ᐅ Experience-Based Recommendations for Possible Materials Used in Interior Walls

Hello dear forum members,

We soon need to decide what to do with our interior walls and are still looking for practical experiences. On the ground floor, we have Poroton bricks with a Q2 plaster finish, and on the upper floor, drywall construction. After our first meeting with a painter, we were a bit overwhelmed by the options—paintable fleece, patterned fleece, patterned wallpaper, woodchip wallpaper, various plaster techniques. Are there any experiences here regarding how durable these are? We have two preschool-aged children, and the walls often get scratched by toys or marked with pens, sauce, and so on. Ideally, our walls should be able to tolerate such wear. What experiences have you had? What do you like or dislike about your choice for interior walls?

Thanks in advance for your input.

Best regards
Herr Stein

Herr Stein schrieb:

Ideally, our wall should be able to forgive something like that.

It’s really a matter of personal preference. Only a concrete wall will truly “forgive” that kind of thing. All other materials will more or less “suffer” the same way.

I have three kids myself and experience with textured plaster, painter’s fleece, and just plastered and painted walls. Sooner or later, you just repaint and that’s it.

If you want to always have perfect walls, you’ll need to send your kids to a year-round boarding school now.

I would like to join the discussion.

I am also completely overwhelmed with a decision right now. However, I am quite sure that I do not want to spend money on a professional painter. We are not very particular about the walls. I believe we can manage wallpapering ourselves if the cost for a professional is too high. We also have a child who will be about 1 year old when we move in, so I don’t want to spend too much money on walls that might be at risk from a toddler.

The general contractor will hand over the interior of the house with plaster finished to a Q2 level. From what we have seen so far (at friends’ houses), it’s not bad at all for Q2.

Can I simply apply non-woven wallpaper over that? Or won’t it stick properly? Or do I need a primer first?

I have now ordered a basic DIY guidebook (haha). However, I would prefer something more specific about interior finishing, but unfortunately, I couldn’t find anything suitable. Are there any good book recommendations?

kati1337 schrieb:

The general contractor will hand over the interior walls with a Q2 plaster finish. From what we’ve seen so far (at friends’ homes), it’s not actually bad for Q2.
Can I just apply non-woven wallpaper directly on top? Or will it not stick? Or do I need a primer first?

From what we have found out on this topic, that doesn’t sound like a good idea. According to a painter, the wall needs to be "smooth" for non-woven wallpaper—in other words, a Q3 finish instead of Q2. Otherwise, even tiny unevenness can cause large bumps to show through. Also, managing the seams between the wallpaper strips so they are invisible can be tricky. I wouldn’t trust myself to do that. Traditional woodchip wallpaper is less demanding regarding the wall surface. For the interior, we have decided against plaster. It always feels rough and can sometimes cause scratches, especially with small children...