# Removing Textured Paint from Plaster Walls?



## ddawg16 (Aug 15, 2011)

yep.....that is about it......

You will most likely have paint on top of that texture....if you want it smooth....80 grit sand paper....

Go get a drywall sander....it's basically a pad on a broom stick....uses 1/2 sheet of paper...

While your there....buy a shop vac......it's going to be messy.


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## Brushjockey (Mar 8, 2011)

Being that it's painted, I won't sand hardly at all. Will need to be skimmed smooth, then sanded. Not an easy DIY project. Find a good mud guy.


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## buzzkillb (Apr 7, 2012)

Brushjockey said:


> Being that it's painted, I won't sand hardly at all. Will need to be skimmed smooth, then sanded. Not an easy DIY project. Find a good mud guy.


So even if I had a few days to kill attempting to sand, it would be pointless? I am looking at doing this mainly in the living room and one of the bedrooms.

There is some water damage in the ceiling so we will be having someone come out to give quotes to fix the ceiling in the living room, but I wanted to see what I could do myself so I can compare costs.

I even heard the idea of tearing all the walls out and replacing with drywall which seems extreme. Except we are also replacing the knob and tube wiring through the whole house. 1200 sq. ft. 2 bed 2 bath.

Trying to get more opinions before we have more people out for quotes so I am a little more knowledgeable as to if this is even worth doing.


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## Gymschu (Dec 12, 2010)

If you're replacing the wiring, now is a great time to put in new drywall. It's so much easier to run wiring without the wallboard on the wallls. Sanding MIGHT work but it's gonna take lots of sandpaper and lots of elbow grease no matter what method you use to sand. Skim coating is the best option if you're gonna leave the wallboard on. It's a messy, time consuming process of rolling on thinned down joint compound, allowing it to dry, sanding, applying another coat or two, and repeating the process til you get the walls smooth again. In the same amount of time, you could have new circuits run, wallboard installed and finished, and primed and painted. Just one man's opinion.


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## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

Also having the wall open you would have access to fire block, air seal, and insulate. 
You will be shocked at what your going to find behind those walls.
If you do go with new drywall make sure to pull some string across the studs to just how flat they are and a level to check plumb. Most often there going to need shimming or sistering to end up with a flat wall.

In most cases the whole wall would need to be shimmed so the inside corners and ceiling will meet at the correct level.


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## user1007 (Sep 23, 2009)

I vote to remove the drywall if you are doing electrical anyhow. The labor savings will almost pay for replacing it all. You will have full access to the walls and ceilings for electrical, plumbing, HVAC, insulation, insect pre-treatment, etc.

You could try sanding your walls and in this instance Joe is correct that you will need a farily hefty grit paper. The problem is it is going to do some serious scratching and you could do more harm than good if you dig into the drywall. And the paint is likely to clog the paper up instantly so buy in bulk. Make sure to plan and abate for lead if it is an issue. 

Skim coating would be a better approach but will take some time. Make sure you invest in a nice wide flexible knife. You might be able to hang a layer of 1/4 over everything but you will have to extend all your boxes, etc.


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## Brushjockey (Mar 8, 2011)

Removing the drywall also means removing and trying to reuse or replace all the trim.

Basically gutting a room/house down to studs and starting over. 

Anyone who thinks that is easier than pulling a few wires . patching and skimming is nuts.

oh- In my opinion of course... lol


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## chrisn (Dec 23, 2007)

You guys missed the PLASTER walls part I think.
IMO, I would do whatever it takes to keep the original plaster intact.
How, I am not sure withiot being there.


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## buzzkillb (Apr 7, 2012)

Yes the walls are plaster. I just mentioned that the garage has new drywall with the same textured paint on it, that's why I am pretty sure the plaster walls are painted with that same paint.

We just had another electrician out and there will basically be a new outlet installed around the area of the existing outlet. He has someone who will fix the plaster as there will be a lot of holes put into each room.

So is there a way to remove that textured paint on top of plaster. The main point being I don't mind if it took me a few days to sand the walls down. But if that's not doable then we live with the textured walls.


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## buzzkillb (Apr 7, 2012)

To answer my own question I decided to take a steamer to the wall and scrape. It comes right off. In fact we were able to start it and pull it right off slowly but surely in large pieces. Its very similar to when you get sun burnt and can peel your skin off a few days later. Very odd I thought, but that takes care of the thought of sanding.


