Plaster - sand down or just paint over?

egon

We moved into our house 2 month ago.
It is all painted in very dark colours, so we want to repaint in lighter colours.

The previous owner re jiggled upstairs and added an extension. Unfortunately, the plaster work wasn't one of the best jobs done.
It seem to be very uneven and pitted.

Now, can we just sand down the plaster and what is the best way of doing it?
Should we use a sander or do it by hand?
We just like a more even finish.

Also, there are some cracks in the walls and ceilings.
What are the best ways of filling them up?

Do we need any more preperations before we start painting?

Thanks a lot for any help.

Egon

ormus

use pollyfilla for the cracks and holes. also fill any concave areas as best you can. use a float for big areas.
then sand with a sanding machine. never sand by hand if you can help it.
if you must then use a block inside the paper.
wear a mask. itll be messy.
you may need 2 or 3 goes, to get a reasonable finish for the paint.
or get a plasterer to skim the whole lot again.

lilac_lady

If you don't want to sand or replaster wallpaper is an option. If you choose a thicker one it would cover up the wall.

lind00

My advice when filling any new plaster is to give it a mist coat of emulsion paint first which entails watering the paint down at a 60/40 ratio then this will show up all other indentations in the wall.Also it is easier to fill as well.For Major cracks i would use Tetron filler.For lighter defects in the wall i tend to use Easy Fill which you can purchase in a large bag from B and Q.

ormus

forgot to mention, always cross score the painted surface first with a nail or summat. it gives the filla a good base to grip/bind to.
and deepen/widen any small cracks first. for much the same reason.

OddjobKIA

Sanding plaster is very messy work

try lining paper as that will smooth over all dips and give a very good base for paint.

If not then

clean ou tany crack with a soft brush to get rid of loose sandy plaster, fill in dips with polyfiller leving slighlty proud and rounded leave for a week ( this time of year with central heating on it will shrink quicker and more than in the summer) then sand down with orbital sander not belt sander. Do the fiddly bits by hand. Then paint as you see fit.