Hi,
First time getting walls sorted in our old 1930s flat so quite nervous and paranoid about the first set of tradesmen we have in. Long post, sorry!
We've only started with one room and began to strip back the layers of painted-over wallpaper and lining paper ourselves (3-4 glued on layers!) before we gave up and got in a quote from a professional. He came over, I showed him how difficult the walls were and how adamant I was to have it fully stripped back before being replastered, and we agreed a quote.
Day 1, and within an hour of realising just how tricky the walls are, the plasterer started pressuring me just to PVA over the paper and skim over it, saying it would be fine. I held my ground and said no, I don't care about the time. I just wanted it fully stripped first. He agreed.
Day 2, and without being able to watch him like a hawk, I'm worried he's just partially stripping walls and just skimming over the paper anyway hoping I won't notice. I went in to look at the progress, and saw some of the paper peeking through the skim coat. When I challenged him on this, he said he'd done a thin layer just to see where the old paper was bubbling (it is admittedly hard to tell what's paper and what's plaster), and that he'd strip it back off later. Is this utter BS?!
Second issue is that he's just plastering around the light fixtures which looks sloppy as hell. Maybe this was my fault for not knowing you'd need an electrician to remove the plate for a smooth finish. But I wish he'd just said something before going ahead?!
Getting a bit miserable and wanting to tell them to stop mid job so I can get a second opinion. I don't want to end up £700 quid down and hating it.
Any advice appreciated!
First time getting walls sorted in our old 1930s flat so quite nervous and paranoid about the first set of tradesmen we have in. Long post, sorry!
We've only started with one room and began to strip back the layers of painted-over wallpaper and lining paper ourselves (3-4 glued on layers!) before we gave up and got in a quote from a professional. He came over, I showed him how difficult the walls were and how adamant I was to have it fully stripped back before being replastered, and we agreed a quote.
Day 1, and within an hour of realising just how tricky the walls are, the plasterer started pressuring me just to PVA over the paper and skim over it, saying it would be fine. I held my ground and said no, I don't care about the time. I just wanted it fully stripped first. He agreed.
Day 2, and without being able to watch him like a hawk, I'm worried he's just partially stripping walls and just skimming over the paper anyway hoping I won't notice. I went in to look at the progress, and saw some of the paper peeking through the skim coat. When I challenged him on this, he said he'd done a thin layer just to see where the old paper was bubbling (it is admittedly hard to tell what's paper and what's plaster), and that he'd strip it back off later. Is this utter BS?!
Second issue is that he's just plastering around the light fixtures which looks sloppy as hell. Maybe this was my fault for not knowing you'd need an electrician to remove the plate for a smooth finish. But I wish he'd just said something before going ahead?!
Getting a bit miserable and wanting to tell them to stop mid job so I can get a second opinion. I don't want to end up £700 quid down and hating it.
Any advice appreciated!
