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Thomarse September 4th 07 01:58 PM

Smoothing an old wall
 
Hi,

I have some walls in my house that I have stripped wood chip wall
paper from. Where the paper has been stripped, some of the paint that
was on the wall has come away, and so I am left with a "patchy
wall"... this is not too bumpy, but where the paint patches have come
away, if painted back on top then these areas will still show through.

In other rooms in the house I have used a thick basecoat which said it
was designed to smooth walls, but it didnt hide these patches. Luckily
these other rooms don't get too much glaring direct sunlight and so
the patches dont show up.

In this room however these patches will show up in daylight.

Ideally I'd like to get a smooth wall.. however, I do not want to re-
skim the wall due to expense and the fact that I have tried the odd
bit of plastering myself and the results left much to be desired!

So my options a

Artex... A very fine watered down mix so that the pattern is hardly
noticable but enough to deflect teh light and hide the patches..

5 or more coats of basecoat.. although I think I will still see the
patches?

Watered down mix of plasterboard jointing compound rollered on and
smoothed over...

Any advice? Has anyone else done anything similar? Liek I said, I
can't plaster and so skimming isnt an option but I think possibly the
compound could be, but I'm not sure how well I could smooth it?

Thanks


George September 4th 07 02:03 PM

Smoothing an old wall
 

"Thomarse" wrote in message

Any advice? Has anyone else done anything similar? Liek I said, I
can't plaster and so skimming isnt an option but I think possibly the
compound could be, but I'm not sure how well I could smooth it?

Thanks


One of the pitfalls of painting new plaster then wanting to wallpaper it at
a later date and wanting to paint it again after stripping the paper of.

Will people listen...no!

Lining paper.




The Natural Philosopher September 4th 07 02:21 PM

Smoothing an old wall
 
George wrote:
"Thomarse" wrote in message
Any advice? Has anyone else done anything similar? Liek I said, I
can't plaster and so skimming isnt an option but I think possibly the
compound could be, but I'm not sure how well I could smooth it?

Thanks


One of the pitfalls of painting new plaster then wanting to wallpaper it at
a later date and wanting to paint it again after stripping the paper of.

Will people listen...no!

Lining paper.



or polyskim.

Its a LOT easier than plastering,,and any rough bits get the emery paper
treatment.

Thomarse September 4th 07 02:33 PM

Smoothing an old wall
 
On Sep 4, 2:03 pm, "George" wrote:
"Thomarse" wrote in message

Any advice? Has anyone else done anything similar? Liek I said, I
can't plaster and so skimming isnt an option but I think possibly the
compound could be, but I'm not sure how well I could smooth it?


Thanks


One of the pitfalls of painting new plaster then wanting to wallpaper it at
a later date and wanting to paint it again after stripping the paper of.

Will people listen...no!

Lining paper.


I forgot to add.. I'm not a believer of lining paper.. The joins are
more often than not still visible...I don't expect I will manage to do
much better!

I guess styles change and as people live in and move in and out of
houses, they like different decoration...Can't really be helped that
someone painted the walls, then someone decided they wanted it
papered... and then i decided I didnt.. The variety of life I guess...
A pain up the *** for me to get my smooth wall though!


George September 4th 07 02:39 PM

Smoothing an old wall
 

"Thomarse" wrote in message

I forgot to add.. I'm not a believer of lining paper.. The joins are
more often than not still visible...I don't expect I will manage to do
much better!

I guess styles change and as people live in and move in and out of
houses, they like different decoration...Can't really be helped that
someone painted the walls, then someone decided they wanted it
papered... and then i decided I didnt.. The variety of life I guess...
A pain up the *** for me to get my smooth wall though!


Joins in lining paper are a doddle,buy a 1" roller that is used to flatten
the joins.
http://tinyurl.com/29zrly
Its not hard to do




George September 4th 07 03:32 PM

Smoothing an old wall
 

"The Natural Philosopher" wrote in message
...
George wrote:
"Thomarse" wrote in message
Any advice? Has anyone else done anything similar? Liek I said, I
can't plaster and so skimming isnt an option but I think possibly the
compound could be, but I'm not sure how well I could smooth it?

Thanks


One of the pitfalls of painting new plaster then wanting to wallpaper it

at
a later date and wanting to paint it again after stripping the paper of.

Will people listen...no!

Lining paper.



or polyskim.

Its a LOT easier than plastering,,and any rough bits get the emery paper
treatment.


Do they give the scraper as well when you buy that stuff?
Aldi on sunday were selling the blade for that sort of skim,its about 6"
long with two other scrapers for £2.49



Thomarse September 4th 07 03:59 PM

Smoothing an old wall
 
On Sep 4, 3:32 pm, "George" wrote:
"The Natural Philosopher" wrote in t...





