Hi,

Just bought my first house and spent two weeks stripping the FOUR layers of wallpaper off all the walls in four rooms.

The old plaster walls are in fair condition with typical stress cracks around the doors and windows and countless hairline cracks throughout. There are four or five areas where I had to remove the plaster down to the lath, no area bigger than 2 s/f.

I was going to attempt to replaster the walls myself in order to save money as I'm almost out!. I'm a tile setter by trade and good with my hands. However after much though I've decided to seek out a pro .. if I can afford one. That being said does anyone have any idea, a ball park, on what it might cost to get my walls replastered? I live in the Northeast. I'm hjust trying to get a rough idea before I call people in for estimates.

There are three small to average size bedrooms and a hallway/stairway. Onlt the hallway ceilings would be getting replastered as the ceilings in the bedroom are in good original shape.

So, lay it on me. What would be a reasonable price to pay to have this done?

Thanks much
Edward

quote:

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Edward,having lived and worked on eight homes, my first suggestion is to work one room at a time so that you are not overwelmed with everything! I'm a plasterer in MI and to re-skim over walls (veneer plaster-basecoat and finish), i charge about 2.75 sq.ft., labor and material. That should get you a ballpark, but having an older house as yours, most likely with woodlath you probably will have some areas that will be more extensive.

Thanks for your reply, Michael.

However at $2.75 a s/f it would cost well over $4,000. That's not even in the realm of possibility for me. On another board I was told that it should take two days max for one person to do my walls and that I should be able to get it done for $200-$300 plus material a room. Maybe things are cheaper here in PA.

Michael,

Can you please, if you have a few minutes tell me the way to go about attempting it myself and tha products I should use?

Do I need to rough up the plaster walls first? Can I attempt a finish coat right over the old plaster walls (provided I fix the areas down to the lath first) or do I need to coat all the walls with a scratch coat and then a final? Do I tape the bigger cracks and just go right over the many hairline cracks?

Thanks for your time and expertise.

Edward

Edward, you can do this with drywall compound. Best to use bag material, in your case i suggest you use easy sand 90 (90 represents set time in minutes), lay it on as smooth as possible. You will have to apply at least two coats this way. Then its time to sand smooth, ready to accept paint. I'm telling you to do it this way instead of using plaster. Assuming, that you have never used guaging plaster, now is not the time to learn, it will test your patience and create a big mess for you! Before you apply drywall compound you need to open up your cracks and papertape over them. I suggest papertape because in my opinion it holds up better than fiberglass tape, but you can use fiberglass tape should you choose.

Thanks,

But I wouldn't have spent two weeks stripping four layers of wallpaper to end up with joint compound on the walls. If I wanted that finish I would have simply demo'd the walls and put up sheet rock or put it u over the walls to begin with.

This really is the time for me to learn, as I don't have the money to get it done, I'm single and live alone, under no timetable and trade inclined. So I think it's the perfect time. I'm not so proud that I'm going to do it out of spite. I'll try a room, or a wall in one room and see how it goes. If I'm not happy with the results I'll just have to get a pro to come in when I have more money.

Thanks,
Edward

Edward, you will need to purchase a hawk, trowel, wallpaper brush and a blister brush. All these items will be purchaseable where you buy your plaster material. For plastering after you remove all loose material, papertape cracks, plasterweld over entire surface. Fill in large voids with structolite plaster flush to existing wall. Then veneer plaster over entire wall, apply this material tight, trying to not leave trowel marks, while it is still soft run your wallpaper brush over the plaster, this will give you a key for your finish plaster. mix up autoclaved finish lime, being careful NOT to get it in your eyes, hey, if your really going to do this call me at 586-752-9591 and i will be more specific.

In my neighborhood, you can get plastering done for $1.50 sq ft and that INCLUDES the cost and labor to hang blueboard also!

If the walls aren't all that bad, the plasterer can go right over your old walls once he preps them with weldabond or the plsaterweld stuff.

He will do a scratch coat (using a wallpaper brush to leave grip) and then a top coat.