Plastering over woodchip

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PlasteringScot

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I have only ever done this ONCE and it was just a couple of sqm panel on a staircase.

many-a-time been asked to just skim over and I have refused, as I am pretty sure the weight would just bring it down, if not the same day maybe another time, dangerous particularly with ceilings.

Got a mate of mine desperate for me to plaster four walls and I keep saying 'strip it and I will' but as tested by myself the stuff ain't budging easy and I have better things to do than spend hours trying to pull someone else's woodchip off.

Any of you had bad experiences? Would yous do it?
 
PlasteringScot said:
I have only ever done this ONCE and it was just a couple of sqm panel on a staircase.

many-a-time been asked to just skim over and I have refused, as I am pretty sure the weight would just bring it down, if not the same day maybe another time, dangerous particularly with ceilings.

Got a mate of mine desperate for me to plaster four walls and I keep saying 'strip it and I will' but as tested by myself the stuff ain't budging easy and I have better things to do than spend hours trying to pull someone else's woodchip off.

Any of you had bad experiences? Would yous do it?
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its simple for me mate...removal of wallpaper is customers job end off...if they want the work doing they put the graft in or if there realy refusing you walk or make them sign a disclaimer stating you advise no responsibility in the event of failure as bad practice...

people need to man the feck up a bit...when I take my car to the garage the mechanic tells me what nedds doing not the other way round!!!
 
Well said, I do agree there mate I have told him but you know what friends and family are like haha, if it was a customer i'd tell them straight up, and If I was dead quiet maybe offer to strip but for the same price as my days rate plastering haha.
 
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Did a ceiling once for one of the lads off the site, he'd tried everything to get it off - even a blow lamp! It wouldn't budge.. We PVA'd it and skimmed it.. It's still ok after several years.
 
Honestly lads the stuff isn't budging, steamers, water, Pva, scrapers the lot haha.

but aye he is a mate don't want fallbacks hah, interesting point about the boards though priceplastering
 
i did it for one of my mates a couple of years back in a cafe thats still on with no probs just go for it and stop worrying
 
Tbh we used to do it regular on refurbs normally where a rad had been taken off we used to scrape some bonding over it first while we were prepping up then skim it later never budged
 
Board it then skim it. Hack enough holes in it and the skim beneath to dab the boards onto and away you go. :RpS_thumbsup:
 
I skimmed a small bedroom ceiling on woodchip for my mate around 4 years ago and its still there, we litterally tryed everything to get it off to, spikey roller, Stanley knife scrapes, buckets of hot water, tfr, steam, heat, sprirts etc and the stuff did not move

Tell your mate to try every option possible then if that doesn't work, skim it.
 
Overboard it or hack it off and start from fresh , everyone always goes over the top of everything .... Sure a sds drill will beat the woodchip then start from new , just unlucky on the customer really . I would walk if they were adament to go over the top its wallpaper at the end of the day and thats a no no .
 
lol.. always take it off.. funny thing is, in one of my properties its got solid woodchip on, been stripping it today, and its a f**k*r.. solid... tempted to grit and skim it.. raf...lol
 
Do it @cassie, tell me this, we all skim over paint that is stuck solid so why not woodchip that's stuck solid. Grit it and off you go
 
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fuk it.. im doing it..lol... been trying to steam it off today and its solid.... if it bubbles, its my house so no big deal...
 
Do it cassie. It will be like a road to Damascus moment. It's just easier. I don't buy shoes with laces anymore but get velcro strap overs because it's less stress.
 
PlasteringScot said:
I have only ever done this ONCE and it was just a couple of sqm panel on a staircase.

many-a-time been asked to just skim over and I have refused, as I am pretty sure the weight would just bring it down, if not the same day maybe another time, dangerous particularly with ceilings.

Got a mate of mine desperate for me to plaster four walls and I keep saying 'strip it and I will' but as tested by myself the stuff ain't budging easy and I have better things to do than spend hours trying to pull someone else's woodchip off.

