Stuart is about to do some painting of the interior walls. We will not be putting wallpaper up!
The walls are very rough, very uneven and he’s not sure whether to fix plasterboard and start again, or just patch the bad bits with plaster. It’s a very old property and the walls are covered with ‘Brique de cloison terre cuite’ which has been covered (badly) with plaster then papered over the top.
We’re not too sure which paint to get as different people have different favourites.
We have several bricos and shops in our area - Action, Leclerc Brico, LaMaison (previously Mr Bricolage), Castorama, Brico Cash - and would use own brand if it’s recommended.
Looking through some old postings, it would appear that a few years ago a couple of you recommended the Action brand paints. Do you still stick by your recommendation or has there been a change of view over the years.
So basically we’re looking for high build emulsion paint that covers well and can be put on with a roller.
I got several huge buckets of Leroy Merlin own brand which was on promo at the time and we slapped a couple of coats on to seal the new plasterboarding, then a better quality one from same brand and then in my room, one coloured painted wall and one in the lounge area. We had to do it all in the dark with a couple of lamps and a generator and it came out well considering. I had invested in one of those Wagner spray paint machines hand held but it just did not work at all so out came all the rollers and cheapie brushes for a few centimes from Action that were just binned each time.
Baufix. They do the Lidl paints - but they do online from Germany. Really good for white paint - both a thick covering paint and normal white emulsion.
After simply painting them they will continue to be so - just freshly painted. The rough/uneven aspect will remain. No amount of paint will eliminate that.
If a fresh paint job will suffice, go ahead. Lidl’s paint is a decent drop. I’m happy with Action’s emulsion for a freshen-up on a sound, painted surface.
To eliminate the rough/uneven you’re going to have to apply another solid layer of something. Plaster would be ideal if Stuart or a tradesman is skilled enough to get the result you’re after, which is, presumably, a good, smooth surface.
Plasterboard would work but it means installing battens that, when the plasterboard is up, gives a wall which is flat in all directions. This, on rough/uneven, is very tricky.
It may be ‘user friendly’ - but the results of plastering begin as your float approaches the wall and you prepare to and they apply it. I’ve tried plastering. It’s a difficult skill.
The plasterer who did the +/- 6m long party wall in the front corridor of my house in Bristol - render layer/tanking layer/plaster/skim coat was 65 y.o. He’d been plastering since he was 15. He still wasn’t very good at it!
The guys that plastered the kitchen of my parents’ house produced a surface like glass.
Their other products are quite good too, used to use their wood protection gel every spring for the fence panels,shutters and sheds and it always stayed on well. In fact, I bought two pots down here with me when I moved but don’t have any wood outside.
Very true but with a UK gypsum plaster it has a shorter open time unless you add a retarder. Lutece 2000 gives around 2 hours of workability so you can work out any lines etc. Yes its a skill so up to the operator. As for a glass fininish that can be a nuisance to get paint to stick, a std finish withlut too much of a polish will take paint much better.
Alternatively, one can glue the plasterboard direct to the wall using MAP (Mortier Adhesive Placoplatre). Use the plasterboard that already has a layer of polystyrene bonded onto the back and you get insulation as well.
Any deep depressions can be prefilled by gluing on patches of polystyrene sheets as necessary, and a wall that is leaning can be made vertical by using different thicknesses of polystyrene to obtain a vertical ‘base layer’ to which one then glues the final plasterboard layer.
Fill and sand the joints, apply a couple of coats of the cheapest white emulsion you can find laced with about 10% liquid PVA adhesive, and there will be a sealed, smooth, flat, and vertical surface to which one can then apply the final colour.
Another bonus is that any surface mounted pipes or cables can be hidden away by cutting out a channel in the insulation layer on the back of the plasterboard as you fit it.
Works a treat and is long lasting. Put some PVA in the final paint coat and you have effectively created your own ‘kitchen and bathroom’ paint that just needs a wipe over when spring cleaning. Our walls are still good after 15 years.
@Robert_Hodge and @captainendeavour - Yea - that’s the way we’ll be going. It’s what we (Stuart) thought he would do in the first place, and to have it endorsed makes it a no-brainer really.
