One question that I often get asked is whether or not a wall needs
skimming with plaster or whether it can be filled and sanded. This is not a
simple question and there is no right or wrong answer to this question without
actually seeing the wall. However in this video I'm going to fill and sand the wall
that has some extensive damage. At least four people have seen this wall when it
was stripped and all four of them asked if I was going to skim it with plaster.
Sometimes applying a skim coat is the best option but it can add a
considerable time to a job due to the time it takes the wall to dry before it
can be painted. This is the wall which has previously been plastered, the property is
roughly 40 years old. This wall was covered with woodchip wallpaper which
was hiding most of the damage but there is also some new damage
which was caused when we removed the woodchip. The first step is to ensure the wall is
clean. To do this I'm using a large sponge and some sugar soap solution.
I'm also using a scraper to remove any remains of the wallpaper. To start with
I'm using a filling knife to fill the gouges in the wall.
This is the most time-consuming part of the job. I'm using Gyproc Easi Fill
which dries very quickly. I should be able to fill and sand and paint
the wall with a mist coat in just one day. You can of course use
whichever filler you prefer to fill the damage but I prefer to use the Gyproc
Easi Fill as it's very easy to use and dries very quickly. I'm using the
knife to fill all of the damage so that it is flush or slightly proud of the
surface. If the filler is proud of the surface it will soon be sanded flush at
the next stage. You can see that there is considerable damage to this wall but
this will soon be fixed and will look like a new wall in a few hours. I will
speed this part up to prevent you getting bored but filling the entire
wall probably took about an hour.
Here you can see some historical damage that has being filled before the wall was
papered. This was a very poor attempt at filling the hole but I can soon cover
it and then sand it flush.
Now that the damage has been filled it's time to start sanding, so a good
quality dust mask is essential. To do the sanding I'm using a Mirka Deros
which is attached to a vacuum cleaner. This means that you can sand in a
virtually dust free environment.
If you don't have a Mirka Deros you can use a sanding pole and sand paper.
Once the wall has been sanded it is a good idea to give it a wipe down with
the sponge and some clean water to remove any dust which can interfere with
the adhesion of the paint. It's now time to mix some paint as I now need to apply
a mist coat. A mist coat is just a watered-down coat of non-vinyl emulsion paint.
I'm mixing the super matte with some cold clean water to the
instructions on the paint can which I think was 20%. The use of a drill and the
mixer paddle will make this job much easier. It's now time to put the mist
coat on the wall so I'm using a brush to cut in at the edges and the small
emulsion roller for the rest of the wall.
If the wall is large it's much easier and faster using a larger roller. Once
the paint is applied at the edges I'm using the roller to roll out the paint
This is to ensure there are no visible brush marks.
Apply the paint evenly ensuring you get good coverage on all of the wall.
Once the mist coat has dried you can then apply a top coat of paint.
Hopefully this video will have proved that you do not always need to employ a plasterer
to get a wall skimmed. A lot of the time you can simply fill the damage, sand it
and then paint it. This is the picture of the wall once it was finished it really
does look like a brand new wall.
I hope you found this video useful. If you
have please subscribe to the channel if you have not done so already.