Redecorating previous wallpapered room - lime plaster

[Sophie4]

Hi everyone

I would really welcome any advice please - I have a c. 1900 property and it's wallpapered in almost every room. The wallpaper was peeling in this particular room so we've removed it (need to go back and go over it again with sugar soap etc).

The plaster - which I think is lime plaster (novice here!) - looks in pretty decent condition mainly. There are some smaller chunks missing on the wall with the window, which has had some damp issues which we've just had looked at externally and hopefully repaired, but it wasn't 100% obvious what the cause was and this wall does get a bit of battering from the elements, so keen to keep the finish breathable if possible just in case. We only know it had damp from the survey and a damp meter (26% damp) rather than any obvious signs like staining and mould.

I contacted a few plasterers seeing if they could skim the room in lime plaster but the only one who has said they can do this so far has quoted £5,500 plus VAT which isn't realistic for us. Another plasterer has said they would use PVA and then normal multi-finish plaster and they don't/haven't worked with lime. That said, the walls aren't in awful condition so I wonder whether we could patch them up with some kind of lime filler and then sand and paint.

The ceiling has a lot of cracks and a textured finish (we removed paper from this as well after a negative asbestos test), so it sounds like the obvious solution is to have plasterboard put underneath that.

Any experience or advice would be so helpful. Thank you in advance!

 

[fernicarry]

It doesn't look in terribly bad condition. I've dealt with worse here. Personally I wouldn't even consider having it skimmed because you will end up with your joinery half buried.

Simplest approach would be to cover with lining paper. The heavier grades can cover up quite a lot of defects and its just about the cheapest material you will use in a period house. Fill the worst of the cracks and blown bits with a modern filler and sand flush first. Small non-breathable areas won't be the end of the world. Paint or paper over the lining paper as you wish.

You might want to have the ceiling skimmed if its really unstable. Breathability is less important there so could use something modern but you may also be able to repair. I've had good success stabilising large cracks by chasing them out to make a wider gap then filling with haired lime plaster. This really ties the two sides together. Then feather both sides out level with a fine filler. In places where I've had access I've also buttered the back of the laths with more haired lime which also helps to restore the strength.

 

[Stevers]

Our ancestors liked papering because the effect on walls like that can be miraculous. Careful preparation with Polyfilla for small defects and NHL or Lime plasters for more serious repairs will always help. It really is amazing what a bit of old-fashioned love will do to a rough looking wall or ceiling!

I've just rescued a ceiling that looked very rough in my basement. With a lot of scraping off, patch repairs of detached sections in Thistle One Coat (on a mix of scratch coat and laths) and a lot of raking out and filling of cracks with Polyfilla, that ceiling is going to be good for another 140 years. I'll be using Contract or Flat Matt Emulsion - or perhaps a mix of the two to use up paint and get the colour I'm looking for. I have papered ceilings, but it's not for the faint heated!

 

[Gothichome]

I have had great results using TSP on the walls, spry on in manageable amounts and scrub with a good spunge. Followed with several rinses. You’ll be amazed at how clean the walls get. Then repair cracks, holes and the such. Size the walls and paper. For the ceiling, like yours lots of cracking following the lath and some failed keying I just strapped and boarded.
Before and after.

 

[Ashville87]

We recently used Wallrock lining paper on similar walls, rolls came 1 metre wide and used Wallrock pre mixed paste the wall power adhesive. Great to use and pasting the wall saves wrestling a soggy bit of paper on to the wall. Came out really well with emulsion finish. Fill any holes and give it all a sand down and clean before papering.

 

[Sophie4]

Thank you all so much @fernicarry @Stevers @Gothichome @Ashville87 - this is so helpful! It sounds like lining paper is the way to go on the walls and @Gothichome your ceiling example looks very much like ours (and your end result looks great) - so we will do that too.

Thanks again.

 

[Lacan07]

Lining paper is the way to go

 

[mh12]

I have had great results using TSP on the walls, spry on in manageable amounts and scrub with a good spunge. Followed with several rinses. You’ll be amazed at how clean the walls get. Then repair cracks, holes and the such. Size the walls and paper. For the ceiling, like yours lots of cracking following the lath and some failed keying I just strapped and boarded.
Before and after.
View attachment 15379
View attachment 15380

Thanks for sharing the pictures and the explanation of the work you completed to get the final finish.
For confirmation is TSP trisodium phospphate spray?
Also when you say strapped and boarded I'm not quite getting the strapped part, can you please explain?
Assuming that you used 9 mm plasterboarded instead of the 12.5mm for the ceilings.
Thanks

 

[Gothichome]

Strapping, is just a wood framing applied to the ceiling. I used 4x1 inch it’s cheap at my local lumber store. Just screw it into the ceiling joists against the plaster to make a frame work then apply the board in the usual fashion, tape, mud, sand and prime. It will lower you ceiling height the thickness of the strapping and board. For me it gave two benefits, it secured the failing plaster and covered the cracking, and the biggest bonus is I didn’t have to tear out the plaster.
One other note, if you have an electrical fixture you will need to lower it to make up the change in ceiling height, here I can get box extenders that get fixed to the electrical.

 

[Gothichome]

Oh, and yes, I believe TSP is tri sodium phosphate

 

[mh12]

Brilliant. Thank you for the clarification. The reason for asking is I need to patch the ceiling shonw in photo below, walls have lovely covings which need to be preserved and wondered what the best solution would be.
Was thinking of attaching a 9mm plasterboard fixed to the ceiling.
Or alternatively follow the method you adopted but I'm not sure how the final finish neighbouring the ceilings would come out.
All opinions welcome as to the best solution to preserve/not hide detailing of the covings.
Thanks