Hi,
We are decorating our spare room and want to have nice smooth walls to paint directly onto with emulsion. The house is 1930's but has been reconfigured internally a few times to our knowledge.
We've removed the old wallpaper and the walls appear to be in generally sound condition. The walls appear to be plaster throughout and it looks like they've previously been painted directly onto. In one or two places they've had touch-up jobs done on the plaster, a few raw plugs from shelves, a touch-up job where an old picture-rail has been removed. There's also one corner where a built-in cupboard has been removed and the corner has been re-boarded and plastered and this area is flaking somewhat where the old plaster has come away from the board a bit.
So, none of these things are drastic but all in all I have guessed that what we need is a re-skim. However, I'm no expert on this and I wondered if these things could be sorted out with Polyfilla and sanding? At what point do you know that a re-skim is required?
And if we do go for a re-skim, how should we prepare the walls? I've heard that unibond PVA and water mix should be painted on the walls, but what about the area where the old cupboard was and the previous touch-up plaster has flaked off?
Finally, what should we expect to pay for a full re-skim on room aprrox 12 feet x 7 feet in size, including the ceiling?
Your help and info would be appreciated.
Thanks!
Andy