Painting newly skimmed wall? should i need to prep it?

Discussion in 'Painters' Talk' started by ugley_matt, Jul 8, 2006.

  1. ugley_matt

    ugley_matt New Member

    We've had our entire house skimmed as the victorian plaster wasnt good enough to paint. However we are spending a great deal of time filling and sanding in order to get the smooth enough to paint. I know that the finish depends on whats underneath so i dont expect it to tbe pefectly flat.

    I would hope that for the amount we spent the walls would be ready to be painted straight away, am i expecting too much, or did we get a duff job? In the first two rooms we have already found several patches where the new plaster has blown.
    It would be useful to know before i start to rant at the plasterer responsible.
     
  2. base

    base New Member

    they should be ready to paint soon as they are dry. there should be no need to fill and sand if the plasterer has done his job properly. did the plasterer use a 2 coat skim? also did he pva the walls to seal the suction then pva again so the plaster can stick? if the walls were that bad he would of advised you if other work needed doing before skimming. i would ask the plasterer back do fill in and sand and also get a second opinion. i would never leave a job if the customer was not satisfied. but also sometimes the walls can look good when the plaster is still wet so has the plasterer been back to see how they look?
     
  3. handyman.

    handyman. New Member

  4. dj.

    dj. New Member

    yep, sounds like you have been ripped, dun, had over etc.
    plaster shouldn't blow if it's done properly. and you should never have to fill new plastered walls. a bit of sanding is needed (at most).
    get the so called plasterer back, who probably did a weeks course and thinks he's the best, and give him a f*cking good slap. then use his face to sand the wall......................
    wan*ers
     
  5. handyman.

    handyman. New Member

    LOL, dj gets straight to the point :)
     
  6. bobbie-dazzler

    bobbie-dazzler New Member


    plaster shouldn't blow if it's done properly. and you
    should never have to fill new plastered walls. a bit
    of sanding is needed (at most).



    If only that was true, the times I have had to make good new plastered wall before I even put a coat on.

    Some of them have been horrendous, what with deept trowel marks, gouges indents and the like.

    You dont notice it in the daylight, but switch on an artificial light, and thats when you see it all.
     
  7. jonny the expert

    jonny the expert New Member

    Yes, ask the plasterer (smirk) back, but set a bear trap up just inside one of the rooms. Then dig a trench in your neighbours garden (when they're out).......This takes him out of the main gene pool.
     
  8. hoss

    hoss New Member

    Unfortunately it seems these days to get a good plasterer is rear, i had the same problem a couple of years ago. I spent some time looking for a supposed good plasterer, got him to do my living room, and after putting up with his arrogant attitude and bragging about the fact that a good plasterer is like gold dust he finished and went, and as base said the walls look good while wet but after it dried up it was ****. so i got him back and made him re skim the lot again.
    I have just finished painting some new build houses and the plasterers were spot on, not a hole or crack to be filled.
    So in answer to your question, you shouldn't have to do any prep work after a re skim, only a light sanding, so get the git back to do it again or get in touch with trading standards and run these cowboys owt of town.
    Oh and just in case its not mentioned on other posts use super matt emulsion for new plaster.
    Good luck
     
  9. dj.

    dj. New Member

    yes hoss i agree that you shouldn't have to do any prep, if anything then a decorater should complain at it being too smooth.
    as i said earlier people go on a weeks course and think they know everything about the job. anyone that has been in any trade for some years knows that you are always learning, and never stop learning something new.
    15 years in and 3 years at college and there is still new things to learn. i was taught by an old timer and when i use some methods i get called an old timer.
    in all my years plaster has blown once, the reason was that i left the customer to pva the wall and they hadn't done it properly. if i had have done it then it wouldn't have blown.
    like i said, get him back and give him a slap, then tell him you've done his wife. ;)
     
  10. hoss

    hoss New Member

    LOL, make sure he does the re skim first then give him a slap and tell him his wife gives a better finish than he does.
     
  11. dj.

    dj. New Member

    tell him his hamster was a better jump than his wife :)
     
  12. ugley_matt

    ugley_matt New Member

    thanks for the replys, very helpful.

    I also presume i shouldnt be able to see the tape that was out over the existing cracks?
     
  13. biggilly

    biggilly New Member

    thanks for the replys, very helpful.

    I also presume i shouldnt be able to see the tape
    that was out over the existing cracks?

    no you shouldn't!!!
     
  14. therookie

    therookie New Member

    yep me too. trouble is everyone says our plasterer did a great job. but i know when i fit the wall lights you will be able to see tiny, nicks and scratches..

    is the best method for a first class finnish to line the wall afterwards with some heavyweight paper??

    R
     
  15. Burlington Bertie

    Burlington Bertie New Member

    Matt,

    Sadly, there are more cr*p plasterers out there than there are good ones. You should not need to do any prep at all before painting or whatever you decide to do to your walls. I would never use a plasterer unless I could see some of his work beforehand. I am fortunate in that I know a superb plasterer who I recommend to my customers. They get a cracking job and for me it's a pleasure to paint or wallpaper over his plastering - and he is so clean that you would'nt even know he had been there.

    I think you are right, mate - you've been done
     
  16. decorator A1

    decorator A1 New Member

    I used to have a plasterer that was so good he used to polish to a marble-like finish on purpose to upset one of my men with whom there had been a ongoing feud caused by a women, that the decorator had to sand the walls to get a key...I miss that old git
     

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