Decorating advice please

[Guest CFrost]

Hello

I am in the throws of removing old damp wallpaper from one of the rooms in my house.  Have found underneath the paper a thin polystyrene layer, think it may be for insulation??

I really don't want to repaper the walls as I detest wallpaper and the hanging of it.  Can anyone tell me if one can paint/plaster over this stuff.  Ideally I would like to have a painted finish with out having to spend a small fortune.

Many thanks

 

[Poppy]

Quickest solution would be to put up a lining paper and paint. Problem is why was the original wallpaper damp?

Jan

[Graham & Brenda]

It depends what the polystyrene was put there for. Sometimes it can be used make an uneven surface smooth enough for papering over. In your case perhaps to try to cover the damp before papering. 

I agree with Jan, sort the damp first. If the poly is sound you can leave it but personally I would scrape it off rather than plaster over it - a bit more work and mess but probably worth it in the long run. You will also find out more about the condition of the wall underneath.

Graham

[Georgina]

[quote]It depends what the polystyrene was put there for. Sometimes it can be used make an uneven surface smooth enough for papering over. In your case perhaps to try to cover the damp before papering. I a...[/quote]

I agree, the paper was falling off in our house and we scraped it off.  Hard work though. The humidity is a problem if you are not there to open your windows regularly I think rather than damp.

Georgina

[Guest CFrost]

Thank you for your advice.  My house has been empty for about 5 years.  It is approx 250 years old.  One half of the house has been 'modernised'.  Plaster boarded and papered.  The floors have been concreted.  All apart from this one room which has had concrete beams put in then wooden joists (think that is the correct term) and floor boards.  Consequently, the floor was rotten as all was on top of an earth floor.  We appear to have damp marks on the 'un-modernised' part of the house, ie the barns and I'm guessing we have the same in here.  We will be needing to do alot work.  We are in the throws of preparing the rotten floor (removing) and then concreting.  Think this is the correct way to go.  I'm not sure if because the house has been empty for so long and not heated there is a lot of moisture in the walls and over time it will dry out.

Am I just living in hope?

Dotty in 79

[zeb]

Hi Dotty - we had the same sort of problem when we moved here with our back room which is adjoining the barn which had earth floor and was damp. The back room had a concrete floor which was OK and when we took the lino up, there was a pond underneath - ugh! Anyway, we bought a dehumidifier as a temporary measure to help get rid of the damp, scraped the polystyrene off the walls and replastered. We also had central heating installed at the smae time as the bathrooms were plumbed in (the house had no mod cons) and once the house was aired (before we moved in we locked the shutters shut and left the windows open a bit and the dehumidifier draining away)and heated everything dried out OK. The back wall of the room (which was separated from the barn by a thick stone wall) was plasterboarded with a sheet of polythene behind (allowing plenty of ventilation I hasten to add) until we could sort out the earth floor in the barn. We have since knocked down the partition walls between the rooms to create a huge kitchen/living room and the kitchen units are along the back wall.

Anyway, we've been living here four years now and there are no condensation or damp problems. Good luck.

[Guest CFrost]

Thank you for that Zeb.  Can you tell me how long it took the room to dry out before you plastered it?  Also, it has been mentioned to me that there should be a certain amount of damp/moisture in the walls to stop them from drying out too  much and the mortar going crumbly.  What did you do with the earth floor in the barn if anything?

Thanks

Dotty