Here is yet another plaster question.
I have been struggling along patching cracks on scratch coat finished plaster walls. It has a swirling scratch and sand texture.
The walls, intalled in the 1950s, has never been painted.
My question is…I am intersted in adding a smooth skim coat to the walls as the final finish but it will have to wait until “next time” and the walls in the meantime are needing to be primed/painted.
Is it possible to skim coat over a painted surface ?
Will something like TSP and acrylic bonding agent make it feasible ?
If it is too involved, I may be willing to live with the patched walls and exterior wall framing ghosting through until I can get a chance for a skim coat session.
Thanks for your help.
Alan
Replies
Never had a problem skimming over painted walls with joint compound so long as the paint was sound and the walls washed prior to application. Always used a bonding agent with plaster skimming and no problems there, either. Some of them as old as 17 years and still look great.
Thanks for the encouraging note.
A friend coaxed a plasterer out of retirement to plaster a new wall and skim coat over textured walls that were never painted.
The dried walls look and feel superior to anything that is painted.
I wish I could go ahead and skim coat but the scope of the project just does not permit it being done now.
It is good to know it will bond to painted surfaces and perhaps the texture will help.
Alan
I'd recommend applying Plaster Weld, then skim with either Durabond or Easy Sand. Otherwise, you shouldn't have any problems, assuming the paint already on the wall is sticking nicely. I've run into problems when the paint underneath was barely sticking... That got kinda ugly.
Three words LARSEN'S PLASTER WELD.
Forget about DW compound for skim. Use a veneer finish mix like Diamond Coat from USG. Easier to work with and harder, shinier surface result.
Eric
Wow - thanks for the tips on various products.
I may need to post a question later on finding this stuff.
In the south plastering is a forgotten art.
It is particularily nice to know paint is not a problem.
Alan