Skimming

Made_Without

Is it a must to skim after removing wallpaper / before priming and painting?

C*F

MX5huggy

If you mean a new skim of plaster then no. Otherwise I am not quite sure what you mean.

suisidevw

Absolutely not. On many of our rooms we have just filled, sanded, mist coated, refilled and painted with excellent results

Poppycat

Just use sugar soap to clean walls and remove any paste

ginvzt

Can I pop in and ask a question too? I am currently redecorating room and removed wallpaper, washed with sugar soap already, but will do once more tonight probably.

My issue is about old paint that was below wallpaper. Now, on one wall I managed to scrape it all off, with a bit of help from my steamer. But there is plenty of old paint left on other walls, in patches, so you have 'holes' where you see plaster through.

Is it ok to just paint over these and the paint will even out, or do I need to scrape old paint off? I tried sanding the paint, but I am afraid I will sand into plaster this way. The paint is not flaking, I am just afraid to end up with the lines of old paint 'shining' through - wouldn't be pretty...

So, what are my options?... I got my paint for mist coat, but first need to sort this out. And sand the skirtings/doors/windowsill.

square_bear

If you are working with old walls then the best answer, in my opinion is to repaper the walls using lining paper (800 grade). This will leave a sound and smooth surface to apply the emulsion paint.

Cheaper than getting a plasterer in to skim the walls.

Made_Without

square_bear wrote: »

If you are working with old walls then the best answer, in my opinion is to repaper the walls using lining paper (800 grade). This will leave a sound and smooth surface to apply the emulsion paint.

Cheaper than getting a plasterer in to skim the walls.

This sounds tricky - I would be worried about getting air bubbles etc and having the lining paper seams show through :eek: I'm a total beginner

C*F

square_bear

Yes, hanging wallpaper is not always easy when you haven't done it before. My early attempts will prove that:o

Maybe get a quote from a decorator about lining the room, then compare it with a quote from a plasterer.

To be honest, do the job properly first time around, if you can afford to, you will be better off in the long run.

keystone

800 grade is a bit thin for lining. 1200 gives much better results and if the walls are really bad then go for 1400.

Andrew is spot on regarding hiding the seams although I would recommend a fine surface filler for any gaps. Too much possibility of the paint flashing over a flexible filler.

Cheers

ginvzt

andrew-b wrote: »

If the walls are in a bad way (sounds like yours are ginzvt) then if you can afford get them skimmed. Else lining paper is a cheap way of dealing with it (makes the surface feel warmer too). I recently lined our hall walls ...well my Dad lined the ceiling and started the walls and i carried on and finished it off - only ever watched/assisted in the past. It's become one of my favourite DIY jobs now! If your going to learn wallpapering starting with lining paper is the best way as you can get away with all sorts without it looking bad.

Honestly, walls are not that bad. Yes, there are patches of 2-3 mm deep circles (about 10-15 cm in diameter, but nothing that polyfilla or similar won't sort out. The only issue I have is the previous paint. The landlord said they 'sealed' the walls before putting wallpaper, and I guess that this magnolia looking paint is what they used to seal the plaster. The wall that I have removed the paint looks great - a couple of small holes from nails. There is only one patch that looks really bad - and that is where curtain rail was. It looks like it may have fallen out at some point, and there is patch of uneven plaster/filler, raising above anything else. Will get my sander out and try to sort it out too.

I promised to OH that I will do this room myself as an exercise - and if it looks rubbish afterwards, then we will look into getting someone to skim other rooms (and this one if we can't live with it!)

square_bear

If you repair the area around the curtain rail then I'm sure the curtain rail and curtains will disguise any imperfections.

You could also fix a piece of timber with a nice finished edge to the wall, covering the damaged bit, then attach the curtain rail onto that.