Was told that a skim coat after removing wallpaper is a good idea. So far I haven't, and it looks ok. But there is a bit more to do, namely the lounge room.

I don't really like creating extra work for no reason, so I probably will just paint this as well, but I want to know why would you skim coat? Or should that be: When should I skim coat? ?

Secondly - how do I skim coat and what tools would I need? Don't know that I've seen a tutorial on it as of yet (not that I've looked very hard).

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Semtex fixes all

I have depapered plaster walls a few times. In my case I found that I had gouged the plaster a little bit here and there and also some extra stubborn bits of paper wouldnt come off.

I put a thin wipe ( my version of a skim coat) of topping compound over the lumpy bits hiding them bueatifully.

Sometimes though the glue residue from the paper causes problems with some paints and or skim coats.

You should skim coat when:

You have multiple scratches dents or repairs on a wall or ceiling suface.
where you have a problem with glancing light on plasterboard surfaces and require a level 5 finish.
Or if you are soid plastering a wall.

You need a plasterers hawk or a mud pan a smaller scraper and a 12" trowel or blade and maybe an 8" blade.

There are a few videos on the British version of skim coating on the web. But they are using different materials than we have here in Australia, so the technique is a little different.

The easiest product to use for skim coating is ready mixed multi-purpose top coat. You just cant muck it up as it sands easy and can be re-coated when dry. NOTE: reapairs and dents should be repaired prior to skim coat with 2 coats of basecoat or cornice adhesive, or if you have the time to wait for it to dry 2 coats of the multi-purpose top coat.

But now you have said there are no tutorials on skim coating I will do a video on this in the next few weeks and put it up on Youtube.

Cheers Rod

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Thanks for the replies.

I have seen a thing called a plasters hawk at bunnies...but my question is - what do you do with it?

So far most of the walls look decent, and I have managed to just lay some plaster over the old joins - obviously never prep'd properly. I got some Gyprock Multi Purpose compound from Bunnies on the advice of a carpenter doing a shop refit at the building where I work. Got a truck load of plaster offcuts off him too

I haven't had a decent look at the loungeroom walls yet, but obviously I wouldn't mind making a fairly decent job of it if it requires a bit of fiddling.

Will look out for your tutorial, thanks

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Semtex fixes all

Go to this post and click on the Youtube link and you will see a plasterers hawk in use!

http://www.woodworkforums.ubeaut.com...ad.php?t=57399

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Ah, excellent...it is actually for what I thought it was for!

Great videos by the way. Seeing as I am qualified to comment, I will say that a twin 500W light positioned so it reflects of the walls would make your videos MUCH better, and will allow much more detail to be seen.

But yeah, good otherwise.

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Semtex fixes all