Plastering on Woodchip??

brownbake

Is this possible? My sister is having her bathroom done up and is covered in woodchip that seems to have been stuck down with superglue!!!

Her plasterer has said that it is possible to cover this with a skim coat but it will have to be PVAd by her.

Is this a good idea or should she bite the bullet and remove the woodchip first? She has also been told that if she uses a steamer there is a high possibility that the wall will be ruined because it is so old and soft.

Any help or advice to pass on will be greatfully received

Thanks

loracan1

Couldn't say anything about plastering over but I did have one wall in my bathroom that wasn't so much plasterboard as hardboard, tried steaming it off but could only get small patches off. Ended up scraping any loose bits off, putting lining paper up and papering over the top of that (is a dark corner so could get away with it) Woodchip appears to have some super adherent quality that no other wallcovering ever can.

brownbake

Tell me about it, what on earth was the obssession with woodchip in the 70's? Did the baby boomers parents take so many psychedelics that they felt such an urge to cover perfectly good smooth walls in textured crap. See Artex on ceilings too!!!

So quick and easy to put up. So painful and tiresome to take down!!

Anyone know if it can be plastered over then?

pugmanic

Wood chip is only put on walls to hide what is underneath. The likely hood is that the plaster under the wood chip is not too good.

I highly recommend one of these:

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/16530/Decorating-Sundries/Decorators-Knives/Heavy-Duty-Scraper

brownbake

Thanks for the reply - mixed reviews on the scraper. This stuff really is stuck on with who knows what but is not going to be an easy job at all.

Do plasterers know if this can be plastered over safely or does the woodchip have to be removed?

tomstickland

Best off ripping all the old plaster off.
Plastering over it won't work too well.

nickj_2

i would think that the moisture from the plaster will re-activate the paste and lift the woodchip away from the wall ,i'm surprised the plasterer even suggested this to plaster over it is not the way forward , score the paper with a staley knife or get a spiked roller , then steam it off , it will be hard ,but not as hard as people make out

pugmanic

brownbake wrote: »

Thanks for the reply - mixed reviews on the scraper. This stuff really is stuck on with who knows what but is not going to be an easy job at all.

Do plasterers know if this can be plastered over safely or does the woodchip have to be removed?

I suggested the scraper as I have recently used on to strip an entire flat of the dreaded stuff. The Blades supplied are very sharp and very good at removing the wood chip. Then with a steamer and the blade you can easily remove the remaining paper/mess.

brownbake

Ok - thanks I will suggest this. Problem is she is pregnant, I am too busy and my OH is a lazy get!! Oh well looking forward to a few evenings weekend of stripping off woodchip all in the greater good.

Short days, cold, woodchip - life doesn't get much better lol. I will let her know the bad news, any actually people who plaster for a job would be appreciated but thanks everyone else.

aaron772

we removed woodchip that was on all our walls with a steam wall paper stipper one of the cheap ones, think you can get them on ebay for about a tenner or in homebase or the local diy shop for about £15-£20...
(sorry only just read the bit about the steamer cant be used)
__________________
Dont be too quick to judge

andrew-b

Take it from someone who knows from previous owner's cover-ups (not of woodchip fortunately!)...cover-ups always come back to haunt you at a later date!
Rip down the woodchip and get a plasterer in to plaster the walls.

Andy

p.s. Aaron, i just tried to kill what i thought was a fly on the screen then realised it was your avatar!!!!:rotfl::o