getting paint off plaster

[Ireland House]

Several of our room have paint directly on the plaster, no wallpaper underneath. These are the original kitchen and the main floor water closet. We have tried everything we can think of to remove paint: soaking, heat, scraping......... If we scrape it off, we wind up gouging the plaster. We would like not to have to skim coat the entire wall. We had one plaster guy come look at it and he said he could skim coat over it. Don't know what to believe. Has anyone in central Illinois skim coated and how hard is it to get a smooth finish?

[Mick_VT]

Maybe a silly question but why do you want to remove the paint? Plaster was often painted in the past.

[1918ColonialRevival]

Maybe a silly question but why do you want to remove the paint? Plaster was often painted in the past.

That's what I was wondering. I usually repair damage, prime, then paint. The only exception was in a room that had failing calcimine paint that was cracking and lifting the upper layers with it.

[phil]

skim coat with what? you could just do a good primer and skim coat with drywall taping mud. there is nothing to fear, a little technique, but that will come with a little reading and practice. I definitely wouldn't fear gouging the plaster, if anything it will help it hook in. Personally I'd use a hammer break it open , insulate and sheet over or just sheet over the crappy old plaster if it's an interior wall. I would make exceptions if for some treason the building has a lot of historical importance. If it's a typical 1920's house, just make it look nice, once it's flat and painted no one will care.
using stripper to remove paint from plaster is not something I'd attempt. Too much work and material for the difference in the end result is the same - a flat painted wall. Save those efforts for where they will show.

[Ireland House]

The paint is several layer thick, and only stuck in some places. Even if we sanded the edges, it would still be pretty wavy. We are avoiding drywall if we can. I have never been in a house, new or old, where I could not tell you what was plaster and what was drywall, especially if it is a smooth finish. Would it be safe to skim coat over it if we use a good bonding agent?

[WildGeeseLn]

I had paint on most of my plaster walls...layers and layers, mostly lead. My plaster guy just put a new scratch and finish coat right over it (he put a layer of very thin plastic mesh first). I scraped off what paint I could first---it's a stone house, and I used traditional lime plaster because I wanted the walls to "breath" properly, so I only bothered to remove paint in an effort to try and create a more breathable surface area. If you don't have a stone house, I don't even think you need to do that. Whatever I couldn't get off easily, including a very thick, textured grout that was behind a shower tiles I had removed, he just went right over with the new plaster. It looks great, and somewhere under the new layers, the old plaster and paint layers are preserved for some unlucky person who might attempt to remove it in the future

[phil]

I don't think I'd worry about the number of layers. Just dont' add paint if you feel what's behind doesn't have a good bond. Maybe a power sander would help knock any bumps off and provide a hook for your primer?

once you have it primered, any materials like plaster or drywall mud won't know what's behind the primer , they are just stuck to primer. . If you want it flat just practice skimcoating. You can make anything flat , it's just the bumps that will bother you , blobs of paint are like drywall screws that aren't deep enough. I'd knock any high spots off but don't worry about hollows, they will fill easily.

I guess some plaster jobs had a lot of curves and waviness, and drywall looks too flat. In my situation the plaster walls are flat and the only way I can tell is to knock on the walls. I don't notice many visitors who care and I'm fine with flat walls but I can see that in some houses the wavy uneven plaster is part of the character. I saved one room from plaster demo and I find it cold and noisy. It's more original but I don't like sleeping in that room and if I did it again I'd insulate I have a lot of traffic noise. For sure your mileage may vary.

Phil

[BungalowMo]

That's what I was wondering. I usually repair damage, prime, then paint. The only exception was in a room that had failing calcimine paint that was cracking and lifting the upper layers with it.

That sounds like my living room!! Only some areas tho. I might have to take some pics & start a post about that issue & how to prep it to (re)paint. I have no idea what calcimine paint is....might have to google it.

[CycloneOfRed]

The very few times I've stripped paint from plaster I've used Peel Away. The stuff isn't particularly cheap, but I would imagine it would be a heck of a lot cheaper than skim coating. They also have several different 'lines', so you can peruse options and choose what works best for you, although I've had good luck with their Smart Strip.

A tip if you do decide to go this route: they never give you as much of their paper as you'll actually need. Don't buy more, just use Saran wrap.

Good luck!

[kelt65]

Several of our room have paint directly on the plaster, no wallpaper underneath. These are the original kitchen and the main floor water closet. We have tried everything we can think of to remove paint: soaking, heat, scraping......... If we scrape it off, we wind up gouging the plaster. We would like not to have to skim coat the entire wall. We had one plaster guy come look at it and he said he could skim coat over it. Don't know what to believe. Has anyone in central Illinois skim coated and how hard is it to get a smooth finish?

Any plasterer would do the same. Why do you want to remove the paint? If you want new plaster, just have someone skim right over it. Don't put taping mud over it, better to leave it painted if you're going to do that. How hard is it? Depends on how high the wall is and how dedicated you are. If you like doing things like that, you can learn, it isn't THAT hard. If you do go that route, use a nice finish plaster that has the color you already want, then no painting. Vasari makes a pretty good product which is easy for begginers. Just don't listen to anyone telling you to use joint compound, unless you want a plain and substandard result. Joint compound looks like crap and is meant to be painted over. Can I ask why it is you want to remove the paint?