What to do Before Painting Bare Plasterboard General decorating topics, questions and answers. find help, tips and advice on completing your decorating projects

[tattywelshie]

Hi folks, I’ve got a bare plasterboard wall which I’ve taken wallpaper off and want to paint. What I wondered was, what do I need to paint onto the plasterboard before painting it? Also, when taking the wallpaper off, I took some of the surface off the plasterboard, what’s the best thing to do with these patches? Will a thick undercoat sort it? Image below so you can see what I’m talking about!

[thedoctor]

Hi

Can you confirm if the wall is plastered or plasterboarded?

If it's bare plaster then we have a project covering everything you need to do to prepare bare plaster for painting: https://www.diydoctor.org.uk/projects/p ... laster.htm

If it is indeed actual plasterboard this is a little trickier but again we have a project on https://www.diydoctor.org.uk/projects/d ... rboard.htm

When painting plasterboard, essentially you have to seal it first due to the fact that it's so porous. This is best done by giving it a few coats of SBR (construction grade PVA). Once dried it can then be painted over.

Unfortunately any damage will be a bit tricky to repair. Normal practice would be to fill the damaged areas and then sand them back flush with any surrounding areas, but unfortunately if you catch any of the surrounding plasterboard surface, the sandpaper will damage this also leading to an endless amount filling.

Ultimately the best course of action is to have the whole surface plastered but this can be expensive, so the next solution would probably be to cover the surface with a lining paper and then paint over that

Kind Regards

[tattywelshie]

Hi, cheers for that, it’s bare plasterboard

[George441]

I guess you already got the solution.
Anyway, At first, you need to use sandpaper to rub the wall properly. It will give you a smooth surface. Then use a paint primer on it. Now leave it for few hours to dry. After that, you may paint it on.

[thedoctor]

Hi

Cool ok, in that case I would consider getting it plastered, it will give you the best finish, but if that is not an option you could try filling and sanding, jusy careful when sanding or go with eth lining paper option

Kind Regards