DIY help

kiwi

kiwi

kiwi

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Sussex
I've recently bought a house which needed some electric and building work, which has now been done. Sadly, there are quite a few holes in the wall to fix before decorating which we're planning on doing ourselves for budget reasons. One area that I'm kinda stuck with is shown below, it's made more complicated by the fact the plaster is crumbling and I'm not convinced that stripped the wallpaper is an option.

lRLDAl.jpg

What would other people do?
 
I'm new to this so apologies if I'm being slow.

If I just skim won't it be obvious when I repaint as the wallpaper is textured and the repair won't be?

If I strip the wallpaper, I think it'll take most of the plaster with it which I imagine isn't particularly easy to replaster on the cheap?
 
Ditto the above. That looks like anaglypta wallpaper, which if been on for a long time could stop a wall from crumbling, lol.
You're gonna have to remove the paper, which as you've guessed, may well pull off some of the top skim and even the bonding. Especially if you use a steamer, which you may well need to remove anaglypta.

Skim repair it, it looks like the hole has been batoned in properly.
Easyfill wil do that job, sand/feather it out, paint. Done!

edit: Tap the wall at various points, if it feels hollow, then it's likely that the topcoat has blown/dried out and will undoubtedly come away with the paper.
But if the bonding undercoat is fine then you can just easyfil or soft skim all the holes, then either repaper or paint the wall.
 
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kiwi said:
I'm new to this so apologies if I'm being slow.

If I just skim won't it be obvious when I repaint as the wallpaper is textured and the repair won't be?

If I strip the wallpaper, I think it'll take most of the plaster with it which I imagine isn't particularly easy to replaster on the cheap?
Click to expand...

It's easy for a plasterer! I just filled in my own.

Link 1: http://img267.imageshack.us/img267/9376/photokydg.jpg
Link 2: http://img854.imageshack.us/img854/9245/photolkr.jpg

After a few coats of paint you can't tell as long as it is smooth enough.
 
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How big is your wall?
A plasterer will typically charge between £5-£9 per sqm for a skim (depending on your area).
So measure your wall and see if you can afford a plasterer at £9sqm (most expensive).
 
Banzai_Joe said:
How big is your wall?
A plasterer will typically charge between £5-£9 per sqm for a skim (depending on your area).
So measure your wall and see if you can afford a plasterer at £9sqm (most expensive).
Click to expand...

It's a hallway so I reckon 9m x 2m x 2 x £9 = £288? Could just about stretch to that I think. With regards to filling, it doesn't show very well in the photo but it's fairly textures so I think stripping and skimming sounds like the way to go.
 
kiwi said:
It's a hallway so I reckon 9m x 2m x 2 x £9 = £288? Could just about stretch to that I think. With regards to filling, it doesn't show very well in the photo but it's fairly textures so I think stripping and skimming sounds like the way to go.
Click to expand...

It won't cost that much! You are best off removing the wallpaper and seeing how bad it is. You still might get away with skimming urself / sanding!
 
mrbell1984 said:
It won't cost that much! You are best off removing the wallpaper and seeing how bad it is. You still might get away with skimming urself / sanding!
Click to expand...

Yeah. I said £9 at max. You'll almost certainly find a plasterer who'll do it for maybe £6sqm cash.
But...as mrbell says, see what it's like once the paper is off.
Easyfill is, like it says, easy(to)fill. Wait a day (unless you buy easyfill45 which dries in 45 mins), sand it, mist coat it with cheap emulsion, see how it looks. If necessary fill and sand some more.
 
soundood said:
if the plaster is blowing already, take it all off yourself, this will save a lot, then get a plasterer in,

skim it, seal it, wallpaper it.

simples, dont go cheapskate on it, you will regret it later
Click to expand...

Hmmm.....kind of disagree with this. If you attempted to skim it yourself it would cost about £25 for the multi-finish, trowel and hawk. Plus your time in doing so.
If you balls it up then get a plasterer in who will be able to fix any bad work you do.
So the worst case is you waste £25, BUT that £25 could save you loads if you do a decent job, plus you'll learn from it and save money later when you attempt other diy projects.
It's how most of us learn imho.
 
The wallpaper has probably pulled a bit of the surface away. Not a problem if its this.

Remove all the paper, lightly wet the wall and apply finishing skim, come back 2 hours later and spray with water to then skim it over again to fill any holes (dont worry too much about raised parts).

Then after 24hours sand it flat with P120 on a sanding block. Then you can wipe down and white wash with 30% water in emulsion then your ready to paint.
 
Strip the wallpaper with a steamer - you're bound to know someone who has one, this is where FB comes in handy. Then pay a plasterer <£200 to skim it for you. The quality finish of freshly plastered wallsin your new house is infinitley better than a patch up job.
 
Simon said:
You shouldnt need a steamer, it will only cause more issues with crumbly plaster
Click to expand...

For the wallpaper. It's not nice taking wallpaper off by a sponge. Even if the plaster does crumble there isn't anything you can do other than patch work or get a full room skim.

@kiwi

Get some more pictures of the wall once it's stripped. Will give us a better idea of the condition of the walls (Even if the plaster does crumble).
 
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