Decorating Query

Marg

We've decided to make life a bit easier for the future and instead of wallpaper just have the walls in the hall painted plaster - so that we can maintain them ourselves. They are currently wallpapered.

The house is about 20 years old and the walls not in too bad a condition. The decorator came to give us an estimate but I was concerned that he spoke of 'cross lining' the walls before painting. I am not keen on the idea of painted wallpaper (even if only lining paper) and wonder why he's suggesting this?

Can anyone advise why this might be?

It's made me wonder if I'd better choosing a 'proper' serviceable wallpaper or have the walls replastered? (we are having the ceiling plastered anyway)

Any ideas, thoughts, appreciated TIA

mart.vader

As far as I am aware, cross-lining is usually done to provide a smoother surface for painting. If your plaster is rough or pitted, it may be worth doing, but you would have to assess if its needed or not.

pollys

Hi we are having the hall decorated too. As we want it painted (No paper at all) we are having it skimmed first so it has a smooth finish. Prior to this it was covered in lining paper and painted but still got scuffed and ripped the paper. We are hoping that just painted will be easier to redo/touch up.

Pollys x

Marg

Thank you! pollys I think that's the conclusion I'm coming to, just a little disappointed the decorator didn't suggest that to us.

Anyone got any helpful comments about this?

[Deleted User]

I put lining paper in the hall because the walls were about 60 years old, however, when I stripped the ceiling of the horrid 'chip' style ceiling paper and just painted it with a good ceiling paint (forget the name of it now, that typical decorators filler brand!! How annoying) they came out better than the lined walls.

nickj_2

when you strip wallpaper off sometimes if peels any paint off as well so the walls either need to be filled or lined .
if when the paper is stripped the walls appear to be in good condition then all they need is ascrub to get the paste off and then painting ...simples .... i wouldn't have thought a20 yr old house would need cross lining


if you are having the ceiling replastered then it may be worth asking for a price to do the walls at the same time

jcb208

If the walls are not to bad,strip the paper and wash off all old paste,fill imperfections with easy fill and apply 1 coat of emulsion then fill again where missed the first time and rub down again ,spot in and apply 2nd coat of emulsion.I hate linning paper as every imperfection or nib on the wall shows through the paper also edges tend to lift after a while..Linning paper is ideal when the walls are badly cracked as it will stop cracks coming back but what ever people tell you it will not hide blemishes very well in walls

Marg

Thank you for your useful advice and comments which echo my thoughts - need to contact the plasterer again for a revised quote.

Jackinbox99

Ive done this in both my old house (1930`s) and new house (1960`s). Had to get all the old woodchip wall paper off first which wasnt too bad using a steamer. The old house`s walls were in a right state. You could see where the old picture rails had been pulled off and holes filled, and the house had been rewired at some point with the new cables all chased into the walls and patched up. A lot of filler, sanding and preperation work by myself over a period of weeks, as well as some re-plastering left a lovely smooth wall, which after a few coats of paint looks awesome.

The newer house, even though again, it had woodchip paper on the walls, once I took that off, the walls looked lovely. Minor filling / sanding and a few coats of paint and it looks brand new.

All depends if you have the time to do it youself. Plasterers are very expensive. I was quoted about 400quid to replaster half of one room. Ended up doing it myself for £50.

danofessex

cross lining is just a term used doesn't mean the decorator will hang it hoziontal, could hang it vertical.
hopefully you wont notice whatever way you hang it.

when removing paper people generally use a steamer and leave it in one place too long, so you may need to do some small plaster repairs before skimming or lining.
you can hear the blown areas.

generally plasterers charge more for skimming ceilings than walls, so your probably get a good price on the full room.

sgoode

Lining paper will hide any fine cracks etc that would show through the paint. We had a room skimmed which initially looked great but a few hairline cracks have appeared and has spoiled it. We wish we had used lining paper now and will be doing so in our hallway.