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
That doesn’t have to be so expensive. You can get painter’s fleece with 150g/m² (4.4 oz/sq yd) for about 1 €/m² (1 USD/sq yd) at the big store named after the river. You can often skip ceilings as well and just paint directly.
Buy painting tools at Action. That way, you don’t have to wash out rollers—you just use a new one each time.
But yes, sanding and painting directly is probably cheaper. However, it might not look as good when done by a non-professional.
Simple painter’s fleece won’t cover cracks that are structurally concerning.
For beginners, it’s better to use an orbital sander. It takes longer, but the result is better. You’ll need it for the corners anyway.
Drywall sanders are too cumbersome, and as an inexperienced user, you’re more likely to create gouges.
Buy painting tools at Action. That way, you don’t have to wash out rollers—you just use a new one each time.
But yes, sanding and painting directly is probably cheaper. However, it might not look as good when done by a non-professional.
Simple painter’s fleece won’t cover cracks that are structurally concerning.
For beginners, it’s better to use an orbital sander. It takes longer, but the result is better. You’ll need it for the corners anyway.
Drywall sanders are too cumbersome, and as an inexperienced user, you’re more likely to create gouges.
X
xMisterDx9 Jan 2023 13:45Tolentino schrieb:
This doesn’t have to be that expensive. At the big hardware store, you can get painter’s fleece with 150g/m² (4.4 oz/sq yd) for 1 €/m² (0.09 USD/sq ft). You can usually skip the primer coat and just paint directly.
Buy painting tools at discount stores. That way, you don’t have to clean rollers—you just use a new one each time.
But yes, sanding and painting directly is definitely cheaper. However, it probably won’t look as good when done by a beginner.
Structural cracks can’t be covered by simple painter’s fleece either.
For beginners, it’s better to use an orbital sander. It takes longer, but the result is better. You’ll need it anyway for corners.
Drywall sanders are too bulky and, if you’re inexperienced, you’ll likely damage the surface even more. Well, of course the painter shows me how to do it. I used a hand sander on a wall in the utility room... I don’t want to do that over 500m² (5,382 sq ft).
I’d actually say that I’d cause more damage with an orbital sander because I have to keep getting on and off the ladder and only sand small areas at a time.
This quickly leads to “Oh, I sanded too much here, need to fix that. Oh no, too much there as well, more sanding…” and before you know it, you sand right down to the bare wall.
It’s like in the kitchen. An amateur thinks they’re more likely to cut their fingers with a big knife, but actually, it’s the opposite. The smaller the knife, the greater the risk.
At 1 €/m² (0.09 USD/sq ft) for 500m² (5,382 sq ft), that’s already 500 € (about 540 USD), plus glue. As someone who has applied a lot of woodchip wallpaper and some fleece before, I also don’t believe it’s significantly easier... at least not if you want the fleece to look really good. It’s time-consuming. You have to apply paste to the wall, hang the wallpaper, align it precisely, cut it to size, press the seams well, and handle corners, reveals, etc.
My opinion:
If you can’t get the wall well sanded, you definitely won’t get a “perfect” result with painter’s fleece either.
X
xMisterDx9 Jan 2023 13:54Tolentino schrieb:
It doesn’t have to be that expensive. At the big chain store, you can get painting fleece with 150g/m² (4.9 oz/sq yd) for 1 €/m² (0.09 USD/sq ft). You can often skip ceilings and just paint them directly. Oh, so... Walls finished to level 3 (Q3), where cabinets and such will be placed anyway, but the ceiling, ideally a lightweight ceiling, only painted, no filling and sanding? 😀
I’ve seen that with acquaintances; even textured roller plaster doesn’t hide the joints between the concrete slabs…
Then you might as well paint directly on level 2 (Q2) if you don’t care much about the ceilings 😉
That about the knives is true. But just imagine having to fillet a fish with a machete. Someone skilled at it might even do that better than with a fillet knife. Someone unpracticed will just shred the fish, and after filleting 100 fish, they’ll develop tendon sheath inflammation.
Yes, I’ve done all that myself and can compare. Using a drywall sander gave much worse results. That’s because the tool is simply too heavy and bulky. The larger surface area, which you’d expect to be an advantage, turns out to be a disadvantage since it creates much more friction and the sanding pad slips away. Then you end up scratching the wall. It works better on the ceiling since you can apply pressure exactly vertically. But after 100 m² (1,076 ft²) you’re exhausted. After the first round upstairs, I switched to a random orbital sander. That was better, but if you’re not careful you can quickly make dents. The detail sander is just the easiest to control.
Sorry for the confusion. No, I meant leaving out the fleece. You still need to sand once and fill the joints. Some general contractors/builders already fill the joints beforehand.
Yes, I’ve done all that myself and can compare. Using a drywall sander gave much worse results. That’s because the tool is simply too heavy and bulky. The larger surface area, which you’d expect to be an advantage, turns out to be a disadvantage since it creates much more friction and the sanding pad slips away. Then you end up scratching the wall. It works better on the ceiling since you can apply pressure exactly vertically. But after 100 m² (1,076 ft²) you’re exhausted. After the first round upstairs, I switched to a random orbital sander. That was better, but if you’re not careful you can quickly make dents. The detail sander is just the easiest to control.
xMisterDx schrieb:
Ceiling, ideally a latticed ceiling, just paint it, no filling or sanding? 😀
I saw that with some friends; even roller-applied textured plaster doesn’t hide the joints between the concrete slabs...
Sorry for the confusion. No, I meant leaving out the fleece. You still need to sand once and fill the joints. Some general contractors/builders already fill the joints beforehand.
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