Hello everyone,
We are currently deciding on wall finishes. Basically, we have chosen walls with Q3 plaster and a paint finish. Now, my father-in-law, who is not a layperson but an engineer specialized in technical building services, insists that Q3 plaster is too delicate, especially with a dog and a child in the house. He says it will get dents very quickly, which cannot be easily repaired. Instead, a large section of the wall, or even the entire wall, would have to be redone. If repairs are made, for example because dirt needs to be painted over, the touch-ups would be visible as stains. He believes wallpaper is much more durable.
I personally have no expertise in this matter, and the work will be carried out by a professional company. When researching online, there is hardly any information on this topic. Plaster is even promoted as durable, with numerous videos on how to repair plaster, and so on.
My questions, regardless of costs, effects on indoor climate, or general appearance, are:
1. Is painted Q3 plaster really that delicate? If a crayon mark or a dent occurs, is it really that difficult to repair?
2. If it is repaired, is the repair process visibly noticeable?
3. Is wallpaper actually more durable?
4. If we consider wallpaper as a more robust alternative, which type should we choose? Non-woven wallpaper? Woodchip wallpaper?
Thank you very much for your effort and help.
We are currently deciding on wall finishes. Basically, we have chosen walls with Q3 plaster and a paint finish. Now, my father-in-law, who is not a layperson but an engineer specialized in technical building services, insists that Q3 plaster is too delicate, especially with a dog and a child in the house. He says it will get dents very quickly, which cannot be easily repaired. Instead, a large section of the wall, or even the entire wall, would have to be redone. If repairs are made, for example because dirt needs to be painted over, the touch-ups would be visible as stains. He believes wallpaper is much more durable.
I personally have no expertise in this matter, and the work will be carried out by a professional company. When researching online, there is hardly any information on this topic. Plaster is even promoted as durable, with numerous videos on how to repair plaster, and so on.
My questions, regardless of costs, effects on indoor climate, or general appearance, are:
1. Is painted Q3 plaster really that delicate? If a crayon mark or a dent occurs, is it really that difficult to repair?
2. If it is repaired, is the repair process visibly noticeable?
3. Is wallpaper actually more durable?
4. If we consider wallpaper as a more robust alternative, which type should we choose? Non-woven wallpaper? Woodchip wallpaper?
Thank you very much for your effort and help.
N
nordanney30 Oct 2024 20:09andyhaax schrieb:
Basically, we decided to go with walls finished with Q3 plaster What kind of plaster? Gypsum? Cement? Lime? …
andyhaax schrieb:
1. Is painted Q3 plaster really that sensitive, and if you accidentally mark it with a wax crayon or get a dent, is it really that difficult to repair? Gypsum plaster is indeed very soft, and any impact easily causes dents. Lime-cement plaster is much harder and usually doesn’t cause problems.
A wax crayon will leave color on any wall but doesn’t create dents. A simple plaster finish is the easiest way to repair small dents: fill, sand, sand, sand, and repaint.
andyhaax schrieb:
2. When you repair it, is the damage really that noticeable? No, at most you will see a slight difference in color.
andyhaax schrieb:
3. Are wallpapers really less sensitive? Which type of wallpaper? Paintable fleece wallpaper = no. Thick non-woven wallpaper = yes.
There are many types of wallpaper in between.
andyhaax schrieb:
4. If we are talking about wallpaper as a more durable alternative, which wallpaper should we choose? Fleece? Woodchip? It’s better to focus on treating the house carefully. Even with three kids and a dog, we haven’t damaged our gypsum walls. Currently, I have a mix of gypsum and lime-cement plaster, and still no serious dents.
A house is a functional object. There will always be some marks over time. Choose whatever you find visually appealing (I find wallpaper awful and haven’t had any on my walls for over 30 years). Paintable fleece wallpaper is always a good choice. It creates a nicely smooth surface similar to plaster, offers light protection, and can be removed easily later.
Alternatively, you can apply a textured plaster finish, like a roller-applied plaster. It looks nice and small dents are easy to repair.
nordanney schrieb:
What type of plaster? Gypsum? Cement? Lime? ...
