ᐅ Wall at Q2 level: wallpapering or painting

Hello dear community,

We will receive our turnkey house in January. However, some tasks still need to be completed by ourselves. Our goal is to move in as quickly as possible. Among other things, the walls still need to be finished.
The walls will be delivered in Q2 quality by a reputable builder in our region. That means we hope it will actually be true Q2 quality in the end.
Now to my question: What are the options for painting the walls? I have often read that they need to be sanded first and then primed before painting. Has anyone had experience with this and can share how the results turned out? Or should we wallpaper directly? I assume that wallpapering by ourselves would involve significantly more work.

Thanks in advance

Painting over Q2: you don’t always have to sand the entire surface, but at least apply a skim coat. Whether you need to prime depends on how the wall absorbs moisture. In principle, applying several layers is beneficial. For mineral-based coatings, you can also use diluted wall paint for this purpose—old painters used to call this “tempting the wall.” It works well.

If the wall isn’t too damaged and the wallpaper has a textured foam profile, direct wallpapering might also be possible. However, I would definitely remove any excess material at least with a trowel held at an angle. Good luck!

Best regards
Gabriele

Thank you for your response.
Purely in terms of time investment, I assume wallpapering in any color would be cheaper and faster?

You need to examine the Q2 surface first before making any conclusions. Q2 defines the preparation steps, not the skill level of the craftsman. I would recommend looking at it under different lighting conditions, especially raking light. If there isn’t much experience yet, it’s better to choose a wallpaper without a pattern repeat or at least one with a clearly visible and short pattern repeat, where you paste the wall and then apply the dry strip into the adhesive bed. These wallpapers do not stretch anymore, and pasting the entire wall is faster than applying individual strips.

Best regards
Gabriele

Fully agree. We only applied Level 2 finish, resulting in smooth walls. Level 3 would have been unnecessary in this case, but this varies from plasterer to plasterer.

K1300S schrieb:

Fully agree. We only applied the Q2 level, and the walls are smooth. Q3 would have been unnecessary, but this varies from plasterer to plasterer.

OK. May I ask what your procedure was before painting?

Best regards