Indy Total Construction

Torn wallpaper in the home can usually be patched fairly simply. With other wall coverings like hessian, vinyl or grass cloths you should match the pattern with care. Placing a spare piece over the tear and checking the design.

Cut a piece slightly largely than the damaged area, and then place it over the hole, again making sure that the pattern matches. Cut through both layers with a sharp knife to a square or oblong shape (unless there is a definite motif in the pattern, in which case you should follow the shape of this). Peel away the old wall covering, and using a suitable adhesive stick the new piece carefully in place. Roll the patch lightly with a steam roller and leave it to dry.

Many vinyl wall coverings have a paper backing. You should not leave the backing of the old wall covering in place; cut right through it and strip it back to the wall surface before fixing the new piece.

If your walls are coming apart at the seams this sometimes happens because of condensation. Or it may be that the wall coverings have been overlapped instead of butt-joined you can easily stick them back down again. It the wall covering is vinyl you will have to use a latex adhesive to secure it.

Blisters sometimes occur if wallpaper is incorrectly pasted or if heavy paper is hung too soon, before it has absorbed enough paste; they can also be caused by a poor wall surface of condensation. One method of dealing with this is to half-fill a syringe with a suitable paste and injects the paste into the centre of the blister.

Allow the paste to penetrate the back of the paper (it should take about five minutes) and then flatten the blister firmly with your fingers. Wipe away any surplus paste and then go over the area lightly with a roller until the paper lies completely flat. If you cannot get hold of a syringe, make a cross-shaped cut and peel back the tongues before using an artist’s brush to push paste underneath them.

Blisters, or cracks and chips in paintwork can be repaired. Knots in wood can sometimes cause very bad discoloration on woodwork, appearing as a brown stain under the paint film. You can sand or scrape away the paint, seal the knot with proprietary knotting and allow it to dry before you prime, sand, fill as necessary and repaint.

You can remove and replace a damaged wall tile. If you don’t have a spare tile and cannot obtain one, you could either replace a panel of tiles with new ones so as to create a definite design, or replace just a few tiles with random patterned ones. It’s also possible to tile on top of cracked or crazed tiles, using new slim universal.

To plaster a newly built wall you will not have to do any preparation work to it at all before you fix wooden grounds or metal lath in place.

Then the masonry should be dampened by splashing on clean water with a paintbrush. This will help slow down the rate at which the wall absorbs moisture from the plaster, preventing it from drying out too quickly and possibly cracking.

It is a good idea to practice scooping plaster from the hawk and applying it to the wall before you attempt the job for real. Set the loaded trowel against the wall so that the bottom corner of the blade rests on the ground or bead and the blade is at an angle of about 30° to the wall surface. Move the blade upwards to spread a vertical strip of plaster next to the thickness guide, keeping the blade resting on the guide and gradually reducing its angle as the plaster spreads.

Apply more strips of plaster in the same way, working upwards from the bottom and across the bay adding a good thickness of plaster to the wall.

When the bay is finished, use the long wooden rule to strike it off level with the thickness guides. Place it across the guides and draw it upwards, moving it from side to side in a sawing motion as you go. This will level off the high spots and accentuate the dips. Add more plaster and repeat the process until level.

Before it sets, key the surface for the finishing coat by passing a wooden float, with nails knocked through its face, over the plaster to leave score lines.

When the floating coat has hardened (it should take about two hours), you can apply the finishing coat. This is done in exactly the same way as plastering wallboard, applying two thin coats of Finish plaster to produce a polished, flat and hard surface.

Directions:

1. Scooping plaster from the hawk; put the trowel into the plaster and scoop forwards and upwards.

2. Practising applying paster to the wall; work upwards from waist-height, starting with the trowel at 30 degrees to the wall.

3. As you apply the plaster, tilt the trowel more parallel to the wall surface; keep the hawk close to the wall to catch droppings.

4. Applying the plaster in vertical strips; at the end of each stroke, press the lower edge of the trowel to firm the plaster onto the wall.

5. Ruling off the completed bay; use a straight-edge with a sawing motion to lower any high spots and to show up areas with too little plaster.

6. Scoring the surface to provide a key for the finishing coat; the nails should protrude in through the float.

7. Filling the gap left after taking off the ground batten; level off with the trowel, flush with the hardened plaster on each side.

8. Applying the finishing coat; work from bottom to top and cover the floating coat with a thin layer; apply a second coat. 9 Polishing the finishing coat; wet the surface sufficiently to remove ridges and marks and polish firmly with a perfectly clean, flat trowel.

Plaster is an excellent and inexpensive material for giving a smooth, hard surface to an internal wall so that it is ready for painting or wallpapering.

There are many types of plaster, but they can be divided into two basic types: gypsum-based and cement-based. The former are used solely for indoor work, whereas the latter are mainly used outdoors for rendering walls. Cement- based plasters do have a use indoors. however, and that is to finish external walls that might be subject to damp penetration; damp will attack a gypsum plaster and cause it to crumble.

Modern plasters come premixed with lightweight fillers such as perlite or vermiculite, which give a higher degree of thermal insulation and fire resistance and should be mixed with clean water.

Plaster is normally applied to the wall in two layers. The first, called a “floating” coat, is intended to even out the irregularities in the wall surface, so it is kept fairly thick — about 3/sin being usual. The second, finishing coat is spread much thinner Ysin or so — and carefully toweled off to a smooth finish.

