After a recent thread I have ripped down my old ceiling and will insulate the void and replace with new plasterboard.

On a new stud wall my builder has simply plastered over the joins and not skimmed the whole wall, I am told you can get away with this and then pva the wall and paper straight on.

I am all for labour saving but I wonder if I later want to strip the paper off will I be able to do so easily without gouging into the plasterboard? (which was an issue on a ceiling which appeared to have been done this way in another room).

Guess you could do that but you should use tapered edge boards to give a decent depth and width to the join. It’ll still have to be done really well to not show under paper. Don’t know about stripping back later, don’t think that would go too well. I’d just get it skimmed instead.

i would have tought i would have been next to imposible as your basicly gluing paper together!

That is my fear 4 ones, does the pva create a separate layer or effective seal.

Hi Al i am a plasterer ,you are correct ,if at a later date you wish to remove the paper ,the paper on the plasterboard will tear as well ,so it is a much better job to have it skimmed.

Are you gonna skim it your self?

Pix if you do 😀

Many modern buildings are built with a “drywall” technique using plasterboard with tapered edges and a different surface finish – where the seams are taped and filled but no skim layer is used.

I don’t know about papering drywalls – usually a painted finish is used.

Cheers DAve.

My skimming is top drawer Steve. I have pics!

Guess I could be OK as I am unlikely to want to strip the paper – it’s just be lining paper to paint over.

If its lining paper to be painted over why bother with the paper. a decent drywall finish won’t need the lining paper. The advantage of using filler on the nail heads and joins rather than skim plater is that it can be sanded perfectly flat and drywall plasterboard is designed to take a painted finish.

I dunno if the plasterboard I bought is the correct type to be painted over.

IIRC drywall board has a tapered edge to allow for the filler on the seams and is white one side with a finer / smoother finish on the white side

Well it’s not tapered.

Skim it then – its probably the best anyway in the long run – more durable

Skim it! It’ll be dry in no time.

I dot and dabbed taper edge board in one room, taped and filled the joins, then PVA’d and painted the wall. You can just see the joins if you stand in the right place with the sun in the right place, but I’m very happy with it 🙂

it’ll be a deathtrap

get it skimmed! Don’t bother with the dry wall filling nonsense, that’s for commercial buildings, offices and the like. Anyone doing that domestically is either a cowboy or a proper tight arse! You just won’t get a quality finish.

Then paint the skim, but DON’T pva it first ffs! Thin some cheap white emulsion 50/50 with water, make sure its not vinyl or silk though. Give it 2 coats of that, then put 1-2 coats of your colour etc. In a warm room, you might be able to do the whole job in a day if your colours are light. If dark, wait 24hrs.

Make sure the plaster is dry in all areas before you paint, give it 2-5 days depending on thickness.

PVA will not bond skim & paint properly and eventually will peel off, probably next time you come to paint. Meaning you will most likely have to skim again to get a perfect finish

I use GIB board all the time , NZ houses are wood construction with GIB walls. I always fix with GIB screws then tape then skim then seal with an acrylic sealer. After that you can do what you want. Having experienced unsealed GIB + wallpaper the quickest solution was to paint it all in acrylic sealer then skim the whole lot again otherwise you trash the GIB paper getting the wallpaper off. My solution has been done in 5 rooms now and looks reet posh when its done. Until yu smack it with something pointy that is !

ta all, v helpful. Looks like more skim plastering for me!

I’m in the middle of a similar project…

I’ve had insulated plasterboard installed in my bedroom – fixed with dot & dab and then skimmed over. It really is worth paying for it to be skimmed – much nicer finish for painting.

As per previous posts, to seal the plaster use a flat matt paint diluted with water (I used about one third water to two-thirds paint). Dulux trade supermatt is designed specifically for new plaster – it seems to go on very well, but it is expensive.