New build show home- plasterboard

FrankaG96

Hi everyone,

Looking for some advice on where I stand. I have just moved into a new build, which was previously the show home for the past 5 years. As such, it is already decorated and furnished. I have removed the wallpaper from the living room and realised it has been placed directly onto plasterboard, which is the same in every papered part of the house. This means I won’t be able to paint these walls without having them all skimmed by a plasterer. Obviously this would cost a lot of money. Or possibly replacing the plasterboards and painting over them, if that’s what people do? They don’t have a smooth finish at all now the papers been pulled off. 

Am I in my right to complain about this and ask for the builders to have this rectified? It doesn’t sit right with me that I’m unable to decorate my house unless I choose to re paper the walls, which isn’t my taste. The wallpaper currently up in the house is an absolute eye sore too and I told them I’d be replacing it and nobody warned me I couldn’t. 

Seems like a really shabby finish and cost cutting exercise that I don’t fancy footing the bill to have finished. We have been in not even a week. 

Thanks in advance

TELLIT01

I would certainly take it up with the builder and hope that they would address the problem.  I'm assuming there wasn't a discount on the purchase price because it had been a show home?  I'm assuming also that you will only have 5 years of the NHBC warranty remaining although to you it is a new build.

FrankaG96

TELLIT01 said:

I would certainly take it up with the builder and hope that they would address the problem.  I'm assuming there wasn't a discount on the purchase price because it had been a show home?  I'm assuming also that you will only have 5 years of the NHBC warranty remaining although to you it is a new build.

Thank you! No discount, I’m sure we were told it was about 5k more because of it being fully furnished etc. We still have the standard warranty etc as if it was a normal house. I’ve sent them an email and had no response so far. Im just trying to gather information as to whether it’s acceptable so they can’t fob me off. 

Gavin83

There’s certainly no requirement to skim a wall and wallpapering or even painting over bare plasterboard is certainly considered an acceptable finish. They aren’t responsible for the house not being to your taste and they could certainly argue, quite fairly that the house was appropriately finished.

While it’s an unfortunate situation and I think it’s certainly worth asking the builder as far as I see it you are reliant on their goodwill.

2bFrank

Unfortunately this would be the standard in most showhomes if the walls are being wallpapered.

This way they dont have to wait for the plaster to dry (even a little bit can cause issues as the moisture has no where to go). How did they hide the joins in the plasterboard (as you would have seen the dips in the wall), was it taped and filled, this is also a 'modern method' thats coming up more often, and you can usually quickly repair and paint this and should get an acceptable finish.

In regards to getting them to skim it, I dont think you will have much luck, you could try and ask for good will, if they are still on site, you might have some luck. Otherwise if the plasterboard is fine, its not mega expensive to get a plasterer to skim (if you can find one thats available).

FrankaG96

Gavin83 said:

There’s certainly no requirement to skim a wall and wallpapering or even painting over bare plasterboard is certainly considered an acceptable finish. They aren’t responsible for the house not being to your taste and they could certainly argue, quite fairly that the house was appropriately finished.

While it’s an unfortunate situation and I think it’s certainly worth asking the builder as far as I see it you are reliant on their goodwill.

No argument here about them not being responsible for it not being to my taste, I just didn't expect to be unable to decorate my own home without paying to have new plasterboard/ have the walls skimmed. I would be more than happy with the finish if it was able to be painted, however when the wallpaper is removed it damages the plasterboard.

Hopefully the builders and I can reach some form of agreement 

FrankaG96

2bFrank said:

Unfortunately this would be the standard in most showhomes if the walls are being wallpapered.

This way they dont have to wait for the plaster to dry (even a little bit can cause issues as the moisture has no where to go). How did they hide the joins in the plasterboard (as you would have seen the dips in the wall), was it taped and filled, this is also a 'modern method' thats coming up more often, and you can usually quickly repair and paint this and should get an acceptable finish.

In regards to getting them to skim it, I dont think you will have much luck, you could try and ask for good will, if they are still on site, you might have some luck. Otherwise if the plasterboard is fine, its not mega expensive to get a plasterer to skim (if you can find one thats available).

I am not sure how they've hidden the joints but I assume tape and fill, I will have to ask them. The 'finish' doesn't bother me as such, as I am fairly sure it's all over the house behind the paint. My issue is I now can't paint the walls because the wallpaper coming off has inevitably removed the top layer of the plasterboard so it's now a bit furry to the touch. If I could just paint over it I'd be happy. 

I have been in contact with the builders who are sending somebody around, so hopefully we can reach some sort of solution!

stuart45

They should have used a sealer first.

plumb1_2

Smooth and fill, then use a good quality lining paper

wedge69

Not a lot of new build companies bother skimming walls anymore. What you've got is dry lining. Plaster board is attached, and then the joints and screw holes are filled, and the whole thing is painted over. Fairly standard practice. 

FrankaG96

wedge69 said:

Not a lot of new build companies bother skimming walls anymore. What you've got is dry lining. Plaster board is attached, and then the joints and screw holes are filled, and the whole thing is painted over. Fairly standard practice. 

I wouldn’t mind at all had it been painted, the problem is the wallpaper was stuck (by them) directly to the plasterboard so it’s peeled the plasterboard off with wallpaper backing leaving a very uneven surface that can’t be painted