And @Mark - thanks for the recommendation of Lutece. With the time it gives you to work it, it sounds just the job.
Stuart knows what he would use in the UK but finding the materials here is the unknown and that’s why we want recommendations.
There’s nothing worse than having to do a job twice or several times - his motto is ‘Near enough is not good enough’.
Use the MAP adhesive to do the first fill of the joints between plasterboard panels (pressed deeply into the joints), and then use ‘Enduit de Rebouchage’ as the second joint filler coat to be sanded. In this way you won’t end up with cracked joints. DO NOT be tempted to use joint tape as it does not give a lasting finish ---- it cracks.
Use a couple of coats of ‘Sous Couche Placoplatre’ applied generously with a 4 inch brush to seal the board. Don’t use a roller as it will spread it too thinly. When brush applied it will dry with a slight orange peel texture to the surface which can then be polished to an ultra smooth surface with fine grade sandpaper (240 grade).
Mixing a little bit of some left over pale colour into the second coat of Sous Couche will enable you to more easily see where you have been and where you haven’t. The first coat of Sous Couche will tend to become see-through as you apply the second. Don’t worry, it’s normal, and it will all dry opaque with a bit of warmth, time, and fresh air.
As long as you take your time to allow complete drying between each stage of the process, you will end up with a very long lasting super smooth finish with invisible joints.
All materials available from Brico Depot who have pretty keen pricing.
As for the final colour, I tend to stick with pastel shades so that I don’t need to repaint if the furniture or carpet changes. Entirely a personal choice of course.
Better if you can foam between the panels to prevent the cold spot and give a continous insulation level then filler. As to tape causing cracking its an entire industry of tape and jointing you are condeming there so hope you have some evidence to substantiate that?
I have the evidence of 50+ yrs of DIY.
To be clear, I didn’t say that using tape causes cracking, but that using it results in cracking.
I’m fully aware that the plastering trade is all for using tape and then skimming over it, often within the hour. The reason this method is used is because it is quick, and of course time equates to money. The result looks just fine at the time, but if the room is subject to notable changes in temperature or humidity, or if the building is subject to vibration such as passing traffic, then after 4 or 5 years the cracks will appear on the joints.
If you are the type of person who redecorates every 3 or 4 years anyway, then I suppose it doesn’t matter that much that you have to refill the cracks each time.
I have known professional plasterers taped joints to crack in as little as six months, and have resolved the problem for friends and acquaintances by cutting through the tape to reveal the empty void, filling the joint properly, and then sanding smooth. Yes it is laborious with 2 or 3 coats of filler needed, plus drying time between coats, plus sanding effort, time, and clean up, but it works and lasts for many many years.
Personally I detest all the aggro of having to clear the room of furniture in order to redecorate, so I prefer to use the method of deep filling the joints in the first place so that it will virtually last forever before cracking.
As I write, I’m sitting here looking at direct decorated, deep filled plasterboard joints that were done 18 years ago and which are still invisible.
(No wallpaper, no Anaglypta, no plaster or seraphite skim.) Evidence enough ?
There are many things these days that have been made quicker, and thus cheaper than in decades past, but often they do not have the longevity of the old fashioned method. My Dad always taught me that if a job is worth doing, then it is worth doing properly. I’m all for doing the job once, and once only, but it does take a lot more time and effort in the first instance.
Rachel’s answer is ‘why not paint it to match her ski-boots! There’s nothing wrong with that’
Stuart (in the UK) had his own garage servicing high performance cars. He also used to do bodywork repairs and paintwork on these cars after insurance claim accidents. So when he put his paint booth in the garage, he attended several sessions offered by paint suppliers - to make sure his work was acceptable to the insurance companies etc. Therefore he has an excellent knowledge of the different types of paint and the results you get when you use certain methods of applying the paint.
His own car at the time was a Porsche 944 turbo in Guards Red. He would buy a new one every year with his own numberplate. And each time he placed the order, the showroom said he could have any colour he wanted. ‘Your wife might want Pink this time sir!’ said the salesman. (I didn’t get my own way on that one!)
We’re looking towards the paler colours for this job as the room is rather dark. We also need to alter the lighting, but that’s another subject.