Different types of building materials absorb water at different rates and if too much water is absorbed from the fresh plaster, it will dry too quickly and crack.

For example, bricks and lightweight building blocks absorb water quickly and are termed high suction surfaces. On the other hand, materials such as concrete and gypsum board do not absorb water that quickly and are termed low suction. You must choose a plaster to match the surface; but if in doubt, the best thing to do is coat the entire wall with a bonding agent which will make a low suction surface.

Browning plaster should be used for the floating coat on high suction surfaces and Bonding plaster on low suction surfaces. Finish plaster can be used for the finishing coat in both cases.

Only buy plaster as you need it since it has a limited shelf life. A 22lb bag of Browning or Bonding plaster should cover an area of about 1.8yd2 at a depth of 3/sin. The same quantity of Finish plaster, spread thinly, should cover an area about 6yd2.

In addition to a couple of clean buckets and a long level, you will need some special plastering tools: a spot board about 3ft square and supported on trestles or an old table to hold the mixed plaster while you work; a hawk for carrying small quantities of plaster to the wall; a rectangular metal plasterer’s trowel: a wooden float for producing flat surfaces (with a few nails knocked into the end it can double as a “scratcher” for scoring the floating coat before applying the finishing coat): and a 5ft length of 1 x 3in planed wood for leveling the plaster surface.

Cleanliness is essential when mixing plaster. since any dirt present in the mix will affect the drying time. Always use clean tap water for mixing and have a separate bucket of water for cleaning the tools as you work.

Mix the plaster and water in equal volumes in a clean bucket, adding the plaster to the water by sprinkling it on top and breaking up any lumps between your fingers. When the water has soaked into all the plaster, use a thick piece of wood to stir the plaster into a smooth consistency, (Finish plaster should resemble runny ice-cream). and make sure there are no lumps.

Wet the spot board and turn out the plaster on to it, kneading it with the trowel. If the mix appears too wet, sprinkle on a little more plaster and mix in with the trowel.

Not too long ago, the only wall covering available was wallpaper. Today wall coverings are made of many materials other than paper. Fabric and vinyl are good examples. Some types are prepasted or have adhesive on the back. No matter which type you use, the basic procedures are the same. You will have to:

Measure

Prepare the wall surface

Prepare and hang wall covering

To find out how much wall area must be covered, measure each wall and multiply its width by its height. Adding the answers will give you the total area of the wall surface. Next measure the doors and windows. Find their total area by multiplying each one’s height by width and adding them together. Now subtract the total area of the openings from the total area of the wall surface. The answer is the wall area to be covered. Since one roll of wallcovering contains about 30 square feet, divide this number by 30. The answer is the number of rolls you will need.

Many do-it-yourself wallpapering kits contain all the tools you will need.

Before you begin, the wall surface should be clean and free from loose plaster and paper. Surfaces painted with enamel should be sanded to remove the gloss and assure good adhesion. Remove any old wallpaper. Use a steamer or wallpaper remover to lift the paper, and then strip it off.
New walls must be primed before covering.

The most difficult job is hanging the wall covering just right. Begin by attaching a plumb bob to the end of a chalk line. Measure the width of one roll (usually 231/2 inches) from the starting point and hang the plumb bob. Snap the chalk line on the wall. This line will serve as a guide for hanging the first piece.

Cover your table or work surface with several layers of newspaper and unroll the first strip of wall covering. Cut the first piece, allowing two inches of overlap at the ceiling and two inches at the floor. Unroll the next piece and place it alongside the first to match the pattern. Cut enough strips to cover one wall and number them on the back.

Spread paste on the back of the first strip. Be sure to leave no dry spots and pay special attention to the edges. Loosely fold up the bottom half, printed side out, for ease in carrying. Position the strip at the ceiling and smooth it with a brush, working from the center out to the edges. Unfold the bottom section and continue smoothing down.

If the old wallpaper is loose, if you are going to hang vinyl wall covering, or if there are several layers of wallpaper on your wall already, it is best to remove all the old paper before you hang the new paper. This can be done most easily by renting a steamer.

Be sure to work out all of the air bubbles. After about 15 minutes the top and bottom overlap can be trimmed with a sharp blade. To prevent getting paste on the next strip, remove the top layer of newspaper from the table before you apply paste to the next strip.

Other types of wall coverings may need to be soaked in water or the paste may have to be applied directly to the wall. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions or ask the person who sells the wall covering.

Two types of seams can be used to join wall coverings. The overlap joint is one in which the sheets actually overlap each other. When using overlapped joints, begin alongside a window and work away from it. This will make the joints less conspicuous. Butt joints are preferred by professionals.

The edge of each strip runs along the edge of the previous strip without overlapping. When using butt joints, begin hanging paper on the longest wall space without windows or doors and work around the room. For either type of seam, wait about 15 minutes for the paste to set and then press down with a seam roller. Carefully trim around electrical boxes.

Much valuable information is often printed in the margins of the wall covering, including trim marks, marks to help you match the pattern, mill run number and manufacturer. Be sure to buy enough wall covering at the start because you may have difficulty matching colors or patterns later.

Apply paste to the bottom two- thirds of the sheet and fold up carefully. Do not crease. Finish applying the paste and carry the folded sheet to the wall.

Brush wallpaper from the center out to the edges. Smooth out all air bubbles.

Trim overlap with a straight, even line. Wall covering joints are either overlapped or butt joints. Professionals prefer butt joints.