Textured Plaster Walls
We recently bought a row house and all the walls are textured. We originally thought of having the walls skim coated, but after speaking to a couple of contractors we are reconsidering it. Beside the expense the contractors said that after the walls are skim coated they would be flush or very close to flush…
We recently bought a row house and all the walls are textured. We originally thought of having the walls skim coated, but after speaking to a couple of contractors we are reconsidering it. Beside the expense the contractors said that after the walls are skim coated they would be flush or very close to flush with the molding. We don’t love the look of the textured walls, but we don’t hate it either.
I’m curious to know if anyone can recommend a plaster who has done this type of textured plastering in their house?
Also do you think a DIYer would be able to handle this technique or is it too complicated for us mortals?
We are putting in new electrical sockets and switches so part of the walls will be open and have to be patched. Cracks in a couple of the walls and bad patch work from the previous owner in different locations.
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
Get a good skimcoater and the walls will be restored to their original state. This can be done without adding to much thickness to the walls.
I would be happy to give you any advice you might need.
Dee Finley
deefinite@gmail.com
I had textured plaster walls in my 20s house in Los Angeles. Lots of houses there have it. I liked it; it never bothered me. I don’t think this kind of plaster looks bad unless it has too many layers of paint on it and lumpy thickly painted woodwork along with it, like you find in properties that were long time rental apt’s. So strip the moldings and baseboards and doors clean and smooth before either repainting or staining.
If you are patching, then you will either have to make the patches textured like the walls or you will have to smoothly skim coat every wall in the house.
Skim coating really adds up and is very expensive, it is true.
However, I am puzzled they would say after skim coating the plaster will be flush with the molding. I find this to be true only if they put up drywall over the existing plaster. Don’t do that. It will give a horrible look and isn’t necessary.
I can’t imagine why skim coating would cause the walls to be any higher than, say, a quarter of an inch over the highest currently existing surface.
Find an expert in plaster, not a general contractor or painter for this.
Also, you could save money by doing only the walls on one floor — HOWEVER — I assure you it is best to do all skim coating before you refinish the floors and before you move in. The dust creates a horrible, horrible, horrible mess.
Good luck.