Dealing with a dodgy plaster skim

[Matt Green]

I need help.

We have a two up, two down Victorian terrace house with a central staircase. It goes straight up (near vertically) to a landing. The previous owner had an unfortunate love of 6" nail DIY and fixed the bannister to the wall will them, modelling clay and toilet paper. It didn't last long after we moved in and I removed and refixed it. It doing so I removed small sections of textured wall paper revealing what I thougt was Artex.

OK. So last month I got round to decorating the stairs and landing and stripped the wallpaer. One wall had stippled artex applied to wallpaer. that came straight off and the wall looks good. The other 3 walls, it turns out are not covered in artex, but the plaster skim has been 'swirled' to create a hideous eddying montage.

Now I've wound myself into a whole world of trouble. I have the choice of:

Strip the skim myself and re-skim it. Hours of work. Days.

Employ plasterer to re-plaster 3 walls. £500. Called 6 plasterers, this is the only guy who would actually do the job, 2 turned up and walked away having seen it. I'll have to paint afterwards and remove the last of the paper beforehand.

Employ decorator to recover whole lot in paper and paint. £500. Will look rough I reckon, but at least its done and we're aiming to move ASAP.


Mrs MattGreen is in a whirling rage. Claiming that we could have just painted over paper, holes, artex and all.


Anyone got any ideas?


Matt

 

[Nemesis]

Divorce and whisky?

 

[andrew gayton]

20 w bulb, divorce and absinthe.

 

[Jane Smith]

Matt, I don't suppose you could sand the swirls away, could you? I've sanded bumpy skims off flat before now and got pretty good results. But that's a lot different to an intentionally swirly finish. However, it will probably be cheaper than £500 and it will definitely be cheaper than a divorce. Remember to budget for plenty of liquid refreshment whilst sanding, though--that could wash away all your savings.

 

[middi]

.......or save the marriage by giving Mrs Green what she wants, fill any holes and paint over it. She will tell you wen she is fed up looking at it it.

 

[Moo]

Is there any chance that steam would soften it enough for it to be scraped off?
Or one of the poultice paint removers?

 

[Gervase]

Have you had a chance to see what lies under the swirly skim? If the offending finish has been applied over a previously painted surface, the chances are that it will come off when attacked with a stripping knife or heavy--duty scraper. I've removed a fair acreage of nasty pink skim and have yet to be defeated by any that has been applied over lime plaster or a previously painted surface.
The worst case secenario, though, is if the skim is applied over a surface which has been raked to provide a key. Then it's a b*gger to remove.

 

[Nemesis]

A steam stripper may help also.

 

[Michelle73]

We're quite keen on knocking holes into offensive walls at the moment - Any chance yours aren't load bearing and could take the abuse....

 

[Mark]

I think Gervase has got the key question - whats under it.

In our place the aertex seems to have been used to hide some of teh original plaster. Presumably because it wasnt as flat as a modern house. I presume the same might apply with the plaster.

Is there anything obviously diferent about the wall with aertex and the walls with plaster ? none of them external ? Just wondering why they would choose to mix and match materials when going for the same effect.

 

[Moo]

Come on Penners - something witty about those shirts we used to wear for games lessons, please.

 

[Nemesis]

No, the holes in the plaster is a different thread.

 

[NT]

A steam stripper may help also.

Ohh, we need a moderator....

NT

 

[Jane Smith]

I could perhaps lend you my youngest son, Fred, who is now six and a half. When he was three he effortlessly removed the plaster skim to a wall here using only a spoon and a bit of a biscuit. The plaster came off as high as he could reach, silently, in about three minutes. I'm sure he'd do better now, if only because his reach has increased.

 

[Nemesis]

NT - steam NOT steamy.

I think possibly you have followed those links (for academic research purposes) and been corrupted.

Any signs of moral turpitude may cause banning from this forum in future, so go have that cold shower NOW.

 

[Gervase]

Isn't that what you mix with moral beeswax to buff up your beams?

And at least five points to Fred in the 'imaginative use of a biscuit' class - something children seem to be very good at. My son once destroyed a video recorder with a single bourbon biscuit.

 

[Nemesis]

I recall another thread long ago about buffing up beams, which involved Grimmers and Brunhilde.

How I wish I had saved some of those.

 

[NT]

NT - steam NOT steamy.

I think possibly you have followed those links (for academic research purposes) and been corrupted.

Any signs of moral turpitude may cause banning from this forum in future, so go have that cold shower NOW.

lol, no I didnt think they sounded that appealing. I bet someone did though.


NT