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## Canarywood1 (May 5, 2012)

buzzkillb said:


> To answer my own question I decided to take a steamer to the wall and scrape. It comes right off. In fact we were able to start it and pull it right off slowly but surely in large pieces. Its very similar to when you get sun burnt and can peel your skin off a few days later. Very odd I thought, but that takes care of the thought of sanding.


 


That's the way it was done in the old days,plaster then a kind of canvas layer was put on and then paint,be careful if/when you have to use a scraper as you can dig into the plaster very easy,you'll also have to wash the walls when you get the covering off,and be sure to get all the paste off.


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## buzzkillb (Apr 7, 2012)

So I tried to use some paint stripper on the walls and it made the paint come off in a different way. We also tried a large steamer and that allows us to peel the textured paint off.

We ended up getting a quote to skim coat the living room and dining room walls and ceilings along with the walls in both bedrooms. The price wasn't too bad. And they said this would include approx 2 weeks to scrape the walls to the plaster, skim coat, prime and paint with Dunn Edwards paint. We will probably go with them as I was rear ended about 6 blocks away from the house today on the way to grab lunch as we were having the sewer lateral prepped for a trenchless repipe. Talk about bad timing.

Next up will be replacing the knob and tube wiring which is the big expense.

I will post the painting and fixing pictures in case anyone is interested to see how the painting and repair process goes. I am told to pass inspections they will be cutting 3 holes per outlet and 2 holes per switch.


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## ToolSeeker (Sep 19, 2012)

This is interesting just read the whole thread and here are a couple thoughts. This sounds to me like the original plaster and lathe walls especially since there is still knob and tube. Since it was built in 1939 my guess is there is no insulation in the ext. walls. But I see you are in Ca so maybe not that big a deal. But I think that would mean the plumbing is original also but if it ain't broke don't fix it. I want to say tear it out on one hand but on the other what a mess and expense you may not really need to deal with. If you would keep us up on this and what decisions you make and how they turn out.


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## buzzkillb (Apr 7, 2012)

Thankfully the house doesn't seem to get that cold on a more chilly day and really thankful the house wasn't super hot during the heat wave we recently had. We went to the house many times before closing for inspections. So the idea of keeping the plaster is high on my list of things to try to do. Also the heater and AC work really well and quickly. Our energy costs should be somewhat low in that regard. I understand as if we open the walls that's just a huge can of worms that we do not want to tackle as this is our first house and we have a strict budget.

We got a pretty reasonable quote from a painter today, and the work will start asap on stripping/sanding the walls down to be smooth in the living/dining rooms and both bedrooms. The painter will also be installing 1/4" drywall on the living/dining room ceilings. And then he will be finishing that off with crown molding to make that transition look seamless. Also we will have new base board in the master bedroom. I had no problems stripping the walls down myself as I started to get the rhythm down and I estimated about 50 hours of my time to do so. But after being in the car accident, my body (back, should, and knee) is not up for the job which sucks!

Next up is figuring out the details of replacing the knob and tube wiring. Not sure how to make a signature but if anyone is curious what is going on with renovating this little 1939 house I will be updating our house blog pretty frequently at http://geekmagnet.org/blog/ I was also blogging about the initial house search which was pretty intense. The sewer lateral right now is being replaced as we are getting quotes for everything else the property needs.


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## ToolSeeker (Sep 19, 2012)

Thanks for the update sounds like you have a pretty good handle on it. My only suggestion would be figure out what your going to do about the wiring before the painter gets too far along in case the electrician has to open up some walls.You don't want to have to pay for the same job twice.


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## buzzkillb (Apr 7, 2012)

ToolSeeker said:


> Thanks for the update sounds like you have a pretty good handle on it. My only suggestion would be figure out what your going to do about the wiring before the painter gets too far along in case the electrician has to open up some walls.You don't want to have to pay for the same job twice.


The painters started today by scraping any poor patch jobs the previous owners did. They are then lightly sanding off the ugly texture and skim coating over that. It looks like they did most of the master bedroom today including the ceiling. They started to do part of the 2nd bedroom the same way.

Today they will be starting to drywall the ceiling and continue what they were doing yesterday.

The electrician is pulling the permit today and starting work Monday. The painter knows what's involved from what I understand so far. Such as each outlet will be replaced which might mean a large hole in the original location for removal. A new outlet with large hole, a new hole 12" above for stapling the wire and possibly a third hole near the ceiling to fish the new wire down the wall. Same for the light switches.

I don't come across much about the actual knob and tube rewiring process or what people do to cover ugly painted textured plaster walls. So hopefully someone else will gain some extra knowledge that this is possibly more expensive and time consuming than some of these guys let on. The painter says about a week total and the electrician is saying about 2 weeks.

