Repainting and replastering interior of home

Forums › Home Workshop DIY › Repainting and replastering interior of home

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Networkn
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#2878936 4-Mar-2022 12:32

These are some examples of the existing plaster and paint and what we want/need to be remediated. Does anyone here have enough experience etc to tell if this is fixable without regibbing or if skimming would be an option?

elpenguino

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#2879000 4-Mar-2022 13:01

Not a builder but....

Skimming is for surface levelling.

You have a couple of problems with the GIB itself. Fitting GIB around windows is clearly described in the GIB documentation but this instruction doesn't seem to have be followed in picture 1. Needs whole RHS of window re-gibbed for long term solution.

Same advice is given to fit GIB around doors but those thin little strips between the jamb and corner are nigh impossible to cut out of one piece of GIB. I question if your door frame in pic 2 is poorly secured to the wall frame. Strengthen that first and then repair the crack.

Pic 3 - repair by replacing 'L' shape of GIB around the ceiling corner.

Can't see what's wrong with pic 4.

You make as much mess by replacing 1 sq foot as 10 sq metres so if you want to prevent it re-occurring it's better to address the whole problem rather than just the little crack. OTOH if you're tarting the place up to sell, plaster over the cracks.

It's a bit shoddy of builders to do this but once you know what to look for it's not uncommon to see cracks around doors and windows in new builds.

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mdf

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#2879001 4-Mar-2022 13:03

I hate to say it, but that doesn't look super promising - cracks in the corners of doors and windows aren't a good sign. That door also doesn't look aligned with the frame - IIRC you had another post about door issues - is that the same one or a different one? The whole house may have shifted slightly, either in a shake or just settling.

That said, you're not likely to make things worse having a go at fixing it and seeing if it recracks. I'd scrape and sand the existing paint, then use something like this (super easy to use and the tub comes with an applicator for less than $20). Let it dry and see if it recracks or falls out. There are other products that will work though.

mdf

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#2879004 4-Mar-2022 13:06

Is the last picture the corner of wall and ceiling? Looks like it is square stopped (i.e. no scotia, coving or moulding). The easiest way to fix that would be to cover it up with scotia. Gib cove needs a plasterer (if you end up with one anyway), but a builder or handyman should be able to put up timber pretty quick and easy.

networkn

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#2879010 4-Mar-2022 13:23

mdf:

Is the last picture the corner of wall and ceiling? Looks like it is square stopped (i.e. no scotia, coving or moulding). The easiest way to fix that would be to cover it up with scotia. Gib cove needs a plasterer (if you end up with one anyway), but a builder or handyman should be able to put up timber pretty quick and easy.

Yup wall and ceiling, but pretty much throughout the house, that level of finish is typical wherever one surface connects to another. We just want sharp straight edges and joins.

networkn

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#2879103 4-Mar-2022 14:43

mdf:

I hate to say it, but that doesn't look super promising - cracks in the corners of doors and windows aren't a good sign. That door also doesn't look aligned with the frame - IIRC you had another post about door issues - is that the same one or a different one? The whole house may have shifted slightly, either in a shake or just settling.

That said, you're not likely to make things worse having a go at fixing it and seeing if it recracks. I'd scrape and sand the existing paint, then use something like this (super easy to use and the tub comes with an applicator for less than $20). Let it dry and see if it recracks or falls out. There are other products that will work though.

Hi.

This door is a different door, but the door I originally posted is to the left through that wall so connected, more or less :)

I won't be doing any of this on my own we will hire pros for it :)

neb

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#2879517 5-Mar-2022 22:40

timmmay: Any recommendation for dust sheets? We need to cover a few rooms. Those things can be quite expensive, reviews say some are quite fragile.

Cheap blue tarps. Cheaper than dust sheets and far more durable.

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Bung

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#2879547 6-Mar-2022 05:33

If you're covering walls I recommend pretaped pull down dropsheets. The Hayden brand from Bunnings is about $17 for 17 x 2,7m with dispenser then $11 for refills.

networkn

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#2890025 22-Mar-2022 13:09

So an update.

We got someone around who is highly rated on NoCowboys. He had a good look around and believes there should be no need to regib much if anything at all.

It didn't take him long to start making commentary in line with what we know about the current plasterwork and was fairly critical of the fact they used fibreglass tape instead of paper tape, and he pretty much explained why corners were soft and how he would fix it. I am not qualified to know if he is 100% right, but he seemed confident enough and the ideas seemed within the realm of possibility at the least. He said he may need to skim some areas, but the rest should just need to be sanded back and re-prepared. He seems very confident his team can get the house looking good. He is going to provide a quote but said he would start with the bathroom that needs urgent work and that would let us see the quality of his work prior to quoting the whole rest of the house. He seems to think he can remove the current tape where required without breaking too much gib.

We will get a couple of other people in to see if the comments line up, but I am hopeful we can get a decent result without having to rejib given the cost and issues getting hold of gib.

Next question will be what it costs :)

networkn

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#2891033 23-Mar-2022 21:54

Ok, and the answer presented itself. The guy who came in last week wants $2500 to plaster and paint the ensuite!!

If we extrapolate that out to the 12 rooms in our home and the fact almost every room in the house is considerably bigger, conservatively it could be $30-40K for him to do this work (we have asked and will see). Basically, I could hire someone for 80K a year to do this and they could take 6 months working 40 hours a week for that kind of money!

Obviously, there would be materials to subtract from that, but wowsers.

We will need to get some additional quotes.

timmmay

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#2891083 24-Mar-2022 07:42

I'm not sure it's worth getting additional quotes, they're all going to be expensive. Tradies are super expensive everywhere now. I had a quote for a largeish hallway, medium to large lounge and one bedroom at $22K to gib, plaster, and paint.

tdgeek

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#2891085 24-Mar-2022 07:48

Maybe an option is to go to Neighbourly, ask for a retired plasterer who can work on it as it suits him, no rush. Should get a "normal" rate I'd say. Older tradesman should do a good job. Could start with a small section, see how that goes

networkn

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#2891106 24-Mar-2022 08:59

tdgeek:

Maybe an option is to go to Neighbourly, ask for a retired plasterer who can work on it as it suits him, no rush. Should get a "normal" rate I'd say. Older tradesman should do a good job. Could start with a small section, see how that goes

Yeah I posted earlier on neighbourly, but may try again in a bit. The problem with plastering is that pretty much everything has to be out of the room or moved to the center for people to be able to work, so whilst I like the idea of finding someone semi-retired who has loads of experience and will take their time and make sure it's done right, the reality is, done room by room would be long term quite disruptive and probably not very practical for our family at this stage.

As it is we are likely having to do top half of the house and live downstairs, then the bottom half and live upstairs or move in temporarily with our inlaws, which wouldn't be ideal either.

I guess we will just keep looking around to see what options we can find.

Bung

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#2891155 24-Mar-2022 09:08

I wouldn't be surprised if there were more unicorns than retired plasterers who still have their tools and aren't already busy doing part time work.

networkn

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#2891157 24-Mar-2022 09:10

Bung: I wouldn't be surprised if there were more unicorns than retired plasterers who still have their tools and aren't already busy doing part time work.

Probably, and at the end of the day, with the exception of the bathroom which needs pretty much immediate attention, the rest of the house, it's cosmetic, so while we would like to do the work more or less soon, it can wait if ultimately we have no choice.

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