ᐅ Wall and Ceiling Work – A Guide to Decision-Making

Hello everyone,
my fiancée and I have signed a contract with a developer for a new semi-detached house in Obertshausen, Hesse. We plan to move in during autumn 2020. We are currently in the middle of the selections process, which should be completed next week.

At the moment, we are quite uncertain about how to finish the walls and ceilings. Basically, we don’t like textured wallpaper, but it doesn’t have to be completely smooth either – in our current rental apartment, the landlord applied a lightly textured skim coat and simply painted over it.

According to the building specification, the standard finishes include:

• Exterior walls made of sand-lime brick masonry
• Solid concrete ceilings
• Interior walls constructed with double-layer drywall stud partitions
• All interior walls and ceilings with “joint filling” (tape and joint compound), medium-grain textured wallpaper, painted white

The developer is currently offering the following options:

• Keep the standard = textured wallpaper
• Special request for “painter’s fleece” wallpaper for an additional €9,000 (ground floor, first floor, attic totaling 124sqm (1,335 sq ft) living space)
• Painter and drywall finishing work done by ourselves for a discount of €3,175 (in this case, nothing is done by the developer – installation grooves must be closed, reveals on the stairwell openings made, taping and finishing, etc.)

We are finding it difficult to decide. I have read a lot that the quality of drywall finishing varies greatly – some people paint over a Level 2 finish with satisfactory results, while others still have problems at Level 3.

Based on the specification, it sounds like our finish is at Level 1, right? Unfortunately, the details aren’t clearly stated… Is it possible to apply textured wallpaper on a Level 1 finish?
Right now, I am leaning toward trying to negotiate with the general contractor to skip the textured wallpaper and instead get a better drywall finish. I am comfortable doing the painting myself, but less so with taping/skimming and plastering.

Sorry for the long post, but I really hope you can give me some advice.

Thanks and best regards,
Tim

If I missed any important information, please excuse me – this is my first post here (but probably not the last).

What now, developer or general contractor? It really depends on how and what you want to do.
You can usually only negotiate later if you happen to deal with a 22-year-old and threaten to tell his wife.

Apart from that: it’s a matter of personal taste—textured wallpaper is, in my opinion, not acceptable at all. Without a fleece backing, you’ll get cracks everywhere if the design is pushed to the load-bearing limit. I would strongly advise against doing the plastering yourself if you’ve never done it before. You’ll probably have to budget around 9,000 (currency), as is always the case with construction. Here another 2,000 to 3,000, there another 4,000—expenses add up quickly.

ti-mar90 schrieb:

According to the building description, the standard includes the following:

• Exterior walls made of sand-lime brick masonry
• Solid concrete ceilings
• Interior walls constructed as double-layer drywall stud partitions
• All interior walls and ceilings with joint compound finishing, medium-grain textured wallpaper, painted white

One response per point – to me, it sounds like:

- see point 4. I don’t see any mention of plaster here?
- joints not fully filled?
- drywall not fully finished?
- what quality level?

Thanks for your prompt replies. I feared the building specifications wouldn’t provide much information. Indeed, there isn’t much more included. But isn’t Q2 the standard finish for textured wallpaper? According to the specifications, is it even allowed to apply textured wallpaper on walls and ceilings?

Actually, this is a house from the developer, but there seems to be a possibility to arrange custom requests separately with the contractors.

That’s why I was hoping we would get Q2 finish, omit the textured wallpaper, and have Q3 finish instead, then paint it ourselves. However, based on your feedback, it seems that we might not even get Q2...

ti-mar90 schrieb:

Thanks for your quick responses. I suspected that the building specifications wouldn't reveal much. There's really nothing more detailed in there. But isn’t Q2 the standard for textured wallpaper? According to the specifications, can textured wallpaper even be applied to walls and ceilings?

Actually, it’s a house from a developer, but apparently there’s still a possibility to arrange special requests separately with the contractors.

That’s why I was hoping we’d get Q2 finish, skip the textured wallpaper, and have Q3 done instead so we could paint it ourselves. But from your reactions, it seems we might not even get Q2...

Uh… Interior plastering is not a special request! You’re not telling me that a 10,000€ upward cost item is simply excluded? Or are the interior sides of the exterior walls covered with gypsum boards?

For woodchip wallpaper, the finish should at least be Q2, but maybe this preparation is included in the "woodchip package," and if you say "skip the woodchip wallpaper," you might really only get Q1... that’s uncertain.
The bigger issue is that if you say skip it and plan to do it yourself later, the developer will probably only allow you to do that after handover—meaning once the floors are installed, tiles are on the walls, outlets and switches are fitted, doors are in place, and so on. By then, it no longer makes sense.