Can anybody recommend how to fix this wall without hiring a plasterer?

JenP85

Does anybody know how to fix (or make it look a bit more level/flat) these walls? The wall is in the stairway and is very dimpled and uneven. We've had three quotes and ALL are 800-1000. We sadly just don't have that sort of money .  
SO we've decided to give it a go ourselves.. lol. 
However, were not sure how approach it. Would you say it needs sanding and then skimming? It is VERY solid and is still attached to the brick but Two of the plasters wanted to chip it all off and start again.

I've seen a few ppl suggest getting a cavity filling mix and just using a trowel to fill it in. 
We don't want it 'Professionally perfect' but just a little nicer than this 🥰


 

grumbler

I have no idea what 'cavity filling mix' is and why it's suggested instead of plaster.

You can try sanding manually starting with coarse sandpaper (use a flat piece of timber or a special frame with a handle and clamps), but for £70-100 you can buy an electric drywall sander that can be connected to a vacuum cleaner.

For manual sanding I used green aluminium oxide paper normally sold in small(ish) rolls.

breaking_free

I know you don't have money to burn, but in your shoes I'd take a weekend plastering course (Google them). Having done a 5-day course I've saved £££ over the years and taught my partner how to skim as well. 2 days will be sufficient to learn how to skim walls and ceilings, which is what you need. After tackling that stairwell, you'll probably find other areas that could do with touching up: best investment I ever made.

FreeBear

Give the wall a rub down with some coarse sandpaper to get rid of any loose stuff & remove the bits sticking up. Get some PVA or SBR, dilute with a bit of water, and chuck a handful of silver sand in (kiln dried paving sand is the same stuff - Look for a damaged bag at B&Q at a reduced price). Roller the PVA/SBR sand mix on to the wall and let it dry - The sand will provide a key for the next stage, and it doesn't need to be much sand...

Trowel some Knaulf Fill & Finish on, and scrape much of it off (like you would if buttering a piece of toast). The goal is to fill the hollows rather than getting a smooth finish. Leave it a day or two to dry and then go back and fill any big low spots.

Grab yourself a sponge float and pop it in a tray of water. Shake off the excess, and with a circular motion, go over the wall to smooth out any humps & hollows - The water in the sponge will soften the Fill & Finish and drag the material from the high spots in to the lows. leave to dry again, and if the wall is still lumpy, give it another coat of Fill & Finish followed by a wet sanding.

Once happy with the finish, paint the wall with an emulsion, but don't spend too much time brushing or rollering the paint - You'll soften up the Fill & Finish and make a mess..

The alternative is to see if your local Adult Education department offer any short courses on plastering - Mine did some last year for free - With a little practice and the right tools, it isn't difficult to get a decent finish. That said, a stairwell is probably the worst place to start plastering and you really do need a scaffold tower to do it safely. Working off a ladder is not recommended as you need both hands for plastering as well as a little helper to pass stuff up.

By the time you have invested in a scaffold tower plus some decent tools, you'll not be far off £800. But you then have a skill and equipment which makes other jobs around the house easier.

FreeBear

Oh, and one more thing to add - If this is rented accommodation, the landlord should be organising & paying for the work. If he/she is leaving you to do "improvements", make sure you have written permission first. Take plenty of photos before, during, and after and store multiple copies somewhere safe.

Keep_pedalling

As it seems to be mainly cosmetic I would put up with it until you are in a better position to get it fixed. 

greyteam1959

Textured wallpaper ??
Cheap & easy 

Bigphil1474

As above, if you can get it fairly flat with a bit of elbow grease, then thick wallpaper. You could also try thick lining paper, then wallpaper over it. I've done it with one of my walls and looks better if not perfect.

Andy_L

greyteam1959 said:

Textured wallpaper ??
Cheap & easy 

or a piece of full length Artwork

ThisIsWeird

Hi Jen.
Is this your own house?! 

It should be quite transformable by some elbow grease. 

There are two aspects to the poor finish;one is the poorly-filled in areas (on the RH of that pic) which are higher than the surrounding wall level, and the other is the lower dips peppering the wall surface.

I'd recommend a large, hand-held, sanding block, and possibly even a type on a pole which are used by dry-walling fitters. 

I'm not recommending this one, but it's just a cheap example: https://www.screwfix.com/p/aluminium-hand-sander-240mm-x-84mm/12688

I have absolutely no idea whether powered 'drywall sanders' would make life much easier, as I've never used one - looks tempting, tho'.

Then there's 'pole sanders', available in either rectangular heads (like the hand one above) or round. I also haven't used on of these, but I can imagine that a two-handed jobbie will be a lot easier.

You start with 'coarse', so ~80 grit. This should make easy work of removing the high spots, but take it easy as it can also scratch the surface very obviously. Choose a durable, 'non-clogging' type paper, probably ali oxide (what do folk suggest?)

If the 80 is too coarse, then move on to 120. You may wish to do so anyway, as you get to the finish you want.

The paint on there looks like 'silk', in which case go over it lightly first, or it may clog the paper too easily.

Work on the wall until all the 'high' spots have been flattened, wipe it down, and see what you have. You'll then likely have two choices - either keep on going until you've removed a whole further 'layer' to get to the low pits, or else apply a very thin filling skim over the wall to fill them. I think that might come down to how deep the 'pits' are.

An issue with 'filling' is that these bits will have paint in them, so not the best surface for filler to adhere to. You may therefore wish to 'stabilise' the wall first. Not sure what the best product would be; Zinsser? Everbuild 406 Stabiliser? SBR?

I'm thinking for the skimming - tho' I haven't done this myself either - is a ready-mixed 'drywall' filler, and applied using a drywall spreader - this is plastic (rubber-blade?), wide, and would be used to apply the thinnest coat possible, literally just filling the dips, and not leaving anything on the actual wall surface. It may shrink, so you may need to do this twice (after a light sanding), but I think you should get great results.

When sanding the filled surface, use 120 grit - lightly - or even 180.

Finally, when all is done, use flat matt emulsion and this will help disguise any small remaining blemishes.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

ThisIsWeird said:

I have absolutely no idea whether powered 'drywall sanders' would make life much easier, as I've never used one - looks tempting, tho'.

Not an expert but did once use the orbital sander on a wall and the dust was horrendous, obviously you get the same amount of dust for the material removed but more of it seems to fall to the floor when sanding by hand whereas the sander threw what it didn't catch in the dust bag around the entire house!