Smooth walls

mparter

I'm intending to re-decorate my entire house. Problem is, all the walls are currently wallpapered and I want to paint them. I've started by stripping the toilet room using a steam stripper. The plasterboard behind is a mess, all bumpy, etc

I started off trying to fill the holes, etc but I quickly realised that that was going to take ages so I went and bought some Polycell Smoothwall. This appears to work OK except that some of the platerboard lining is coming off when I'm applying the Smoothwall. This means that I have to keep going over bits I've already done to fix the scoring.

The walls were stripped on Monday, do you think the plasterboard could still be "damp", even though they feel fine?

Should I just abort using Smoothwall and use lining paper given that it took me about an hour to do one 2m sq wall and I have the rest of a 3 bedroom house to do?

Bearing in mind I'm not very good at hanging wallpaper.

FirstClassMale

I have no experience of using polycell smoothwall. I have always used polycell finishing skim and it works very well. I have the same aversion to wallpaper as yourself so like to get the walls as smooth as possible. Skim is very easy to use but you must use it by the instructions or the walls will go an orange peel texture. You simply paint it on with a brush then wait and skim it off with the scraper they provide.

A couple of tips to note. The stuff that comes off as you skim can not be used again for applying to a wall but it can be used to pack out big holes or gaps so identify these "dumping" areas before you begin. At the same time as you buy the skim, buy one of those plant sprayers which you can use to add a bit more water to the surface.
If pieces of the plasterboard are coming off then it might be easier to cut out the affected bits and replace then skim over the top. Small bits of plasterboard are available from the likes of B&Q so you dont need to buy an 8x4 sheet however, they often have damaged 8x4 sheets in their reduced to clear timber section. You dont need the whole bit so it doesn't matter if the edges are a bit broken. If you can't get it in your car then take a stanley knife with you and cut it into easily manageable pieces in the car park.