Any plasterers

mollymoo

mollymoo

mollymoo

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Just had my walls skimmed and in one room they don't seem to be drying out too well. Would it cause a problem if I stuck a heater in there to help them along?
Also there seems to be conflicting information on how to prepare the walls for hanging wall paper, any tips would be greatly appreciated. :D
 
whenever i did plaster I did warm the room to speed drying just don't go silly and make it dry too quick or it will crack.

And we were always told that to prep before wallpaper to brush the walls with 1 or 2 thin coats of realy thin paste and leave it to dry before you do the paper in earnest.

This is because the fresh plaster will absorb the paste like a sponge and if you just do the paper straight off it will not stick right.
 
or a weak solution of unibond and white paint so you can see where you have painted. if you dry with a heater it will shrink and crack. If you dont do the base layer lining the walls will soak up your expensive paint and not have the best of finishes.
 
I used to do plastering, the walls will normally take a few days to completely dry out. I highly recommend you do absolutely nothing to them until they are fully dried, otherwise you'll get dodgy results.

It's a time consuming process unfortunately. It's why you sometimes see homes that have been skimmed but not much else.
 
One of the rooms was skimmed a few days ago and shows no real signs of drying on 2 of the walls I was thinking of sticking my small oil filled radiator in there on low for a night or two just to help it along.
 
Some plasterers like to turn the heating up and leave it on (especially on site where the contractors foot the bills and not the client), while others swear by just letting them dry naturally.

I think you should play it safe but if you're pressed for time then it would probably be alright to put a small heater in there. I've seen much worse.
 
KNiVES said:
Some plasterers like to turn the heating up and leave it on (especially on site where the contractors foot the bills and not the client), while others swear by just letting them dry naturally.

I think you should play it safe but if you're pressed for time then it would probably be alright to put a small heater in there. I've seen much worse.
Click to expand...

We have a big space heater at work but I think that would be pushing it a bit :)
 
Your better just opening a window in there to lower the humidity levels by ventilation, rather than heating it up.
 
My walls and ceilings were about 80% dry and were really taking their time to finish, so popped a couple of convection heaters in the lounge for a couple of days and opened the windows to speed things along. No dodgy results at all. Natural is said to be best though.
 
Are the walls just skimmed boards, or is it float and set?

The former took ~5 days to set i my house, the latter twice that.
 
In my experience ( I am a building manager ) some walls can take even up to two weeks to dry out completely. I have seen this even ruin wall paper that has been put up to quick. A small amount of heat wouldnt really hurt just to counter act the cold of the night, since it has been getting a bit colder here last few nights. Make sure you seal it as others have advised and you should be good to go, sometimes areas take longer to dry than others becuase they are thicker in places. It also pays to use an experienced plasterer becuase they will know how much to use and not over skim it so it will dry much quicker.
 
don't seal it there is no need, you might want to seal tape and jointed plasterboard but not fresh plaster no need waste of time, my firm build £1bn every year and we don't seal, just mist and two after will do
 
+1 for a coat of thinned down emulsion. I would never paper directly on new walls, it's a nightmare to wash the walls down, if you decide you want to strip the paper and paint the walls later.
 
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