I will eventually be painting the rest of the rooms myself after everything is patched, and then we will be refinishing the floors hopefully in time to move in before Xmas so we have a tree and fire burning in our first home. It looked like an HGTV show today as we had the plumbers (jack hammer out the old galvanized pipe, finishing up trenchless pipe, and new lining in the street to sewer main), painters and tree trimmers (cut down 40+ walnut tree and trimming other trees) going to town on the house from sunrise to sundown.

The walls will be Dunn Edwards eggshell whisper white on the walls, flat whisper on ceiling and high gloss whisper on the new baseboards and new crown molding. Any thoughts on the finish for each part? We are stuck on whisper as we will be doing a dark ebony type of stain on the original 1939 oak floors.


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## chrisn (Dec 23, 2007)

Personally, I would stay away from the high gloss , it is very difficult to get right, stick with a semi gloss


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## ToolSeeker (Sep 19, 2012)

chrisn said:


> Personally, I would stay away from the high gloss , it is very difficult to get right, stick with a semi gloss


That's why they make diff sheens i guess . See I personally love the high gloss on trim it just makes it pop. I just did the trim in a church that had been painted flat. Everyone thought the wall were painted a almost dirty white till we got the trim done then they could see it was a real pale yellow. Oh well just a matter of personal taste I guess.


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## chrisn (Dec 23, 2007)

My point was that for the diy, it is hard to apply properly.


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## buzzkillb (Apr 7, 2012)

chrisn said:


> My point was that for the diy, it is hard to apply properly.


We will be having the painters apply the coats to the baseboards and crown moldings, along with new smooth walled bedrooms and living room.

They are installing the 1/4" thick drywall into the ceiling today. Can't wait to see what the paint will look like when we are done.


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## buzzkillb (Apr 7, 2012)

With the painters working while the electrician knocked the holes in the wall, all is not going as smoothly. For some reason even though I said 4 holes per outlet and switches roughly around 14" per hole because of inspections, they think the job is too big. Should be interesting as the electrician told them they needed to stop as they were in his way. And they will come back to our house of swiss cheese sometime next week.

The nice part at least is that the electrician agreed to run some extra wiring for TV's to hang on the wall and 5.1 stereo in the living room all going into the closet. Trying to use the existing holes when it makes sense.


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## chrisn (Dec 23, 2007)

Wow! To late now, but I would be looking for a new sparky:yes:


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## Gymschu (Dec 12, 2010)

Guess your electrician doesn't own any of the new fangled oscillating tools!


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## chrisn (Dec 23, 2007)

Looks like the only tool used was a 10 lb sledge:laughing:


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## Brushjockey (Mar 8, 2011)

For a second I thought he was a carpenter with the "if it doesn't fit, get a bigger hammer" idea...


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## buzzkillb (Apr 7, 2012)

He is using a typical hammer to knock out the walls. What sawzall blade would I use to clean these up when he is done? I don't mind making the lives easier for the painters if they really can patch these sized holes.


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## Brushjockey (Mar 8, 2011)

If the painters know what they're doing, they'll square up the hole , use backer boards and put in pieces of rock, use hard set mud and finish. 
I usually don't want the homeowner to help... no offense, but it usually doesn't help..


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## buzzkillb (Apr 7, 2012)

Thanks! Yeah it makes sense that I would just get in the way. But they did ask the electrician if he could square the holes. The painters won't be there for another 4 days at least so I had some time to do it.


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## buzzkillb (Apr 7, 2012)

Good call on not helping the painters. They came in fast with putting up their straight lines, cutting the plaster square and putting the drywall in. Finishing it up today and tomorrow they start blending it together. The 5.1 and TV's sound/ HDMI and plug integrated into the living room and bedrooms is what has me excited in this old 1939 house!

We were told they will be done within a week with the paint and floors.


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## buzzkillb (Apr 7, 2012)

So they are about finished up painting and today we noticed they are using Behr paint. Our contract says that they would use Dunn Edwards. Whats the opinion on the quality difference? The interior looks really good that's why I am wondering what direction we go with this.


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## ToolSeeker (Sep 19, 2012)

If you have a contract calling for one brand of paint I would find out why they are not using it. I am not familiar with the other brand but it sounds like they are using a cheaper and lower quality paint.


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## jsheridan (Jan 30, 2011)

I think the electrician's brother must be an unemployed sheetrocker. Wow!


