Skimming wood chip wallpaper

theGrinch

Anyone used Polycell's SmoothOver or other product to give a finish on wood chip paper?

Aylesbury_Duck

No. You're much better off stripping the paper and using a product like that afterwards to get a smooth finish.

spadoosh

Theres every chance that the smoothover will remove the woodchip, The paper will soak up the moisture in the smoothover and will be less likely to adhere to the ceiling. Basically it can sag.

As tedious as it is, stripping is the best way to go.

armchaireconomist

No. Scrape/steam it off (please)

jk0

I think you have to sandpaper woodchip to get it to come off with a steamer, don't you? (Breaking the paint on the chips allows the steam to get behind the paper.)

Norman_Castle

theGrinch wrote: »

Anyone used Polycell's SmoothOver or other product to give a finish on wood chip paper?

Planning on doing the whole room? Even if on new plaster removing it with a steam stripper will be easier and more successful than trying to hide it.
Steam stripper £25, decent scraper £5.


SmoothOver costs about £5 sqm. Possibly cheaper to pay someone to strip the walls.

armchaireconomist

No you don't need to sand it but scoring helps, as it does with any wallpaper.


More work to try and cover it. Just rip it off.

greyteam1959

Use one of these if you want to spend £14.99........
https://www.screwfix.com/p/zinsser-paper-tiger-scoring-tool-3mm/3469h

MissMarble

We've been removing woodchip wallpaper from our hallway and landing and as it was so old, we just ripped it off but then for the under layer (bits with actual wood) we used a scraper and sprayed it with warm water and fairy liquid. I've read online using a steamer could damage the plaster. Our plaster under the walls is really bad and I think the previous owners just put the woodchip up instead of re-plastering! I think we will need to get our walls at least re-skimmed or plastered where there are large holes!

onomatopoeia99

MissMarble wrote: »

Our plaster under the walls is really bad and I think the previous owners just put the woodchip up instead of re-plastering!

My whole house is painted woodchip and that's exactly why the previous owners did it. In some rooms the paint seems to have been oil based as it becomes flexible when steamed but the steam doesn't penetrate the woodchip at all! Some I've had to scrape dry as a result and that's jolly hard work with woodchip "shrapnel" flying everywhere.

I'm very gradually doing it a room at a time and getting a plaster in to sort out the walls after, then painting after. I know the next owners will thank me, wallpaper is the devil, especially woodchip.

cajef

onomatopoeia99 wrote: »

My whole house is painted woodchip

Twenty years ago we bought a bungalow that was the same, plus there were many coats of light green paint over it all, we think the previous owners must have bought a job lot of cheap green paint, we did as you are doing one room at a time and it took a lot of really hard work and elbow grease before we eventually removed it all.

Fortunately the plaster was in good condition so we were able to cover it with our own choice of wallpaper.