I’m redecorating my daughter’s room in an 1860’s house. (i.e. old plaster walls) I’ve removed two layers of wallpaper and I’m left with rough plaster walls, wall paper paste and old semi-gloss paint. I’ll be repainting the walls with a flat paint.
My daughter would like smooth walls so I’m thinking of skim coating the walls with joint compound. My question is this: Should I wash off the rest of the wall paper paste? My feeling is, that it will act like a bonding agent for the drywall mud. Secondly what kind of mud should I use? I know there are many different types available.
Any tips or input would be helpful.
Thanks, Doug
Replies
I know paint won't stick well to old walpaper paste for a fact. I do not think joint compound would adhere any better than would paint. Clean it well before skimcoating, or you will have a big mess.
Wash the paste off. Try Warm water, vinegar, or TSP (paint stores may have a specialty product as well.) to see what works best.
Then use a sealer/bonding agent. Then sklim coat with any mud.
Use wallpaper remover and hot water to get the glue off. A product called "Dif" works well. I'd use USG joint compound and water it down to give yourself a good slick coat. Dont water it down so much that the mud falls off the trowel.
Have fun
Be well
Namaste'
Andy
It's not who's right, it's who's left ~ http://CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
For a similar job in our old house, I used setting type joint compound (comes as powder in bags). Didn't have too much wallpaper paste left on the walls, but many people have said the setting type compound will stick to paint, ... much better than premixed. The slower setting versions are a bit harder to find but are out there. I always use drywall knives when finishing drywall, but did use trowel with success for this job. It's a mess, and arms will ache, but can make a bad wall look great. Good luck!
I've done the same thing you're doing several times. Assuming I"m truly understanding that what you're doing is very similar to my past jobs I can offer you this........I didn't do anything special at all.
Instead, I peeled off the wallpaper, and all of the lose paste. Whatever remained I left as long as it was fairly intact glue. I skimmed, lightly sanded, PRIMED IT WELL, then painted. Lasted for years so far....I"m living in one of those houses still.
Maybe the other guys' advice is right. But I just never had to do anything that they've suggested....at leat not yet : )
Cheers! and happy painting
Pyros probably right about the prep but its simple enough to get the glue off so why not? I've used premixed USG thinned down and its been five years now on plaster walls.No issues at all..Just use a good primer and paint. DONT GO TO HOME DEPOT FOR PAINT!!!
Be well
Namaste'
AndyIt's not who's right, it's who's left ~ http://CLIFFORDRENOVATIONS.COM
Pyroman,
(hoping that handle refers to forum flaming and not the other kind of pyro)
The reason for cleaning it down is that when you leave some, it has a tendency to ballup. It can come off on your trowel full of nice clean smooth mud. You know that gummy, sticky goop that they use now to hold tag inserts into magazines? It'll roll up into a gummy, nasty ball, right? That's what you can have to deal with while skimming. Even if you cover it all well, then when you sand, some of it pokes out and you have to re-touch it all.
Makes for a very frustrating experience if you don't start with a clean wall.
My reason for suggesting the sealer/bonding agent is that I think the original poster mentioned soft plaster. The bonder will help set it up.
Excellence is its own reward!
I remember a few years back there was a tip in the tips and techniques of FHB that this guy had a frozen bucket of mud. Didn't want to waste it and had some wall paper to strip, he let the mud thaw, scored the wall paper, slapped the mud on, came back half and hour or so, scraped the mud, wall paper, glue and all in one sweep. The moral of the tip? Don't put mud close to wall paper glue unless you want to take it off.
The glue may look like it's in good shape and bonded to the plaster. Once you slap the mud on, I guess because mud dries so slowly and it's alkaline, it softens the glue and I don't think you want to deal with what's left.
Tom
Clean it, prime it, and skim coat it with topping mix.
Doug,
Actually, clean it then sand it with an 100 grit sanding screen (provides a good tooth) then wipe the wall down with clean water and let it dry. Repair any cracks and holes using a fiberglass mesh tape with a combination of plaster (if the holes or cracks are large) or just straight joint compound.Then skimcoat. This is simply not the process of slapping some joint compound on your walls and then sanding it off, some guys think it's an art form and well, it might be. If this is your first time, well then good luck and have fun. You will mostly need a 5" and 6" flat knife, 5x12, 4x14 and either a 4x16 or 4x18 trowel. You can use whatever you like be for me this is the basic set. Working left to right if your right handed start with the 5x12 trowel about 2" from the corner, load the trowel (it might be an adventure) and working now from the bottom up start laying the compound on the wall in one straight line up. Fill your trowel as necessary and proceed to as high as you can go up while standing on the floor. This line should be about 8-10" wide.Now center your trowel over the line of compound and press with and even firm pressure from the bottom up. This will for the most part flatten/level the compound. Then center your trowel over the right side of the line and angle the trowel so the right side is firmly against the wall with no compound and the left (on the compound) is just touching. wipe from the bottom up. This is called "feathering" the edge and will produce a line of compound that is high in the middle of the line and tapers down on both sides. Now using a 5" flat knife do the same on the left side and feather the edge to the corner.Move over about 3" from the edge of the first line of compound and repeat the process going across the entire wall. Then using a plank (to stand on) do the top that you couldn't reach while standing on the floor. Some guys like to start from the top of the wall and work down, do whatever makes you happy. Repeat the process until the entire room is done. The "peaks" of the compound lines should now be about 12" apart. When they dry they will provide you a "screed" to follow with your next coat.Now using the 4x14 trowel fill in the spaces you felt after the first coat. Using the 6" flat knife to fill the space between the corners and the first line of compound. You will being to notice that the trowel gives you much feedback as to the conditions of the walls. If you tend to have spaces under the trowel as you coat, it means the wall was curved away from you, or a low spot and you will need to add more compound. If you get lines at the end of the trowel it means it's a high spot on the wall. After doing it a bit you should start to get a feel for it (hopefully ;-])If you chose to go this route and make it this far, post again and I'll tell you how to finish it up. Good luck once again.
Edited 7/24/2002 8:48:55 PM ET by J Fusco