# Trying to cover up old chair rail molding lines left from years of paint layers



## funfool (Oct 5, 2012)

mud will stick to paint fine. That is the correct approach to disappear the old lines and retexture for new paint.


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## learylike (May 27, 2013)

Thank you...as I have never used mud or performed any kind of work like this what would you suggest as far as brands or type and also should I also be using the tape as well and if so then which kind would do the trick? The 2 lines formed by the chair rail are 3" apart so also wondering if I should just do it as 2 separate jobs or 1 single wider repair?


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## gregzoll (Dec 25, 2006)

Rough up the surface where the chair rail was, then use what is called "Hot" mud to fill the gap where the rail originally sat, with a wide enough knife that will allow you to do a long enough application.

If you do it right and sand between the first and finish layer, it will look professional. Post pictures of what you are dealing with, and that way we are able to better help you out on this.


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## funfool (Oct 5, 2012)

would be nice to see a photo.
What you have is caulking and paint buildup. Sometimes a good scraping will remove it and paint over and good to go.
You may need to mud over it and treat it as one larger repair, then redo the texture to blend it in.
To me this is simple, for you it may not be as simple but we can help .... a pic of the current texture and what it looks like now will help us help you.


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## gregzoll (Dec 25, 2006)

I doubt that they would have any caulk buildup, unless the previous person that lived there, or installed that chair rail, or even the OP applied it along the length of the rail, most likely just paint buildup. That could actually be knocked down with a scraper, then sanded down even, without having to go with the mud job.


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## funfool (Oct 5, 2012)

Why I and sure others would want to see a photo before recommending skim coat and texture.
But I could imagine somebody installing the trim and caulking top and bottom and painting to it.
Then remove the trim and we have what I call caulk buildup. 
Scraping it off wiyh a knife may be all it needs, a similar situation last week. after scraping I needed to use some Spackle, but was a smooth texture was matching.


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## ToolSeeker (Sep 19, 2012)

Daja vue there is an almost identical thread asking the same question in the painting section. May find some help there.


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## learylike (May 27, 2013)

Thanks everyone...here are some pics of what I am talking about...it is just layers of paint and not spackle. I have tried sanding it down but still seems to show a small ridge


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## oh'mike (Sep 18, 2009)

I would use All Purpose mud for the fill coat--green lid---it contains glue and will bond properly to the paint.

Just a thin coat to fill in the void between the paint lines.

Then I would switch to Light weight--blue lid--for the top coats---feather that out to 12 or 16 inches,using several very thin coats----

Then sand and prime using your wall paint--a 1/2" roller might be best to replace the orange peal texture that is on the rest of the wall----


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