Can I use some kind of power sander on walls?

Jacks_xxx

We've had to amateurishly replaster where we removed tiles and fill in many many many little holes and dents.

Do I need to sand it all down by hand or is there a type of powered sander that would be suitable?

Thanks a lot in advance,

Love Jacks xxx

Steve_xx

You could use an ordinary sander on it but if you do you should wear a mask as there will be a huge amount of small particulates generated by the sanding.

Alias_Omega

We used a block of wood and some sandpaper over it, then rubbed the walls down.

A little bit of elbow grease worked wonders. Probably not worth it if you dont already own a sander. As above, beware of the dust. There will be loads.

OddjobKIA

you can get very cheap radial sanders from argos , B&Q etc for under a £10..

wear a mask and some glasses...and use mid grade paper


DO NOT USE A BELT SANDER this will leave huge gouges in the wall

tomstickland

I trashed two cheapo sanders doing just this a few years ago. Mask necessary.

Igol

I'd also suggest plastic sheet and duct tape and close off the doorways if your living in the house, as mentioned there will be loads of dust.

Jacks_xxx

Thanks ever so much you guys! :T

We've finally stripped off the previous owners many layers of woodchip, anaglypta, polystyrene lining paper, polystyrene ceiling tiles, vinyl wallcovering and pine cladding from all over the house - and the walls that are left are not pretty!

In the hallway we are down to some kind of victorian dark brown floral wallpaper that appears to have been lacquered onto the wall!

In the bathroom (where we're working at the moment) we have patched it all up as best we can, and because of the sloping ceilings and general non-squareness of the room I don't think it will matter if the walls are a *little* rough hewn looking rather than perfectly smooth - but only a little.

In the rest of the house i think we're going to have to pay to have it all skimmed - artexed walls and ceilings and all! (can you plaster over Artex??????)

I'd rather have bare walls and floors and hardly any furniture than do a half @r$ed cover up job. This house if *full* of them and they've been total nightmare to rectify. And the guy who lived here before us was a builder!

Love Jacks xxx

Broadsword

Hand sanding will be slow, tedious and miserable work but if you hold your vacuum cleaner nozzle underneath as you sand it is relatively dust free. Use good sandpaper, there is a difference in brands. I have used "Extreme" sandpaper from B&Q and recommend it.

If you use any type of power sander- there are many types and even those with vacuum cleaner nozzles only divert some of the dust- the dust will get everywhere although the sanding is effort free and fast. Even if you tape round doors with polythene it will get everywhere throughout the place. Perhaps if you go away on holiday the dust might settle in the one room while you are away! So small area hand sand but large area maybe no choice but dust everywhere.

WobblyGoblin

I know several people have already told you but wear a mask and be prepared for dust everywhere. Sanding walls by hand (especially if it's relatively uneven) is horrible, horrible, horrible work. If you can get a power sander then go for it.

Although it won't prevent the dust getting to the rest of the house, I'd also recomend taping around the doors and opening the windows, then bring a book and be prepared to sit for a while while some of the dust settles. Keeping the extractor fan on would probably be a good idea too.

titewad_2

You can cut down the amount of dust and a mess a considerable amount by using wet&dry sandpaper and spray the walls with water first..It's a bit more expensive but worth it in my opinion.Just be careful of the water around your electric sander.

webwalker

Jacks_xxx wrote: »

Thanks ever so much you guys! :T

In the rest of the house i think we're going to have to pay to have it all skimmed - artexed walls and ceilings and all! (can you plaster over Artex??????)


Love Jacks xxx

BEWARE! Some of the older Artex contains asbestos. If the artex is sound it can be plastered over no problem.