We have to strip paper from an entire house, some is old paper finish some is that horrible plastic covered type 70s stuff. Any tips? Also when the paper if off do you have to do anything before painting? Thanks
zak410,
Jul 29, 8:17pm
After pulling the vinyl layer, keep the paper wet and it could come off easily.
If not, hire a steamer.
And after removing the paper you will need to rinse, then seal the walls before plaster repairs, maybe paper-taping of joints and even skim-coating, depending on the condition of the walls. Then paint.
Whatever you do, do not damage the face paper of the original wall-lining board.
blueviking,
Jul 30, 7:35am
If the house isn't insulated, it's not that much more expensive to rip the gib off and install new with added insulation. If it is insulated, then, hot water in a sprayer. Don't be shy. You'll most likely have to get a stopper in as the joints won't be taped, so will crack open if left.
dbab,
Jul 30, 10:45am
A squirt of dishwash liquid in water helps, and keep the paper wet.
rednicnz,
Jul 30, 1:16pm
And drink lots of tea (or whatever your tipple is) between spraying - give it time to sink in!
maclad,
Jul 30, 4:06pm
Do not want to be a wet blanket here, but paint will show up every little flaw in your wall boards, so unless they are in very good condition you may need a rethink or you may well be unhappy with the result. Perhaps re gib or skim coat.
jkp58,
Jul 30, 9:47pm
skim coat
supernova2,
Aug 6, 8:35pm
Given the price of GIB how on earth could it be cheaper to replace all the GIB. Yes whats there will probably need some repairs to the stopping etc but if you replace the GIB you will still need it stopped so you have just tripled the cost IMHO.
fast4motion,
Aug 6, 10:37pm
The problem is that nobody on here ever seems to give a clear indication of prices for gib stopping or skimming, so it's hard to judge. I've been told that the price for new gib to be "stopped" is about the same as the price of the gib board itself. But the price for a wall to be "skimmed" is more than double the price of the same area of new gib being stopped. That means that if you can fix the gib yourself, then pay to get it stopped, it'll be about the same price as having an entire old wall skimmed. And give a better result. Downside is the extra work around skirting and architraves etc. Upside is you can perform minor alterations, add insulation, or easily move or add powerpoints etc.
tegretol,
Aug 6, 11:30pm
Cheaper to rip the lot out, insulate and put on 12mm ply. The small effort involved in fixing the joins (trade secret!) and filling the screw holes makes it far more labour efficient and a bloody sight stronger than compressed chalk.
rbd,
Aug 7, 12:02am
Having done many techniques on a 1969 house, the best and easiest results for removing multiple old layers of wallpaper and paint were achieved with a sledgehammer. Rip that old gib down and redo.
Gives you the chance to install power points in useful places too.
Decided to strip the painted wallpaper in a toilet cubicle to repaint. Was that awful textured plastic coated stuff. Came off one tiny bit at a time leaving backing paper stuck fast that took hours and hours to strip. When off it revealed poorly skim coated walls and flaking paint underneath. Hours more work to sand smooth. Nah. At that point I gave up and ripped the gib off, should have done that in first place.
buynsellmodels,
Aug 11, 8:52pm
Just watch if you have mdf skirting and/or scotia that it doesnt 'swell' if using a steamer. Warm water in a garden pressure weedsprayer is my goto rather than steamer or sponge and bucket.
supernova2,
Aug 11, 9:12pm
Nah. 12mm ply is 2 or 2.5 mm thicker than the gib so none of your architraves will fit back properly. Apart from that isn't ply about twice the price of Gib? Next problem I can see with the rip it out theory is that in a lot of cases the architraves will be rimu so the chance of getting them off undamaged is less than nil. So we now have the time and effort to remove everything, the cost of disposal, the time and effort to fit new, stopping etc, then architraves then filling, repairing the probable damage to ceilings then painting etc. On top of all that is the cost of new gib, architarves, fixings etc. Now you have a room or rooms that don't match the rest of your house as the size/style of molding isn't available any more. And don't forget the godawful mess that will go on for weeks while you do all that work. Sorry but unless you have sledgehamer sized holes in your walls the rip it out system is just nuts.
blueviking,
Aug 12, 8:26am
They're redoing a whole house, so all the new architraves, scotia & skirting will be the same. Most of the rimu probably has borer holding it together anyway.
tegretol,
Aug 12, 10:54am
Not much - 12mm x1200x2400 $29/sheet, 12mm ply same size 31.50/sheet. Ply miles stronger than compressed chalk! How hard is it to re-scotia/skirt an average room anyway?
supernova2,
Aug 12, 9:03pm
How hard it will be depends on the skill level of the person doing the work. Removing old wallpaper is really not that hard and I still don't think it viable to just rip everything to bits and then spend days replacing everything just to avoid a few fiddly bits of superstuck wallpaper. Imagine the stopping costs if the person replacing the GIB stuffs up. Either GIB or ply is still going to need an appropriate skill level. Lets say a 4 x 4 mtr room so 1 day to remove the old paper, a day to repaint the woodwork, a day to repaper or paint the walls. So 3 to 4 days room complete. Go the other way and say a day to remove the old GIB, a day to replace, 3 days to stop, 3 days to paper(needs sealing) or paint. Should get a sparky to remove and refit all your fittings. Then how many days are you going to be waiting for the trades to turn up? And how much is all this going to cost? But each to their own.
timberman,
Aug 23, 7:57pm
Stop messing around & face facts I am involved in a new build now & this building is fully insulated & has NO gib installed yet When you open the door you can feel the extra warmth inside If you house is uninsulated remove all exterior gib & insulate & upgrade wiring Your choice on stripping inside walls Those people that tell you not to do this don’t know what they are talking about A properly insulated house will cost you very little extra to heat 24 hrs a day all through the winter
tegretol,
Oct 3, 11:04am
Very well put.
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