Walls: Plaster or Lining Paper?

paperclap

ryan7 said:

That is a very good price for plastering.
I'd bite their arm if offered that. 

Well, I think I might! But, do you think it's worryingly too low? I've seen his work (in photos), and looks good. That said, I'm no plasterer... so wouldn't know "good" from "best"!

Le_Kirk

Just make sure you ask what they are going to do around light switches and sockets; are they going to mask them, ignore them or expect you to have them removed?  We don't want you to put up a new thread when they've finished asking how to get plaster off your sockets!

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Le_Kirk said:

Just make sure you ask what they are going to do around light switches and sockets; are they going to mask them, ignore them or expect you to have them removed?  We don't want you to put up a new thread when they've finished asking how to get plaster off your sockets!

Thanks for the concern!

Though, I'd asked my electrician to leave off all the new faceplates until after we've decorated for that exact reason

Any existing stuff, I'll simply unscrew (leave connected / live), so he can plaster behind the current faceplates... so when I come to have the new ones fitted, there isn't any weird gap.

paperclap

Hi all again,

So this weekend, we spent some time stripping back the lining paper. The (presumably original) plaster behind doesn't look all that bad, does it? See photos. Though, this is only in one of the bedrooms, so elsewhere could be worse... but I'm presuming it won't be.

As mentioned, we were quoted ~£700 to plaster the walls in the two bedrooms, living room and hallway.

The £700 isn't a concern.

The main concern I'm now having is how the additional layer of new plaster will affect other areas of the house, such as when aligned with existing door linings, window frames, window bays, etc.

We're removing and replacing the skirting, architraves, etc... so they will simply sit on top anyway.

 Though, perhaps I am worrying over nothing, as I think the new plaster is only around 2mm?

FaceHead

I regret every piece of lining paper I've put up or had put up. In some places it's really good lining, but it's lining nonetheless. If the wall was actually in a good state, it wouldn't need lining, so you're lining a wall in poor condition and when painted it produces a much worse finish than plaster. When I walk around my house I get joy from some of the beautiful finish where it's been recently re-plastered, and some of the lining pains me.

From now on, if a bit of filling and sanding won't cut it, it's a reskim - either DIY or by a plasterer. Looking at your pictures - re-skim it and you'll be away running. 

I'll leave you with the 'should architraves be fitted first' debate. If they aren't going to be replaced for 20+ years (likely) I'd suggest architraves first, and then the skim just means the architrave disappears a negligible amount into the wall. You then want your architraves to be thicker than the thickness of the skirting plus the skim layer (2mm) so that you don't see the end of the skirting board. 




     

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Likewise, I've grown to hate lining paper with a passion.

I've no doubt the architraves and skirting will go on after the replanted. They're coming off anyway. I'm just concerned about the 2mm plaster differentiation between the door linings, window bays, etc. As, those things aren't being adjusted, and thus will be "set back" into the wall by 2mm. Not sure if it'll look odd, or not even noticeable.

FreeBear

Take all the architraves & skirting off. A decent plasterer should be able to feather the plaster in around any door & window linings.. One thing to watch for - If the door linings are not well fixed and there is a bit of a gap between timber & old plaster, there is a chance that the framing will be pushed out of shape. Had this issue when I had one room done, and the door needed trimming to fit the hole.

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FreeBear said:

Take all the architraves & skirting off. A decent plasterer should be able to feather the plaster in around any door & window linings.. One thing to watch for - If the door linings are not well fixed and there is a bit of a gap between timber & old plaster, there is a chance that the framing will be pushed out of shape. Had this issue when I had one room done, and the door needed trimming to fit the hole.

Do you think our walls warrant being replastered? Either way, we're going to remove and replace the architraves and skirting