After removing all the woodchip wallpaper from the walls and ceilings in the lounge/dining room, it has revealed many large cracks in the ceilings and walls. We’ve been discussing whether to re-wallpaper or re-skim the walls and ceilings with plaster, so there’s a decent crack-free surface to paint.
I’ve been searching for a plasterer to do the work, I’ve had several quotations from 600, 350, 220 and 150GBP to re-skim the ceiling, lots of variation and ideas that they’ve run by me. I’m meeting a plasterer tomorrow night which has been recommended to me to discuss the requirements, the issues seem to be the cracks may come back, because the existing ceiling is lath and plaster. Cracks are often caused by lath movement. Because it absorbs moisture from the air, wood lath expands and contracts as humidity rises and falls. This can cause cracks to appear year after year. A nail holding the edge of a piece of lath may rust or loosen, or structural movement in the wood framing behind the lath may cause a seam to open.
When the ceiling is re-skimmed, tape can be used to “seal” these cracks, which may prevent re-cracking.
or have the entire ceiling re-boarded and skimmed
or wallpaper!
If we decide to re-skim, one job I’ve got to do is sand-off the gloss paint of the dining room ceiling, or ensure a rough surface for the plaster to stick to. I tried sanding last night, but my face mask and goggles, weren’t up to the job.
It’s not often I star in my own blog, so this is a rare chance to see me in action…doing DIY!
Nasty job sanding off gloss paint!
It helps to have the right safety gear!
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