Washing walls prior to PVA-ing, plastering or painting

[Tim S]

Hi,

This sounds like really stupid question - but bear with me...

How pedantic would you be in washing off the old wallpaper paste after wallpaper stripping, especially on ceilings?

Obviously, you wouldn't just leave it on in lumps.

I haven't come across such slimy gooey paste before - and I intend to contribute to the wall paper stripping wiki in due course, so I'd like to give best advice.

Scenario: Celing paper strips easily with steam, leaving bare plaster and painted plaster.

More steam and a scraping blade takes off 90% of the paste very quickly.

An immediate wash with hot water and a drop of Flash takes off a bit more quite quickly, but leaves a thin film of slime that takes inordinate amounts of hard and repeated washing to shift (as in double the length of the job).

So far, I've been washing it to the point where there's a hint of slime whilst wet, and when dry, you can see a faint light haze in patches, but otherwise you wouldn't know it's there.

Washing it off 100% will probably take as long again (quadruple the original paper stripping time) as it's an absolute bugger to shift - moreso on the bare plaster than the paint.

[Stuart Noble]

I use a long handled scraper (the Stanley knife type)to skim gunk off plaster. You need to keep turning it over to keep a sharp edge, and wiping it clean, but it beats the hell out of washing. It also gets rid of any gritty bits and leaves you with a baby's bum surface.

[Tim S]

Stuart Noble coughed up some electrons that declared:

Hey - I think I've seen those in B&Q. OK - I'm with you here. So you don't do any more than a cursory wash off afterwards, if at all then?

I'll try this. It would be good to be able to add to the wiki with some more optimised techniques for particular paper types (I've done good vinyl, cheap vinyl and painted ceiling paper and they all need different techniques.)

Thanks muchly;

Tim

[Stuart Noble]

Usually not at all. I might quickly rub down with sandpaper when it's dry

[Tim S]

Stuart Noble coughed up some electrons that declared:

That sounds really optimal. That might make the difference between 1/2 day and 1 day for a medium sized ceiling which is not to be sniffed at (I've got 3 to go).

Walls aren't so bad, as washing down is easier, but I'll try this trick on then too. The advantage with scraping is it knocks the surface off the paint too, and finds some of the loose plaster(!).

Cheers

Tim

[Ian_m]

0>

Use chemical wallpaper remover (from B&Q) on the leftover paste. Appears to make the paste breakdown and easily washable off the wall. Also great for getting off stuburn wall paper off faster than steaming.

[<me9]

B if you're going to re-paper.

I go for C if painting. Once the paper is off a lot of the paste can be scraped off after a good soaking. After getting to B it isn't much further to get to C. If you paint before getting to C it will flake off.

[Phil L]

B is more than ample for painting, strip paper and give it a quick wash and allow to dry, then prior to paining, a very light sanding will remove almost all of the remaining paste.

for papering over, simply strip, then after it's completely dried, a light sanding, then size with dilute PVA.

[Tim S]

Phil L coughed up some electrons that declared:

Jolly good - thanks. I think a sharper scraper and a quick wipe off then. That should make the job goe twice as quick :)

I'll have a bash at the Wiki this weekend if possible, after I've done some more work :)

Cheers and thanks!

Tim

[Tim S]

Stuart Noble coughed up some electrons that declared:

Good call Stuart!

I got one of the Harris "Throat Slasher" ones with a 3" blade. It did what you said - nearly all the paste comes off in one scrape and a quick wash off leaves a nice surface. I use mine in a "drag" mode at about 45 degrees inclination after a quick steam.

The other advantage is it takes the gloss off any paint too :)

Also handy in "push" mode for trimming off ridges of paint where shelves and stuff used to be :)

Cheers

Tim

[Stuart Noble]

Glad you like it. I use push mode for everything, two handed where possible. I'm so hunky :-)

I got a pack of spare blades with it 5 years ago, and I've only used one. The wet plaster dust seems to keep it honed to perfection.