We just spent the weekend scraping very old wall paper off. We now have the problem of trying to get a smooth finish to paint on. The people who built the house did not prime the wall first they just applied the paper straight onto the gibb. Has anyone had this problem before! what is the best solution! We gave up scraping it because by dampening it and scraping the paper on the gib starts to roll and we cant get all the paste off without starting to damage the gib surface. My thoughts would be to sand it but i can just see the sand paper gumming up quickly! We were using a wallpaper solvent to soak the perforated wall then a steamer to help lift it.
Also recommended for cleaning surfaces prior to painting and wallpapering.
just_cruisin,
Dec 8, 8:06am
Give the walls a sand with a pole sander, with say 120 grit sandpaper to get the worse off, then a good coat of pigmented sealer (oil based product). This will 'lock' in the size/paste etc that is still on the gib. It will also 'harden up' the gib, and all those stubborn bits of damaged gib, and the little bits of backing paper you haven't managed to strip off, thus giving you a sound substrate that you can sand back to an almost smooth finish. If you're planning on having a paint finish, you should really plaster the walls to a level 5 finish, (this will give you the best surface, otherwise you'll see all plaster joins, defects and damage to the substrate incurred when the wallpaper was stripped.) then once sanded, seal it all with the pig sealer, then finish it with two top coats of your preferred product. Or if you're planning on wallpaper, sand, pig seal the walls, sand, plaster up the worse of it, ie; damage that your new wallpaper won't hide, sand, seal up the new plaster, size the walls, hang the paper.easy! Preparation is the key!
jezabeel,
Dec 8, 8:50am
Hire a professional
zak410,
Dec 8, 9:59am
Agree with # 2, 3 & 4
But if you want to do it yourself.
Rinse, rough sand when dry, pigment seal the walls, paper tape the joints of gib and the interior corners (have a close look above/under windows to see if already paper taped or not) then skim coat, sand, seal n paint.
traderken,
Dec 8, 11:56am
x3
I had the same problem and found the easiest and cheapest way was to put another lining of thin gib over the top of existing surface thus making the room sound proof and warmer as well as giving a much better surface
remna,
Dec 8, 11:57am
We've done just what zak410 said in every room of our place as they put paper straight over all gib grrr!walls weren't straight so skim coated and used a thick vinyl wallpaper and looks fab.Other option we were given was to re-gib if wanted a perfect surface.Good luck, its a daunting job but a super sense of satisfaction when you do it yourself.If not many hours of your life.
missmaverick1,
Dec 8, 3:38pm
hmmm as i thought not a quick simple solution.
lemming2,
Dec 12, 1:32am
No, and I'm not looking forward to doing mine in the next couple of years, either - especially the stairwell! Had to do the bathroom a couple of years ago, and wound up stripping, skimming, sanding, then sealing and papering. Took ages, but the prep was worth it. But the stairwell .
trade4us2,
Dec 12, 2:05am
A friend with no experience in wallpaper or gib stopping managed to get the old wallpaper off. The gib stopping underneath was not up to paint standard (as usual), so he spent quite a long time putting gib finishing compound on until it was perfect. So an amateur can do it, and for nothing, given enough time.
kiwibubbles,
Dec 12, 5:18am
is it possible to buy thin gib!
payntr,
Dec 12, 6:17am
if the walls are that bad,you can allways hang anyglyta wallpaper then paint that,there are other textured wallpapers that are made to paint over,just another thought.
payntr,
Dec 12, 6:47am
anyglypta
majoba,
Dec 13, 6:11pm
Anaglypta or even any quality wallpaper. Much better than paint anyway.
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