I recently bought a home bought in the mid-50s. The walls have obviously been poorly cared for over the years...there are several different textures in the living room, there are at least 3 layers of paint in the bathroom...its a mess. I would really like to have smooth walls and am trying to figure out the best way to do this. I bought some gypsum base plaster veneer to use to refinish the walls and smooth out the texture.
In the bathroom, I need to know if I should remove all of the old paint before putting up the veneer or can I put the veneer up over the paint? And the bag of veneer mentions using silica sand for a "sanded" finish...is a sanded finish smooth? And if I do need to remove all of the old paint, what is the best way to do this if the paint is lead-based? I assume that at least some of it would be based on the age of the home. Can I remove it myself or do I need to hire someone to do it?
Thank you so much for your help!
COMMUNITY FORUM
This is a new one. I have to admit I'm not always up on some of the new technology, being and old school trained craftsman. I can tell you that adding sand will result in a textured finish. As far as lead paint, a house built in the 50's has a pretty high probability that one or more of those coats of paint will have lead in it. Lead abatement is a serious issue and can be tricky for the do-it-yourselfer. It's easy to do it wrong.
If your paint isn't peeling anywhere, your better off leaving it alone and applying your plaster over it. There used to be a product produced by Thoroughcrete (not sure I spelled it correctly) called Thoroughbond that was used to bond new plaster to tricky surfaces. You may wish to invesitgate that product or a similar product to bond the new plaster to the painted wall.
If your paint isn't peeling anywhere, your better off leaving it alone and applying your plaster over it. There used to be a product produced by Thoroughcrete (not sure I spelled it correctly) called Thoroughbond that was used to bond new plaster to tricky surfaces. You may wish to invesitgate that product or a similar product to bond the new plaster to the painted wall.