George wrote:
"Thomarse" wrote in message
Any advice? Has anyone else done anything similar? Liek I said, I
can't plaster and so skimming isnt an option but I think possibly the
compound could be, but I'm not sure how well I could smooth it?


Thanks


One of the pitfalls of painting new plaster then wanting to wallpaper it

at
a later date and wanting to paint it again after stripping the paper of.


Will people listen...no!


Lining paper.


or polyskim.


Its a LOT easier than plastering,,and any rough bits get the emery paper
treatment.


Do they give the scraper as well when you buy that stuff?
Aldi on sunday were selling the blade for that sort of skim,its about 6"
long with two other scrapers for £2.49- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -


How "easy" is easy.. I;ve look at the polyskim stuff before but it
looked like I may end up with a load of trowel marks to get rid of
once dry.. I guess theres a knack to it?

Would a wet mix of drywall jointing compund do a similar job.. The
reason i ask is that i have alot of this left after erecting my
partition wall and it would save alot of money if i could use that...
Although I do just want the easiest method...Polyskim is quite pricey

Cheers for all the replies


George September 4th 07 04:11 PM

Smoothing an old wall
 

"Thomarse" wrote in message
ups.com...
On Sep 4, 3:32 pm, "George" wrote:
"The Natural Philosopher" wrote in

t...





George wrote:
"Thomarse" wrote in message
Any advice? Has anyone else done anything similar? Liek I said, I
can't plaster and so skimming isnt an option but I think possibly the
compound could be, but I'm not sure how well I could smooth it?


Thanks


One of the pitfalls of painting new plaster then wanting to wallpaper

it
at
a later date and wanting to paint it again after stripping the paper

of.

Will people listen...no!


Lining paper.


or polyskim.


Its a LOT easier than plastering,,and any rough bits get the emery paper
treatment.


Do they give the scraper as well when you buy that stuff?
Aldi on sunday were selling the blade for that sort of skim,its about 6"
long with two other scrapers for £2.49- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -


How "easy" is easy.. I;ve look at the polyskim stuff before but it
looked like I may end up with a load of trowel marks to get rid of
once dry.. I guess theres a knack to it?

Would a wet mix of drywall jointing compund do a similar job.. The
reason i ask is that i have alot of this left after erecting my
partition wall and it would save alot of money if i could use that...
Although I do just want the easiest method...Polyskim is quite pricey

Cheers for all the replies

Polyskim is basically premixed polyfilla which can still be used if you mix
the polyfilla well and ix it to a creamy consistancy which will not fall of
the blade.

Just like plastering you use the blade to skim over the indentations
sweeping across them and leave to dry.
If any of the polyfilla is on the outer surface of the indentations then as
Mr Philo said a light brush of fine sandpaper over it will remove the
unwanted polyfilla,on saying that though if the polyfilla has been ixed
right there should be any need to sand?

I used a wood filla in a tub (Bonda WoodStop)one time to do that sort of
thing I had to sand it though but the results were undetected when painted.



Thomarse September 4th 07 04:17 PM

Smoothing an old wall
 
On Sep 4, 4:11 pm, "George" wrote:
"Thomarse" wrote in message

ups.com...
On Sep 4, 3:32 pm, "George" wrote: "The Natural Philosopher" wrote in

t...







George wrote:
"Thomarse" wrote in message
Any advice? Has anyone else done anything similar? Liek I said, I
can't plaster and so skimming isnt an option but I think possibly the
compound could be, but I'm not sure how well I could smooth it?


Thanks


One of the pitfalls of painting new plaster then wanting to wallpaper

it
at
a later date and wanting to paint it again after stripping the paper

of.

Will people listen...no!


Lining paper.


or polyskim.


Its a LOT easier than plastering,,and any rough bits get the emery paper
treatment.


Do they give the scraper as well when you buy that stuff?
Aldi on sunday were selling the blade for that sort of skim,its about 6"
long with two other scrapers for £2.49- Hide quoted text -


- Show quoted text -


How "easy" is easy.. I;ve look at the polyskim stuff before but it
looked like I may end up with a load of trowel marks to get rid of
once dry.. I guess theres a knack to it?

Would a wet mix of drywall jointing compund do a similar job.. The
reason i ask is that i have alot of this left after erecting my
partition wall and it would save alot of money if i could use that...
Although I do just want the easiest method...Polyskim is quite pricey

Cheers for all the replies

Polyskim is basically premixed polyfilla which can still be used if you mix
the polyfilla well and ix it to a creamy consistancy which will not fall of
the blade.