Any of you had bad experiences? Would yous do it?
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skim it if its just test every area id also green it but its still bit dodgy lol
 
cassie said:
fuk it.. im doing it..lol... been trying to steam it off today and its solid.... if it bubbles, its my house so no big deal...
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How many times have u been stripping a blown wall off and when u hit it section after section comes away in slabs....held together by wood chip.

Come over to the rough side. It's cosy over here. They judge you a bit but sometimes its just worth it [emoji39]
 
Scar it with stanley in a cross cross pattern then brush over with wet brush then steam it comes off no problem. Closer the criss cross the easier it is
 
tried that mate, decorator pal told me to try that, this stuff has been on 15 years.. its rock... and its getting skimmed.. fuk it..lol... will try a small wall 1st see how it takes... like i say, no big deal, its a rental property ... new bathroom, kitchen, flooring etc, the woodchip will get painted upstairs, its in new condition, even after these years...
 
I'm no expert, but surely plastering over any old/existing wall coating is to be avoided wherever possible?

I've done quite a few bathroom refurbs where they've been tiled over existing tiles, or boarded on top of existing tiles then plastered and/or tiled. All of them had been done for 10 years plus, none of them had 'failed' but it's still a bodge IMHO.

Unless there's a good reason, it's back to brick/block/stone and start again. I know that's not always possible or practical, but it can be done more often than it is.

That said, what would I know about it? I'm a builder and as we all know builders just want it thrown up as quickly and cheaply as possible. :rolleyes)
 
problem with the above statement is.. yes we know not to plaster over wall paper.. however, certain circumstances and your experience can help you out.. now, you said tile over tiles is a bodge ?? no it isnt, tiles if fixed solidly are a great substrate to tile over.. so.. I will use my experience and take advice from people i trust...
 
Each to their own I guess, if you and your customers are happy then that's fair enough. Thing is, it is a bodge as it's doing the job on the cheap by skipping the prep stage. It makes future work more difficult and expensive because the strip out has been skipped once, but it'll be twice as much next time round. Or do you just keep going over it until the room's too small to fit a bath in?

The tiler who I use wouldn't do it, but then I wouldn't be using him if he was as I provide a site toilet but no stables on site.

I wonder how many bathrooms need 100 mm screws to reach the wall when putting a cabinet up? :rolleyes)
 
Read my posts before commenting mate, its in one of MY RENTAL properties, its highly time consuming to strip all the woodchip..it is solid as rock, so im goi gto give it a try.. theres a lot of things plasterers do that are not recommended.. but we do them anyway... you sound very inexperienced in our trade, so maybe better to read for a while before posting ?? your comments above are a bit daft really.. of course you strip out, but you dont seem to know what could be done as an alternative..
 
cassie said:
By the way, if your tiler wouldnt do it.... he sounds about as handy as you...lmao
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OK, lets have a look at what an "experienced" tiler and plasterer is going to recommend on the course he's running in his garage. You say existing tiles make a good substrate, they don't for a couple of reasons. Firstly, have a look at the definition of a substrate as you clearly don't understand what it is. When you do you'll find that tiles are a finishing or surface material. The second, and possibly more important reason is that you have no idea what was used, how effectively or how much deterioration has occurred to what's holding the first set of tiles on the wall. The same is true for wallpaper or any other finishing material.

I notice you don't make any mention of the increasing thickness issue? Still, that's a hard one to argue because basic physics are involved. Adding moisture to a dry surface beneath which is a water soluble adhesive is never a good idea, any more than assuming because it's hung there as it was means it'll be OK with a doubling (or more) of the weight suspended.

All in all I think rather than advising me to read up on the forum, a genius like yourself might be better having a look at some basic principles.

While your doing that in preparation for passing on your vast wisdom to others in your garage, I'll carry on doing things properly and working with tradesmen who actually know what they're doing.
 
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