First Time Buyer House - Refurbishment Help!

travelhoppers

Hello All,
Me and my husband have recently bought a new house and we would just like some advice.

The house was built in 2000, so the walls are plastered and painted but there a few cracks and dents on a few wall so we are thinking of thin re-skim in some room? How much would this roughly cost per room?

We want to get rid of the skirting board to and put new ones in. The coving is fine. Would you re-skim first and then put the skirting board or put those in first then skim the wall? How much would this cost?

The house has lovely oak doors which for some reason the old tenants have painted one side white and left the other side. Is there a way of getting rid of this paint?

What do you call a person, who can plaster, fit skirting boards, and decorate? Or do I need a separate person for each job?

Thank you!

Doozergirl

I doubt you need to reskim the walls. I would employ a decorator to come and fill the cracks and dinks.

Employ a carpenter to change your skirting, then employ the decorator. Plastering makes an almighty mess and Indoubt is necessary in such a new house.

The doors might be veneered rather than solid oak which would make it problematic to remove the paint without also affecting the veneer if there is beading or detail to the door.

travelhoppers

I find the walls uneven in some places hence why I thought a good skim would neaten it up.

Doozergirl

Okay, well, you need to strip the skirting off.

In all honesty, some people do skim up to coving and architraves, but I never would. It sounds like you want the walls perfect. To me, that means stripping off all everything around it, skimming and replacing. Not a fan of coving in a newish build house unless it's a really well designed feature, so I'd lose that altogether.

I still think that a good decorator will do the best job with the least mess. Decorating is just as much, if not more, about preparing walls. Sanding back, filling, removing imperfections. Still needs doing to a freshly skimmed wall!

Furts

I am puzzled by the logic in the proposals. A year 2000 home will have a good finish to the walls, which means a bit of filling here and there, and for perfection a couple of coats of contractors emulsion with a rub down between coats. Talk of scimming is crazy. But if scimming is demanded, then much as the good Doozergirl says. The skirting and coving need removing. However the work, damage, and expense are considerable, A knock on is the coving is "glued"to the ceiling so this will be damaged.

But even skirting removal is crazy. This stands a good chance of being glued to the walls, and is caulked at the top. Damage will be done removing it, then there is the insulation and (possible) membrane damage to be considered. Basically the skirting is there for the life of the house and in accordance with sustainability, being eco and the three R's one leaves it well alone.

Of course skirting can be replaced but the question is why do this? Far better to concentrate on something with a visual impact be this bold decorating, wall paper, new doors, carpets or whatever.

martinsurrey

Furts wrote: »

I am puzzled by the logic in the proposals. A year 2000 home will have a good finish to the walls, which means a bit of filling here and there, and for perfection a couple of coats of contractors emulsion with a rub down between coats. Talk of scimming is crazy. But if scimming is demanded, then much as the good Doozergirl says. The skirting and coving need removing. However the work, damage, and expense are considerable, A knock on is the coving is "glued"to the ceiling so this will be damaged.

But even skirting removal is crazy. This stands a good chance of being glued to the walls, and is caulked at the top. Damage will be done removing it, then there is the insulation and (possible) membrane damage to be considered. Basically the skirting is there for the life of the house and in accordance with sustainability, being eco and the three R's one leaves it well alone.

Of course skirting can be replaced but the question is why do this? Far better to concentrate on something with a visual impact be this bold decorating, wall paper, new doors, carpets or whatever.

Yup, getting skirting off a dot and dabbed boarded wall will cause havoc to the boarding, it'll be most likely glued on, and pulling it off will pull the board off the wall, meaning a lot of repair (I know as I've done it when removing walls in a room, and replacing the rest of the now larger room).

unless its beyond salvage, get a good decorator in, not much cant be fixed, and it'll cost less than replacing.

DaftyDuck

Agree with all the others. I suspect a good decorator should be able to get the finish you desire... If that finish is possible.

There would be an immense increase in costs if you reskim, as you might need new skirting and architrave, and the end finish might disappoint you anyway.

travelhoppers

Hello All

Yes I think maybe sanding down the imperfections is what we actually need to do.
There is a built in TV cabinet/stand which might take away some plaster when we remove it hence why we thought we could just skim everything.

Skirting boards - there is a piece that has fallen off and they haven’t been placed on properly. There is actually a gap between the skirting board and the wall. Also they were wooden, and they are been painted but we can still see the wood in some places and paint strokes so we rather just replace them.

Furts

travelhoppers wrote: »

Hello All

Yes I think maybe sanding down the imperfections is what we actually need to do.
There is a built in TV cabinet/stand which might take away some plaster when we remove it hence why we thought we could just skim everything.

Skirting boards - there is a piece that has fallen off and they haven’t been placed on properly. There is actually a gap between the skirting board and the wall. Also they were wooden, and they are been painted but we can still see the wood in some places and paint strokes so we rather just replace them.

What you are saying is somebody has decorated the skirting in a half hearted manner. They have been scimpy with acrylic caulk along the top, and perhaps a little fast and furious with their painting. But to you that justifies ripping off all the skirting?

A tube of acrylic caulk is around £1.20 at Toolstation. Running this round all your skirting could be done in an hour or so. You then paint over the skirting and hey presto a lovely job utilising the existing skirting.

I accept it is your choice what you do, but your logic and reasoning are crazy.

Doozergirl

I'm repeating myself but with the extra info you've added, all of this is really is stuff for a decorator!

Decorating is not about slapping paint around, it is all about sanding back, filling and preparing the walls. If you get a proper decorator, they will sort it all out for you.

travelhoppers

Furts wrote: »

What you are saying is somebody has decorated the skirting in a half hearted manner. They have been scimpy with acrylic caulk along the top, and perhaps a little fast and furious with their painting. But to you that justifies ripping off all the skirting?

A tube of acrylic caulk is around £1.20 at Toolstation. Running this round all your skirting could be done in an hour or so. You then paint over the skirting and hey presto a lovely job utilising the existing skirting.

I accept it is your choice what you do, but your logic and reasoning are crazy.

Well they are done in a bad way and there is one piece that is fallen off. We thought new pre-finished skirting boards might give a nicer finish without having paint over existing ones.
There is a gap between the laminate and skirting too, so I thought new thicker skirting will look better than beading.

But thank you for your advice! We will look in to that. We don’t want to spend unnecessary money but do want a nicely finished house. This is the first time we have ever decorated so we are still learning.