Just like plastering you use the blade to skim over the indentations
sweeping across them and leave to dry.
If any of the polyfilla is on the outer surface of the indentations then as
Mr Philo said a light brush of fine sandpaper over it will remove the
unwanted polyfilla,on saying that though if the polyfilla has been ixed
right there should be any need to sand?

I used a wood filla in a tub (Bonda WoodStop)one time to do that sort of
thing I had to sand it though but the results were undetected when painted.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -


I see.. I think I was getting confused with anothr product by
pollycell... smooth over?... I think you roller this on and then
smooth with a blade/trowel?

The problem with my walls are that they arent "indentations" as
such... Just patches all over where some paint has some away and some
has remained on the wall.


George September 4th 07 04:21 PM

Smoothing an old wall
 

"Thomarse" wrote in message

I see.. I think I was getting confused with anothr product by
pollycell... smooth over?... I think you roller this on and then
smooth with a blade/trowel?

The problem with my walls are that they arent "indentations" as
such... Just patches all over where some paint has some away and some
has remained on the wall.

Sorry...
Thats what I mean about indentations patchy paint fall out.

You dont roller it on you scoop it onto the blade and sweep it across the
patches.



George September 4th 07 04:26 PM

Smoothing an old wall
 
Here's a video how its done.
http://www.polycell.co.uk/smoothover/index.html



Pete C September 4th 07 06:13 PM

Smoothing an old wall
 
On Sep 4, 1:58 pm, Thomarse wrote:
Hi,

I have some walls in my house that I have stripped wood chip wall
paper from. Where the paper has been stripped, some of the paint that
was on the wall has come away, and so I am left with a "patchy
wall"... this is not too bumpy, but where the paint patches have come
away, if painted back on top then these areas will still show through.

In other rooms in the house I have used a thick basecoat which said it
was designed to smooth walls, but it didnt hide these patches. Luckily
these other rooms don't get too much glaring direct sunlight and so
the patches dont show up.

In this room however these patches will show up in daylight.

Ideally I'd like to get a smooth wall.. however, I do not want to re-
skim the wall due to expense and the fact that I have tried the odd
bit of plastering myself and the results left much to be desired!

So my options a

Artex... A very fine watered down mix so that the pattern is hardly
noticable but enough to deflect teh light and hide the patches..

5 or more coats of basecoat.. although I think I will still see the
patches?

Watered down mix of plasterboard jointing compound rollered on and
smoothed over...

Any advice? Has anyone else done anything similar? Liek I said, I
can't plaster and so skimming isnt an option but I think possibly the
compound could be, but I'm not sure how well I could smooth it?

Thanks


Hi,

Are you painting the walls matt? If so it should help hide the
different wall textures.

Also try asking on the talk forum on the Screwfix website.

cheers,
Pete.


Thomarse September 4th 07 07:07 PM

Smoothing an old wall
 
On Sep 4, 6:13 pm, Pete C wrote:
On Sep 4, 1:58 pm, Thomarse wrote:



Hi,


I have some walls in my house that I have stripped wood chip wall
paper from. Where the paper has been stripped, some of the paint that
was on the wall has come away, and so I am left with a "patchy
wall"... this is not too bumpy, but where the paint patches have come
away, if painted back on top then these areas will still show through.


In other rooms in the house I have used a thick basecoat which said it
was designed to smooth walls, but it didnt hide these patches. Luckily
these other rooms don't get too much glaring direct sunlight and so
the patches dont show up.


In this room however these patches will show up in daylight.


Ideally I'd like to get a smooth wall.. however, I do not want to re-
skim the wall due to expense and the fact that I have tried the odd
bit of plastering myself and the results left much to be desired!


So my options a


Artex... A very fine watered down mix so that the pattern is hardly
noticable but enough to deflect teh light and hide the patches..


5 or more coats of basecoat.. although I think I will still see the
patches?


Watered down mix of plasterboard jointing compound rollered on and
smoothed over...


Any advice? Has anyone else done anything similar? Liek I said, I
can't plaster and so skimming isnt an option but I think possibly the
compound could be, but I'm not sure how well I could smooth it?


Thanks


Hi,

Are you painting the walls matt? If so it should help hide the
different wall textures.

Also try asking on the talk forum on the Screwfix website.

cheers,
Pete.


I've just read some reviews on the polycell smoothover.. all very bad,
saying its rubbish and a nightmare to work with..Most of these reviews
were people who used it to cover artex or woodchip though.. All I want
is a thin layer over my dodgy walls....

