Preping walls for new skim coat.

dave82_2

Hi,

Whats the best method for preping walls to be re skimed. We have done the following

1. removed the wallpaper
2. knocked of any live plaster.

There are some areas of gloss paint which won't shift also the walls are still a bit sticky with wall paper paste.

I am planning to

1. rub the walls down with a wire brush to remove anything lose
2. wash the walls down with sugar soap.

Anything else I should do?

Also when using sugar soap is it enough to turn of the mains and lights in the room at the fuse box. Will any water that gets into the electrics just dry out? or should we try and seal the plugs and switches before washing down?

Cheers Dave

expatinbermuda

We've just had 2 rooms and a ceiling replastered. Walls were not in a very good condition, and ceiling was artex'd. We only stripped the walls of wallpaper and left them for the plasterer to deal with , as this is what he wanted. Loose area's were left intact, as removing them would result in potentially removing large area's of plaster due to "chasing" a solid bond. Our plasterer applied a coat of slightly diluted PVA, then a bonding coat of plaster, left this to dry over night, then applied a weaker PVA coat followed by 2 coats of skim.

Anything involving water close to electric points should mean you turn the power off, or if you are stupid like me you don't but have a cloth handy at all times and keep an eye on the runs.

vivajustice

All you need to do is strip the wallpaper

I would leave the blown plaster and let your plasterer know to bring some 'bonding' to fill it in, he will be able to take the damaged plaster off without affecting the whole wall!

PVA is applied to the walls as the post above me said with a diluted coat, then 2 coats of plaster.

So all you need to do is strip the paper, unless your plasterer says otherwise.

dave82_2

Cheers Guys,

There are a couple of awkward patches of backing paper mixed with paint that just won't come off. Scrubed, scratched, steamed, scraped!

Is there anything that can be used to seal this or should I carry on trying?

Cheers D

dzug1

Hammer and chisel? There'll be a hole to fill in but the skimming should take care of that.

Or am I being too gung ho?