plaster skim - should paint be removed?

troglodyte

Hi,
We've had a plasterer skim some walls for us after we stripped off old wallpaper. Now we're due to ask him back to do several more walls. He seemed to do a good job but I'm a bit concerned that in one area he did before, on the wall underneath the layers of old wallpaper we removed there was the remains of old flaking paint and he just skimmed over this. Is that usual? I'm afraid that if the plaster is stuck on top of flaking paint, there's the risk it might just fall off later! The next areas to be done also have patches of flaking paint on them. Should we try to scrape them all clean (back to bare plaster) before he starts?
Thanks for any advice!

totalsolutions

Yes clean up, what is the plaster going to grab onto..likewise are the old walls up to it and solid.

ormus

you dont need to go back to completely bare plaster, but you do need to remove any flaking paint. walls can be just scored with a sharp pointed tool, to give the new plaster a key.
ie you can skim over old artex.

nomis21

Its best to get off as much flaky paint you can, is your plasterer using any pva glue? there is another product made by british gypsum which can be applied to previous plastered walls which is a glue additive with fine sand mixed in which should be brushed onto walls and left to dry before skimming, once dried on the walls it is a rough texture a bit like sandpaper which gives a key and grip ready to apply the new skim