Has anyone in here actually used this stuff for this? Is it worth me
doing or should I consider something else


The Natural Philosopher September 4th 07 07:38 PM

Smoothing an old wall
 
George wrote:
"The Natural Philosopher" wrote in message
...
George wrote:
"Thomarse" wrote in message
Any advice? Has anyone else done anything similar? Liek I said, I
can't plaster and so skimming isnt an option but I think possibly the
compound could be, but I'm not sure how well I could smooth it?

Thanks

One of the pitfalls of painting new plaster then wanting to wallpaper it

at
a later date and wanting to paint it again after stripping the paper of.

Will people listen...no!

Lining paper.



or polyskim.

Its a LOT easier than plastering,,and any rough bits get the emery paper
treatment.


Do they give the scraper as well when you buy that stuff?

yes

Aldi on sunday were selling the blade for that sort of skim,its about 6"
long with two other scrapers for £2.49



The Natural Philosopher September 4th 07 07:41 PM

Smoothing an old wall
 
Thomarse wrote:
On Sep 4, 3:32 pm, "George" wrote:
"The Natural Philosopher" wrote in t...





George wrote:
"Thomarse" wrote in message
Any advice? Has anyone else done anything similar? Liek I said, I
can't plaster and so skimming isnt an option but I think possibly the
compound could be, but I'm not sure how well I could smooth it?
Thanks
One of the pitfalls of painting new plaster then wanting to wallpaper it

at
a later date and wanting to paint it again after stripping the paper of.
Will people listen...no!
Lining paper.
or polyskim.
Its a LOT easier than plastering,,and any rough bits get the emery paper
treatment.

Do they give the scraper as well when you buy that stuff?
Aldi on sunday were selling the blade for that sort of skim,its about 6"
long with two other scrapers for £2.49- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -


How "easy" is easy.. I;ve look at the polyskim stuff before but it
looked like I may end up with a load of trowel marks to get rid of
once dry.. I guess theres a knack to it?


its called 'a sanding block' :-)


Would a wet mix of drywall jointing compund do a similar job.. The
reason i ask is that i have alot of this left after erecting my
partition wall and it would save alot of money if i could use that...
Although I do just want the easiest method...Polyskim is quite pricey


Thats cos it flows really easily..I suspect its a fine suspension of
chalk in PVA or summat.

lining paper is the cheap'n'quick'n'dirty. Polyskim is the 'expensive
but not as much as a plasterer' approach.

Cheers for all the replies


Steve[_4_] September 4th 07 08:36 PM

Smoothing an old wall
 
Thomarse wrote:


I've just read some reviews on the polycell smoothover.. all very bad,
saying its rubbish and a nightmare to work with..Most of these reviews
were people who used it to cover artex or woodchip though.. All I want
is a thin layer over my dodgy walls....


IMO, it is expensive rubbish for skimming anything and probably the
hardest thing for beginners to use, especially if you use the silly tool
recommended. I used it once, never again, for skimming over a small
artexed ceiling. Harder to work with and much more expensive than either
artex or finishing plaster although I have never tried it in the
situation you describe.

Has anyone in here actually used this stuff for this? Is it worth me
doing or should I consider something else


Either paint it then fill bad bits with fine filler and sand gently then
paint again, sand and so on - or get wall fairly good then lining paper.

Steve


Pete C September 4th 07 08:58 PM

Smoothing an old wall
 
Hi,

Sounds like the texture of the painted plaster isn't smooth and so
will never match any filled areas.

If the original paint on plaster was rollered on (ie bit like orange
peel) might be worth trying different paint and rollers on samples to
blend it in filled areas.

If a very small area I'd try something like smoothover then sanding
with a random orbital sander to get the whole lot flat.

Otherwise it's lining paper, a skim of plaster, or a textured paint.

cheers,
Pete.


Stuart Noble September 5th 07 09:29 AM

Smoothing an old wall
 
Pete C wrote:
Hi,

Sounds like the texture of the painted plaster isn't smooth and so
will never match any filled areas.

If the original paint on plaster was rollered on (ie bit like orange
peel) might be worth trying different paint and rollers on samples to
blend it in filled areas.

If a very small area I'd try something like smoothover then sanding
with a random orbital sander to get the whole lot flat.

Otherwise it's lining paper, a skim of plaster, or a textured paint.

cheers,
Pete.


If the OP has loads of jointing compound left, I suggest he uses that.
Yes, you still need some kind of plastering skill, but it doesn't go off
as quickly as plaster so you have more time to mess around with it.

John Rumm September 5th 07 09:03 PM

Smoothing an old wall
 
Thomarse wrote:

Has anyone in here actually used this stuff for this? Is it worth me
doing or should I consider something else


I would have thought a fine surface filler and a wide taping knife would
do the job equally easily. The stuff used for filling taper edge
plasterboard is nice an easy to work with. Sands easily as well.

--
Cheers,

John.

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