Hello
We are currently considering how to finish the walls in our new build.
The interior and exterior walls are made of sand-lime bricks, and a few non-load-bearing walls are made of gypsum concrete.
We want to design the walls so that we can avoid settlement cracks for as long as possible. (These are unavoidable in new buildings.)
What options are available?
Applying a plaster finish on the walls
Paintable plaster, roller-applied plaster, or simply smoothing with a drywall finish to Q3/Q4 level and painting
Alternatively, wallpaper and painting
Non-woven wallpaper, non-woven "Raufaser" wallpaper, painter’s fleece
We want the walls to be either smooth or with a light to medium texture (we are still undecided)
It is important to us to avoid settlement cracks for as long as possible. Non-woven wallpapers are the better choice because they cover small cracks and will only tear if large cracks appear.
The application should be relatively easy to carry out by amateurs.
We plan to have the painter do the stairwell and ground floor.
We want to do the upper floor, attic, and basement ourselves because we don’t have enough budget to have the painter do everything.
What would you recommend?
What is the difference between painter’s fleece and non-woven Raufaser wallpaper?
Is the only difference that painter’s fleece is smooth and Raufaser has a texture?
Non-woven wallpapers are definitely preferable to normal paper wallpapers, right?
Thank you for your help
We are currently considering how to finish the walls in our new build.
The interior and exterior walls are made of sand-lime bricks, and a few non-load-bearing walls are made of gypsum concrete.
We want to design the walls so that we can avoid settlement cracks for as long as possible. (These are unavoidable in new buildings.)
What options are available?
Applying a plaster finish on the walls
Paintable plaster, roller-applied plaster, or simply smoothing with a drywall finish to Q3/Q4 level and painting
Alternatively, wallpaper and painting
Non-woven wallpaper, non-woven "Raufaser" wallpaper, painter’s fleece
We want the walls to be either smooth or with a light to medium texture (we are still undecided)
It is important to us to avoid settlement cracks for as long as possible. Non-woven wallpapers are the better choice because they cover small cracks and will only tear if large cracks appear.
The application should be relatively easy to carry out by amateurs.
We plan to have the painter do the stairwell and ground floor.
We want to do the upper floor, attic, and basement ourselves because we don’t have enough budget to have the painter do everything.
What would you recommend?
What is the difference between painter’s fleece and non-woven Raufaser wallpaper?
Is the only difference that painter’s fleece is smooth and Raufaser has a texture?
Non-woven wallpapers are definitely preferable to normal paper wallpapers, right?
Thank you for your help
X
xMisterDx9 Jan 2023 11:44Basically, everything is vapor-permeable as long as you don’t apply silicone paint and liquid waterproofing underneath.
An average emulsion paint has an sd-value of about 0.5m (1.6 ft), while a good dispersion silicate paint reaches <= 0.01m (0.03 ft). Painter’s fleece is around 0.03-0.05m (0.1-0.16 ft), and adhesive paste is about 0.01m (0.03 ft).
The sd-value describes the water vapor permeability equivalent to a stationary layer of air of that thickness.
So, in the end, it’s more a question of whether you’re wearing a T-shirt or a sweater with rain gear on top.
And it’s about money as well. Level 3 plaster finish (Q3) with painter’s fleece costs significantly more than Q3 and painting directly. Just the materials for 500m² (5,382 ft²) of decent quality fleece and adhesive quickly add up to 750-1000 EUR.
But if you have a budget of 5,000 EUR for everything, Q3 with painter’s fleece won’t work. That might only cover the ground floor, and you won’t even afford the stairwells where painters need scaffolding. Not to mention the materials for your own work on the upper and attic floors.
Sand the walls as well as you can and paint directly on them.
PS: Just budget around 2 EUR/m² (0.19 USD/ft²) for good paint alone.
An average emulsion paint has an sd-value of about 0.5m (1.6 ft), while a good dispersion silicate paint reaches <= 0.01m (0.03 ft). Painter’s fleece is around 0.03-0.05m (0.1-0.16 ft), and adhesive paste is about 0.01m (0.03 ft).
The sd-value describes the water vapor permeability equivalent to a stationary layer of air of that thickness.
So, in the end, it’s more a question of whether you’re wearing a T-shirt or a sweater with rain gear on top.
And it’s about money as well. Level 3 plaster finish (Q3) with painter’s fleece costs significantly more than Q3 and painting directly. Just the materials for 500m² (5,382 ft²) of decent quality fleece and adhesive quickly add up to 750-1000 EUR.
But if you have a budget of 5,000 EUR for everything, Q3 with painter’s fleece won’t work. That might only cover the ground floor, and you won’t even afford the stairwells where painters need scaffolding. Not to mention the materials for your own work on the upper and attic floors.
