ᐅ Wallpaper or plaster? Which is better for a new build?

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

If the budget is tight, the only real option is to glue on textured wallpaper and paint. Level 3 drywall finish or painting fleece is more complex and costs more. For fleece, you need a Level 3 surface; applying the compound evenly over the entire wall is something a novice has to learn to do first...

I forgot to mention that we will receive a good amount of joint compound from an acquaintance (free of charge), so we can do a lot of filling and smoothing.

Is it also possible to use fleece-textured woodchip wallpaper with a light texture?

All walls will be handed over by the developer at Q2 finish.

The advantage of fleece can also turn into a disadvantage. I have painter’s fleece everywhere. In two rooms, there is a longer settlement crack starting from the window openings, which has torn the fleece. Repairing this is practically impossible without at least completely sanding and re-wallpapering that one wall. If it were just smooth plaster, spot repairs with filler and repainting would be much easier.

Of course, I don’t know how many other cracks might be hidden by the fleece.

Ok thanks

I want to find out first what is better for us, plaster or wallpaper.

What are your experiences with settlement cracks when using only plaster?

If you repair one spot, do you have to paint the whole wall? You can’t just repair and paint a small area, right?

If

Gooosee159 schrieb:

settling cracks should be avoided

Gooosee159 schrieb:

and the walls need to be smooth

the best option is probably

Gooosee159 schrieb:

paintable fleece

Gooosee159 schrieb:

to paint on.

Gooosee159 schrieb:

What is the difference between paintable fleece and fleece woodchip wallpaper? Is the only difference that paintable fleece is smooth and fleece woodchip wallpaper has texture?

No. Woodchip wallpaper is made from paper and wood fibers, while paintable fleece is made from textile fibers and cellulose, making it much more tear-resistant. Also, woodchip wallpaper is harder to work with. You have to soak the wallpaper first, which causes it to expand (getting longer and wider) and then shrink again as it dries. With paintable fleece you can apply paste directly on the wall and then just hang it. When renovating, paintable fleece can be peeled off relatively easily. Woodchip wallpaper needs to be soaked again and scraped off.
The advantages of woodchip wallpaper are: it is inexpensive and hides wall imperfections. If damage occurs, it is relatively easy to repair invisibly.
Nowadays, I would never choose woodchip wallpaper. Either fill and sand the walls and paint directly, or use heavy-duty paintable fleece and then paint over it (my recommendation).

Paintable fleece helps cover cracks better, but what @Fuchur says is correct: for very severe cracks, paintable fleece won’t help, and these are harder to "repair" later. However, I do not believe the entire wall needs to be sanded down.