caulking walls?

tucbiscuit

has anyone ever heard of caulking walls instead of skimming with plaster?

I have a property that has had wallpaper all over it, I am removing it and the walls are fairly solid and smooth, but not presentable to be emulsioned over in my opinion.

My builder mentioned caulking over them...now I know what decorators caulk is for filling gaps, but he seemed to be talking about something you do a thin skim of instead of skimming with plaster....has anyone ever heard of this or used it?


thanks

keystone

tucbiscuit wrote: »

has anyone ever heard of caulking walls instead of skimming with plaster?

I have a property that has had wallpaper all over it, I am removing it and the walls are fairly solid and smooth, but not presentable to be emulsioned over in my opinion.

My builder mentioned caulking over them...now I know what decorators caulk is for filling gaps, but he seemed to be talking about something you do a thin skim of instead of skimming with plaster....has anyone ever heard of this or used it?


thanks

Whatever he means it sounds as though your builder might be going to be landing you with a bill for work which may be unecessary. It all depends what you mean by "not presentable" though. Can you upload a pic?

If its just minor dings and dents and the odd bit of blown skim I'd be recommending that you fill, smooth then line with heavy weight lining paper (there are techniques for making the seams invisible) and then paint over that.

Cheers

keystone

Just a further thought. If you have some cracks in the plaster where the walls join that could be what he means - caulk up the cracks before painting. I just cant see the absolute necessity (without a pic) of skimming the whole wall with something or the other.

Cheers

leveller2911

Not sure if the meaning is different elsewhere but here in Kent/Sussex the term "caulking" was in the old days with lathe and plaster ,when the lathes were nailed to the studwork the 1st coat of plaster was used to fill the space between the lathes,the plaster would drip over the back of the lathes and go hard,thus gripping the lathes.The next coat was the finish coat of plaster....

Yeah I know its not relavent today but its good to know your history.....:D

Just my opinion OP but if your walls are that bad you still might need them lining papered after being filled.

jcb208

What he means is just trowel over the walls with a thin coat of joint cement or easy fill then rub down,if done right you can loose all imperfections in the plaster and the results can be good

wallbash

Yeah I know its not relavent today but its good to know your history..

I find useless pieces :rolleyes: of info wonderful ... thanks

The_Wall

keystone wrote: »

line with heavy weight lining paper (there are techniques for making the seams invisible) and then paint over that.

keystone can you provide a bit more detail about these techniques for making the seams invisible. Even if it is just a url for a website.

Thanks.

keystone

leveller2911 wrote: »

Not sure if the meaning is different elsewhere but here in Kent/Sussex the term "caulking" was in the old days with lathe and plaster ,when the lathes were nailed to the studwork the 1st coat of plaster was used to fill the space between the lathes,the plaster would drip over the back of the lathes and go hard,thus gripping the lathes.The next coat was the finish coat of plaster....

Yeah I know its not relavent today but its good to know your history.....:D

Well well. Learned something today then - you never do stop learning do you?

Thanks.

keystone

The_Wall wrote: »

keystone can you provide a bit more detail about these techniques for making the seams invisible. Even if it is just a url for a website.

Thanks.

If cross lining for overpapering leave a 1mm gap between the lengths of lining paper, fill and sand before hanging your proper paper. If hanging vertically butt each drop right up to the previous one even slightly overlapping. Sand with very fine grit abrasive and the seams will disappear.

Cheers

Yorkshire_Bred

tucbiscuit wrote: »

has anyone ever heard of caulking walls instead of skimming with plaster?

I have a property that has had wallpaper all over it, I am removing it and the walls are fairly solid and smooth, but not presentable to be emulsioned over in my opinion.

My builder mentioned caulking over them...now I know what decorators caulk is for filling gaps, but he seemed to be talking about something you do a thin skim of instead of skimming with plaster....has anyone ever heard of this or used it?


thanks

'Caulking' is another term that can be used when filling large areas quickly and efficiently with the use of a caulking board (a wide bladed flexible tool normally used for Artex)