Sand the walls as well as you can and paint directly on them.
PS: Just budget around 2 EUR/m² (0.19 USD/ft²) for good paint alone.
A
Allthewayup9 Jan 2023 12:47xMisterDx schrieb:
Who is speaking there? The installer? Or the civil engineer?Common sense should actually be enough in this case.G
Gooosee1599 Jan 2023 12:49@Tolentino The construction progress is almost complete (the windows have been installed for a long time, and the screed was just laid).
However, I can say that the developer was not cooperative in this regard; a core drill hole for the range hood was strictly prohibited. Everything related to the energy calculation was completely rejected.
Yes, we have the land and house from the same source (we couldn’t find anything else with a basement within our budget).
@xMisterDx Thanks for your reply. We have budgeted a maximum of €5000 (around $5400) just for the painter.
For the rest (DIY work), we have budgeted another €2000 (around $2150).
What would be a simple and effective solution that is also quite cost-efficient, in your opinion? Something that even a beginner could achieve good results with?
Just plastering the walls (yes, we get the joint compound for free and have enough), but as a novice, it’s not easy to get the walls perfectly smooth, is it? Or am I overestimating the difficulty? I often hear that applying joint compound smoothly is quite challenging, especially to get a smooth finish.
However, I can say that the developer was not cooperative in this regard; a core drill hole for the range hood was strictly prohibited. Everything related to the energy calculation was completely rejected.
Yes, we have the land and house from the same source (we couldn’t find anything else with a basement within our budget).
@xMisterDx Thanks for your reply. We have budgeted a maximum of €5000 (around $5400) just for the painter.
For the rest (DIY work), we have budgeted another €2000 (around $2150).
What would be a simple and effective solution that is also quite cost-efficient, in your opinion? Something that even a beginner could achieve good results with?
Just plastering the walls (yes, we get the joint compound for free and have enough), but as a novice, it’s not easy to get the walls perfectly smooth, is it? Or am I overestimating the difficulty? I often hear that applying joint compound smoothly is quite challenging, especially to get a smooth finish.
X
xMisterDx9 Jan 2023 13:01Allthewayup schrieb:
Common sense should be enough here.Thank you, that answers my question 😉
Common sense leads many to assume that it doesn’t make sense to ventilate when the outside temperature is 4°C (39°F) and the relative humidity is 99%, because the air outside is much more humid than inside at 21°C (70°F) and 65% relative humidity.
It’s probably a similar situation here. Feel free to show me a new build without any settlement cracks.
For this reason, it is also questionable to cover a new build immediately with painter’s fleece. Doing so hides the settlement cracks and makes it impossible to assess whether they are normal or structurally concerning.
X
xMisterDx9 Jan 2023 13:05Gooosee159 schrieb:
(...)
For the rest (own labor), we have budgeted another 2,000 EUR
(...)
Just plastering the walls (yes, we get the joint compound for free and have enough), but as an amateur, it’s not that easy to get the walls completely smooth, is it? Or am I overestimating the difficulty? I often hear that applying joint compound is quite challenging, especially to achieve a smooth finish.With painter’s fleece and paint, the 2,000 EUR will be a tight budget. You will also need tools. A drywall sander alone costs around 150 EUR, plus sandpaper… or 40 EUR/day to rent.
I use Q2 level plaster, which I sand with a drywall sander, then paint and fill in any spots that catch my eye afterwards. A painter friend recommended this approach. How well it works, I don’t know. But I will certainly have to accept some compromises in quality because I haven’t been doing this every day for 20 years.
Certainly, you can also do a full skim coat before sanding. But I doubt that as an amateur, I would achieve a smoother Q3 level finish than professional plasterers do with Q2.
It’s best to try it out and also track how much time you spend on a single wall. Because then the next problem arises. If you need a week per room, you can figure out when you’ll be done… and that’s just the beginning; after that, there are floors, furniture, and so on.
G
Gooosee1599 Jan 2023 13:16That would have been another question from me.
Would you recommend using a drywall sander for sanding, or a handheld sander and doing it manually with physical effort?
I have also seen drywall sanders for around €90 (approximately $100), for example Scheppach or Parkside, but I don’t know how good they are.
I have never worked with a drywall sander before.
Should we also buy a work light to create grazing light to see any surface irregularities?
Would you recommend using a drywall sander for sanding, or a handheld sander and doing it manually with physical effort?
I have also seen drywall sanders for around €90 (approximately $100), for example Scheppach or Parkside, but I don’t know how good they are.
I have never worked with a drywall sander before.
Should we also buy a work light to create grazing light to see any surface irregularities?
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