and it's definitely not a sheet material of any kind. It really looks like paint or similar.

Some pics:

http://i.imgur.com/bebmFOI.jpg
http://i.imgur.com/cnPPJfT.jpg


Also, the very bobbled/rough parts of it yield to a smooth plaster underneath if I'm very careful when scraping it off (only possible in places where it's already flaky):

http://i.imgur.com/UquA5v6.jpg

 

[wallcoatingsbloke]

hmmmm........ Thanks for the photos, when i'm back at work tomorrow, i'll see if i can find something that will identify it, although i really think its something hiding a problem, like damp. Is there a musty smell in room and any damp or mould anywhere else in the room? I swear if I didnt know better it looks like someone has stuck silver kitchen foil on the wall and then papered over it!

 

[smp50]

hmmmm........ Thanks for the photos, when i'm back at work tomorrow, i'll see if i can find something that will identify it, although i really think its something hiding a problem, like damp. Is there a musty smell in room and any damp or mould anywhere else in the room? I swear if I didnt know better it looks like someone has stuck silver kitchen foil on the wall and then papered over it!

There's no hint of damp or musty smells that I can tell... :/

I shall check in another bedroom and see if there's the same stuff...

*checks*

Nope - just smooth wall (or normal paint) behind the paper in two other rooms I checked (one upstairs as well, and one down).

 

[wallcoatingsbloke]

hi, me again! OK, if there are no signs of damp (a good start) then it is a thermal lining paper that has been fitted to the wall.

Although saying that, more often than not thermal paper is also used to stop damp, such as this product http://www.gowallpaper.co.uk/doric-anderton-three-in-one-damp-proof-foil-paper-10m.html

From experience, especially if the wall was porous when they fitted it, its a right pain to get off and many people put plasterboard over it before decorating. You could try heating it, in one patch with a hair-drier to see if it bubbles or lifts, in order to remove it, although wear gloves and use tools as the paper will of course become hot! Good luck!

 

[opps]

In a bedroom here there's wallpaper, which has itself been painted on at least once. Underneath patches I've lifted, all around the room, there's some kind of silvery metallic coating on the wall. Any idea what this could be? It seems extremely unlikely that the previous owners ever had the room painted silver.

It's not smooth, either - often bobbled and feels rough to the touch. I've found smooth plaster in a few patches, but mostly it's this silver stuff.

My plan was to remove the wallpaper and paint the walls, but I'm not sure if it will be possible with this stuff underneath.

Might it be aluminium paint? No idea why they would have painted the walls with it though, perhaps to "help" with damp problems. Although you say there are bobbled areas, is the paint thickness consistent, ie are the bobbles in the paint or under it? (EDIT--- sorry I missed the post where you covered this, my bad).

Is it only evident on the exterior walls?

If you can get the walls flat enough I would be tempted to ignore the silver paint and line the walls before painting with emulsion (assuming that the old paper didn't show any signs of lifting etc).

 

[ic1927]

From those photos it looks a bit like some damp proofing paint we were using thirty odd years ago, aquaseal I think it was called.

 

[smp50]

Hello again. The silver stuff is definitely some kind of "paint" and not a sheet material of any kind. The walls have now been stripped of all paper and they're in a terrible state underneath, with four or five different layers visible (including plaster and various paints) and its all very patchy.

I'm thinking of just getting them re-skimmed over the top of it all.

Or, I could put lining paper on - but I fear that it will look a bit rubbish. I have never wallpapered before in my life and I suspect it has to be done very well to make a good base for painting. Right?

 

[wallcoatingsbloke]

Hi again. It sounds like your wall is giving you some problems! I would honestly drywall it, put a plasterboard covering over and then a plaster skim.