To sand or not to sand

Ann-imal

Hi there

I am a DIY virgin and have just bought a repossesed property which needs totally gutting and starting again.

I'm not planning on making any structural changes, but my main priorities for now will be ripping out all the skirting boards and sanding down walls.

To keep costs as low as possible, myself and my partner will be doing all the prep work ourselevs.

All the walls in the house have been painted and in places are quite uneven. I thought I would have to have them replastered but have since been advised I would get away with sanding them.

My question is, what is the best tool to use for this kind of work!!

Would be very grateful for any advice given :D

latecomer

Sanding the walls? Given the amount of work that would involve presuming you are going to sand the entire wall surface I would be very tempted to go with getting them plastered. It would also create a lot less dust!

Ann-imal

That was my thought as well latecomer but I dont think we'll have the money to afford to be able to have them all plastered

keith969

If you can't afford to have them skimmed (which is not that expensive in the grand scheme of things when renovating a place) then maybe you need to learn to plaster!

Sanding walls will create huge amounts of dust, use up loads of sanding paper and is very unlikely to result in flat walls - they'll just be curvy instead of bumpy!

ronaldmacdonald

Sanding the walls is no big deal. If the plaster is sound then go ahead. I have sanded plenty of painted walls and yes, whilst it can be very dusty it will give a good enough finish to paint over, depends on the existing finish but you dont have to press hard if you just want to even out a rough surface. I had to live in a bedroom that was being decorated - plenty of dust sheets and a good hoovering every night / open windows and its not all that bad. Some sanders can be fitted with a collection bag which helps as well. Got through a good few sanding sheets though but well worth it.

latecomer

Sanding all the walls would be a huge job. If its small areas that need to sanded down then it might be more feasible. I guess you can try it and see how you get on.

There are also some paint products on the market which are supposed to hide these kind of problems but I've never used them:

http://www.polycell.co.uk/products/polycell_smoothover_your_damaged_walls.jsp

I am also highly sceptical about how easy it would be get a good finish (and thats presuming its works in the first place)

macman

If the house needs 'totally gutting', then you need to do things in the right order. So start by making it watertight (roof repair or replace?), cure any rising damp (new DPC?) then replumb, rewire etc. Making the walls smooth should be the last thing on that list.
And why on earth rip out the skirting boards?

Ann-imal

Skirting boards are in a terrible condition.....all rotted away so thought iot best to get rid of these and get new ones.

Like I said, I'm a DIY virgin and this is like a whole new world to me.

Hope I havent taken on more than I can chew!! :think:

macman

Ann-imal wrote: »

Skirting boards are in a terrible condition.....all rotted away so thought iot best to get rid of these and get new ones.

Like I said, I'm a DIY virgin and this is like a whole new world to me.

Hope I havent taken on more than I can chew!! :think:

OK, by all means rip them out if rotten, but you're still not approaching this with any degree of logic. A bit of rot in the skirting boards is relatively cosmetic (unless you've got dry rot, in which case you have more than rough plaster to worry about...)
Assuming that this house at the very least will have to be replumbed and rewired, then the walls will have to be made good afterwards, so it's pointless sanding down the walls in the meantime.
It's also an impossible job. if you don't believe me, try doing one small wall and see how long it takes you.

evilgoose

if you can salvage your skirting boards - please do! the timber is generally of a much better quality, if its not rotten..

I've been working on renovating a house for some time now. I've just started doing plastering as an evening class - it's cost me £75 for 5 weeks of 3 hours a week - I'm by no means amazing at it - but I think it will be worth while.

I work in an office - there has been many times with the house where I've wondered if I've taken to much on, it's been a learning curve, but I'm getting there - so stick with it!

ormus

you need an empty house. the dust!
and you will need a huge sander to get any sort of level wall. forget it.

pay the plasterer or leave it until you can afford it. just paint or paper the walls for now.