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## buzzkillb (Apr 7, 2012)

Behr is the cheap paint from Home Depot. The color looks the same as far as I can tell. I am thinking that as long as the end result looks good then we can just ask for some discount since it is cheaper paint. I need to bring a different camera and start taking pictures. My phone isn't doing a good job of documenting this.


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## ToolSeeker (Sep 19, 2012)

I posted this on another thread but I'm going to do it again. I just recently painted a house for a lady who is taking the previous painter to court because she paid him to paint her house and he told her it had a 25 year warranty. It has been a little over 4 years and the paint is failing, faded and flacking off. She demanded something be done. Well he finally admitted that after she paid him for premium paint he went to Wally World and bought cheap paint. Point-you already know it's cheap paint, not what was in the contract. Just because the color looks the same does't mean its the same quality. However if you are willing to take the chance and are satisfied with the result that's fine. But I must say from this I don"t think too much of your painter.


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## Brushjockey (Mar 8, 2011)

Anyone to give a 25 year warranty with ANY paint is nuts. One year is standard.


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## chrisn (Dec 23, 2007)

Do NOT ask for a discount. They applied inferior paint. Maybe it looks ok now but it is not. Make them apply the DE at their expense. You have a contract, use it. Do NOT except a shi**y job because thats what you got right now.

As to the 25 year warranty:laughing::no:


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## ToolSeeker (Sep 19, 2012)

Brushjockey said:


> Anyone to give a 25 year warranty with ANY paint is nuts. One year is standard.


SW and them give the warranty any painter in his right mind only gives 1 year 2 at most. But most H/O don't realize this and when she wanted to contact the paint company that is when they found out he had screwed her on the paint and bought the cheapest and charged her for the premium.


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## ToolSeeker (Sep 19, 2012)

Brushjockey said:


> Anyone to give a 25 year warranty with ANY paint is nuts. One year is standard.


SW and them give the warranty any painter in his right mind only gives 1 year 2 at most. But most H/O don't realize this and when she wanted to contact the paint company that is when they found out he had screwed her on the paint and bought the cheapest and charged her for the premium.


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## buzzkillb (Apr 7, 2012)

Good call about just bringing it up and forgetting about the discount idea. It is hard to approach as they are still working on the house. But the more I know going into it the better the outcome will be. I am very happy with the patch job, though one of the walls in the master bedroom and the guest bathroom I can see the patch and seam line. But i think they are still working on the blending in those rooms. As the rest of the house you cannot see the patch seams. I would only be able to point out the holes based on pictures I have. I hope those hold up over time as this is our first house and don't plan to live here forever.


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## chrisn (Dec 23, 2007)

buzzkillb said:


> Good call about just bringing it up and forgetting about the discount idea. It is hard to approach as they are still working on the house. But the more I know going into it the better the outcome will be. I am very happy with the patch job, though one of the walls in the master bedroom and the guest bathroom I can see the patch and seam line. But i think they are still working on the blending in those rooms. As the rest of the house you cannot see the patch seams. I would only be able to point out the holes based on pictures I have. I hope those hold up over time as this is our first house and don't plan to live here forever.


 
did you read my post??


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## buzzkillb (Apr 7, 2012)

chrisn said:


> did you read my post??


Yes that's why I said I would forget about the discount idea.


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## buzzkillb (Apr 7, 2012)

Mentioned the paint a few days ago and they said they would be using Dunn Edwards. Saw the cans myself when they put the paint on. We are getting closer to finishing up the inside. At least 1 more stain on the floor, satin finish, some door work and the painters are done early this week. Less than a week to start moving furniture in. I should add that its almost impossible to tell where the holes were patched throughout the entire house.


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## Brushjockey (Mar 8, 2011)

Looks very nice! congrats!


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## buzzkillb (Apr 7, 2012)

A before shot. Its hard to pickup on the original ugly textured paint that was sprayed on the walls and ceiling. Along with just how gouged and destroyed the floors were too. I wish I came up with a spot in the house to always set the camera on so it had a better before and after sequence.


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## buzzkillb (Apr 7, 2012)

After they did the above, they screwed up the floors with the finish. We were so mad that I couldn't take pictures of it. It was bad. I think they got the hint since I am the passive one saying to them we have to hire someone else.

Back to the drawing board and we have 2 more stains going on in the morning. Shots of 2 stains so far of ebony. They will be applying an oil based satin finished a couple days later. So much better and actually looks right now.

We weren't expecting perfection and I am very happy with the paint job. The owner of the company does seem pretty reasonable and is proud of his work. That was good enough for me to give them another chance.


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