I’ve got some walls that are too bad to paint but not bad enough to spend a lot of money on to get them skimmed properly. And I don’t want to put paper up.

Before I get accused of being a cheapskate, I’ve had a really good plasterer do some great work on a couple of houses in the last 12 months (at a cost of about £2500) and he’s coming in a couple of weeks to do the living room.

We’ve stripped the paper off the hall stairs and landing and it’s a bit pitted and lumpy, but no major breakdown. As I was picking up some drywall adhesive yesterday I spotted a tub of readymix finishing skim.

Is this stuff any good? I know I couldn’t make a good job of proper plastering, but I can get a good finish on woodwork and I’ve got a good sander and vacuum.

Worth a shot?

I have a house full of walls like that.

Fill and sand any obvious holes.
Run a sander lightly over the rest.
Hang a heavy gauge lining paper and then paint.

Similar situation. I’ve got some potentially dodgy walls, which I’ll find out when the paper is stripped, but I don’t think anything major other than some uneven bits and stuff that might need a bit of patching up.

I’m interested in DIYing it, but my last attempt at plastering some cracks was a bit piss poor to say the least. Covered the cracks but it’s an obvious line of plaster despite many attempts at smoothing. Turned out a waste of time anyway as the cracks came though again (part plasterboard or something behind there where a back room chimney was knocked out it seems, and think the stuff shifts a bit).

Hang a heavy gauge lining paper and then paint.

Actually, that sounds less hassle, I might try that myself 😀

I don’t like the look of painted lining paper. And I’ve got a very long drop from the top of the landing to the bottom of the hall.

We’ve just done our living room and dining room, after much arguing to convince the OH that lining paper always looks crap, we spent a day filling/sanding the walls.

They were pretty poor but now look pretty much perfect.

The advantage of polyfiller over plaster is it’s much softer as it dries out rather than setting like plaster and therefore sands smooth using some 120grit on a block of wood with minimal effort. Plaster on the other hand is rock hard, especially if finished well, even our ‘big’ 500W electric sander with 60grit barely touches it!

It did take about as long as it would have done to line it though, and many kilos of filler, but IMO looks better.

Dunno if it applies to the specific product you’ve seen, but plaster should always be done in ~2mm layers, any thicker and it goes lumpy, and thinner and it flakes off. So even a ‘skim’ is really a whole layer, not just filling cracks. Or that’s how I understood it, I’m not a pro!

i would avoid pre-mixed, but then i am used to wet trades and like the flexibility to mix sloppy or stiff depending on the surface. jointing compound, easy fill, easy sand, anything like that. applied with a nice long plasterers trowel and sanded back. the only premixed stuff i find is any good is taping and jointing compound, such as the stuff made by ‘aimes’

I’ve got a very long drop from the top of the landing to the bottom of the hall.

It comes in 20 metre rolls 😉

Ok. I am not a plasterer but I went on one of those 4 day plastering courses.
Doesn’t make you a pro but gives you enough to play with your own walls.
I’ve just reskimmed my landing and stairwell. Looks good. Not 100% but I’m more than happy with it.
A bag of multi finish is £6 from b&q. A decent trowel is £25+ the course cost £270.

Well worth it.

Got a lounge, dining room and bedroom to reskim. Seems a winner to me.

Do it.

When I get jobs that are too bad to paint but not bad enough to skim, I tend to use a product from British Gypsum called easi fill. I use the ’20’ as it goes off quickly but you can get other speeds too. It’s a powder you need to mix up but spread it with a plastering trowel or filling knife and it’ll sand back to a super smooth finish good enough for paint.

Big fan of easifil too. Can be put on fairly thin to fill slight undulations if needed. Very easy to sand smooth if you time it right when its set but while its still a little soft. It changes colour as it dries so quite easy to judge. Also easy to keep adding a little bit here and there to do the bits you missed which is good for a DIYer.

We had some decorators at work a while ago and they spray plastered all the communal areas and 4 storey stair well. No idea on cost but it was quick and they’d painted everything within the week as well.

Worth a look?

Aimes or easy fill. WAIT till fully dried before sanding. Expect plenty of dust as it’s very fine.

I can’t find any links to Aimes so I’ll have a go with easy fill.

http://www.diy.com/departments/gyproc-ready-mix-joint-cement-12l/35734_BQ.prd

This stuff does the same job. B&Q are pretty cheap for it too. I have used it loads on walls like you describe and its really easy to work with. It dries quickly and sands really easily.

ive never seen lining paper + paint done well .

when i was buying it just screamed “hiding poor finish” to me.

Ive used british gypsum easi fill stuff above with good success.

The problem with the ready mix one is that it takes an age to go off if even remotely bulked up, hence preferring the easi fill 20.

If I was doing up a house and was faced with poor plaster or horrible decor on exterior walls I would simply dry-line over it all and re-skim, knowing what I know now about the thermal improvement you get from modern materials.

I just got a big tub of the Gyproc Joint Filler Readymix. Should I use PVA on the wall first?

I’ve got a very long drop from the top of the landing to the bottom of the hall.

Huck it!!

Easi-fill

This. I use one that goes off in about 40mins. Will never go back to polyfilla or any pre-mixed.

Very easy to mix up and use. Sanding is really easy you can lay in on thick and sand back flat easily.

Ok. I am not a plasterer but I went on one of those 4 day plastering courses.
Doesn’t make you a pro but gives you enough to play with your own walls.
I’ve just reskimmed my landing and stairwell. Looks good. Not 100% but I’m more than happy with it.
A bag of multi finish is £6 from b&q. A decent trowel is £25+ the course cost £270.

I did this except it was a 5 day course where we learnt dry lining as well bloody brilliant it was. It’s paid for itself already!
I’ve enrolled on a plumbing course next!

I have never pva’d the walls before using it and never had a problem. I would maybe sugar soap them or similar to give them a bit of a clean.
It’s great stuff just don’t put it on too thick as it will take forever to dry and may shrink and crack. The best thing about ready mixed is that you can just open the tub. Use what you want and when you have finished re-seal the tub. No annoying mixing or waste because you mixed too much.

Another advocate of Gyproc Easi filler. Get yourself a wide caulking tool to apply and a pole sander. Keep filling and sanding until you’re happy. I like to paint with a trade matt white after each fill/sand. Dries quick and shows the imperfections up before the next fill.

All good help. Thanks guys.

I thought this was going to be an Italian cooking thread and was very confused for a moment.