Ever since you folks told me about skim coats and veneer coats, I’ve been dying to learn how to plaster. Figured I’d work on the walls in the garage. They’re drywall with no paint–just sprayed-on orange peel.
If money were no object, I’d yank out the drywall and start with metal lath to make some curved areas. << sigh >>
Realistically, I can’t remove the drywall, or even replace it with blueboard. The plaster will have to go onto the existing drywall. Bob Vila’s website has an article on just this sort of compromise:
“A skim-coat of plaster can be applied to regular drywall or an existing traditional plaster surface, but first the wall must be painted with a specially formulated orange-colored primer.” (http://www.bobvila.com/HowTo_Library/Blue_Board_and_Veneer_Plaster-Plaster_Walls-A1484.html)
What primer is this? And does the orange peel need to be sanded down first? (no please no please)
Janet
Replies
You should be fine going over orange peel. If it's been up for a while roll on a coat of Plaster Weld http://www.larsenproducts.com/plasterweld.htm
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Different ways to do it. Plaster weld or other bonding agent will help. Haven't heard of orange welding it....
The4re are a couple reasons it doesn't work well on plain drywall. One is that th=e raw paper will suck moisture out of the plaster too fast, so it has to be sealed. Your current finish should take car of that.
The other is 'tooth' so the plaster has a micro grip to adhere to. The bonding agents make the surface tackier.
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you could tack up some metal lath where the wall meets the ceiling and do some nice coves
or you could make a sled and do some plaster moldings
I'm not a plaster pro, in fact I've learned it like you. Norfolk veneer works a lot better for skim coat over old than Diamond. I would also learn how to use retardant made by USG. No, you wouldn't need to sand down orange peel.