ᐅ Painter’s fleece / renovation fleece vs. textured wallpaper in new construction

Hello dear forum,

We are building a new house using solid construction methods, with drywall partitions on the top floor. About a year ago, when signing the contract with our house builder, we were convinced that "walls and floors" would be very simple and something we could do ourselves.

However, it seems it is not as easy as we were told. Our budget does not allow us to suddenly hire a professional company to do all this work. So now we have to manage it ourselves. Currently, we are stuck with the following basic questions:

According to the building contract, our walls will be handed over at Q2 finish quality. I've heard different opinions: Our site manager thought that we should cover the walls with painting fleece or renovation fleece before painting, to prevent cracks and possibly mold. However, my online research shows that such fleece is only used with a Q3 finish, while Q2 surfaces usually get a medium to coarse textured woodchip wallpaper (or similar textured wallcovering). So, which is correct? Also, assuming no extremely high demands on the walls, would it be sufficient to apply woodchip wallpaper on the Q2 surface and then paint, or do you think more preparation is needed? What about the risk of mold? Thank you very much.

Best regards
Marcus

Taping and then painting nearly 400-500m² (4300-5400 sq ft) is a considerable effort.

For a good result with smooth fleece wallpaper, you actually need to sand at least a Q2 finish and fill any significant unevenness and marks. However, that is only a minimal solution. Ideally, smooth fleece should be applied on a Q3 surface, which results in a Q4 finish.

A colleague paid nearly 17,000 EUR for that about two years ago.

Why not paint the walls directly after sanding? This can easily save you 2 to 3 weeks of wallpapering. Sure, it won’t be perfect—you’ll still see marks and imperfections under raking light. But the advantage is that you can gradually fill and repaint the spots over time.

Once you have applied smooth fleece or textured wallpaper, you can’t fill any more imperfections. That’s how we did it, although we did have professional guidance during sanding, I admit.

Now, during the darker season, when there’s little to do outside, I plan to carry a bucket of finishing filler and gradually fill the spots that bother me, then paint over them again.

Textured wallpaper should really be a last resort. It’s no longer state of the art, and you’ll regret it. Even a Q2 wall still looks better painted than textured wallpaper.

As a door supplier once said, "You’re not going to lie against the wall all day with your ear."

And a colleague always says, "Don’t make a Mona Lisa out of it."

In everyday life, it probably won’t bother you much.

In principle, I am open to any suggestions that lead to a reasonably good result. However, I have never sanded a wall before and do not have a suitable sanding machine. Suppose I were to do it anyway, but then I have no protection against possible cracks (and mold?), correct?

Why exactly is woodchip wallpaper no longer considered "state of the art"? We have it in the living room of our current apartment. My parents have it throughout their entire house. What would be the specific disadvantages?

For what reason do you think a smooth fleece wallpaper or a textured wallpaper prevents mold formation?
And what exactly is supposed to mold on a purely mineral-based plaster, like gypsum or lime?

To prevent mold, you need to ventilate. Even a completely inorganic wall construction does not exempt you from keeping the indoor humidity at a maximum of 60% relative humidity. The back panels of furniture or upholstered furniture can always develop mold, and they do, regardless of the wall surface.

I had read that a renovation fleece, due to its breathable properties, is supposed to help prevent mold growth. However, I am not able to assess to what extent this applies or is relevant to our specific case. That’s exactly why I’m here.
If you say that it practically has no effect on mold formation, that suits me very well, because then I don’t have to worry about it when making the final choice of my method.

So, to summarize: your advice would be to sand the walls, paint them, and gradually fix any imperfections. No fleece, because that would require a Q3 finish, and no textured wallpaper because it is no longer considered “state of the art” and is also difficult to remove, if not impossible, due to the adhesive.

What confused me the most is that my site manager, with over 30 years of construction experience, recommends using fleece, even though the wall, delivered to us at a Q2 finish, is not suitable for it.

Would a textured plaster finish also be an option?