Gypsum plaster is actually very soft, and any bump leaves marks. Lime-cement plaster is really hard and generally doesn’t cause problems.
A wax crayon leaves color on any wall but doesn’t cause dents. Simply plastering over is the easiest way to fix small dents. Fill, sand, sand, sand, and repaint.
No, you’ll only notice it by a slightly different shade.
Which wallpapers? Painter’s fleece = no. Thick non-woven wallpaper = yes.
There are various other wallpaper types in between.
Better to talk about treating the house with care. Even with three kids and a dog, our gypsum walls were not damaged. Currently, I have some gypsum and some lime-cement plaster, and still no serious dents.
A house is a utility object. It will always get some marks. Do whatever looks good to you (I find wallpaper awful and last had it on my walls over 30 years ago). Painter’s fleece is always a good choice. It gives a smooth wall like plaster, offers slight protection, and can be easily removed later.
Alternatively, you can apply something like textured paint. It looks nice, and small dents are easy to repair. It’s not decided yet, but if so, it will probably be lime-cement plaster.
I have had wallpaper my whole life and would like a smooth wall without any wallpaper, preferably without non-woven wallpaper either. It doesn’t need to be 100% perfect on the wall; I can tolerate normal wear and tear.
A statement like: “Yes, it’s sensitive, but I would still choose it again” already helps me a lot.
N
nordanney30 Oct 2024 21:50andyhaax schrieb:
It’s not decided yet, but if so, it will probably be a lime-cement plaster. If it’s going to be a hard plaster like that, I would actually avoid considering wallpaper or similar finishes.
But please keep in mind: achieving Q3 level with lime-cement plaster is not as simple as with gypsum plaster. There is no “smoothed” finish with lime-cement plaster. To reach Q3, you need a second step, such as skimming with lime finish coat. When contracting, make sure everything is clearly specified.
Gypsum plaster is much finer than the coarse lime-cement plaster.
J
Josefstraße30 Oct 2024 22:18andyhaax schrieb:
Have you ever repaired imperfections? Can you see the edges, and is it possible to match the color reasonably well when repainting, or does the spot end up looking blotchy?You can't see anything at all if you scrape it off sharply. Just go over it once with the original paint. It only looks blotchy if you use a different color.
And now I’m here to confuse you once more. I recommend using heavy-duty painter’s fleece (minimum 130g/m²) as a base and painting over it. It is more durable than gypsum plaster on one hand, and on the other hand, much smoother than cement-lime plaster.
It’s also very easy to paint yourself.
With cement-lime plaster, you end up bruising your elbows—I wouldn’t want to deal with that.
It’s also very easy to paint yourself.
With cement-lime plaster, you end up bruising your elbows—I wouldn’t want to deal with that.
C
chand198631 Oct 2024 05:33Tolentino schrieb:
And now I'll add some confusion. I recommend heavy-duty painting fleece (minimum 130g/m²) and painting over that. On one hand, it’s more durable than gypsum plaster, and on the other, much smoother than cement-lime plaster.
It’s also very easy to paint yourself.
With cement-lime plaster, you end up scraping your elbows—I wouldn’t want to deal with that. I agree with that. That’s what we have now in our house. In our previous apartment, we had smooth gypsum plaster.
We even installed the fleece ourselves at the time. However, the walls still need to be plastered fairly smooth beforehand—that way you get a great finish that is definitely more resistant than gypsum plaster alone.
Stains from dogs: It will show with us in about 18 months whether this will be an issue.
Stains from children can be cleaned off and shouldn’t require frequent touch-ups.
In our unfortunately quite narrow stairwells, stains mostly happen when carrying boxes ourselves.
Instead of dabbing, I use a brush with a little(!) paint to irregularly stroke away from the stain, kind of like spreading an insufficient amount of butter on bread.
This was a tip from the painter, very effective, no obvious patches, looks like new.
There are paints that offer long-term renewability because they change very slowly and are protected from graying.
After years, the same paint will still have a slightly different shade.
In my opinion, repainting should be done once every 15-20 years during renovation.
Inevitable minor imperfections can be overlooked until then; living always involves some wear and tear.
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