Plasterboard - To skim or not to skim

david4791

Hello, I work as a Civil Engineer covering various projects throughout my career. I recently came across the dilemma on whether or not to skim plasterboard on commercial and residential units. This may sound like a daft query, however in Ireland and the UK we skim plasterboard while the remainder of the planet tape joints. The whole reasoning behind the plaster board design and use was to offer a finished wall (bar painting/tiling etc) without much fuss. In general the states and Oz do not entertain skimming whatsoever, all joints are taped. When you wish to paint or tile you would then paint sealer/primer over the walls and start the painting/tiling process. Can anybody offer professional advice on this subject?

gOst

Its not professional advice but I was labouring on a guy slabbing a house in "the good old days" and he was faced with the same dilemma. He taped and jointed one room and completely skimmed another. He found that it took him the same amount of time either way. You have less area to cover with the tape jointing method but its more time consuming finicky work than just scrimming the joints and covering the lot. Thats my 2 cents for what its worth?

david4791

Was it really? hard to think it would take similar length of time. The only is you would save on the expensive plastering costs and materials, bar what you need for joints.

knipex

I live in a house that was built in the 70's.

Timber frame slabbed and taped.

After 30 odd years its a nightmare to paint as when you apply wet paint the tape starts to peel away and after 30 years worth of painting in spots even the paper on the slab has started to lift from the substrate.

I am going through a process of slabbing all the walls in the house which aint cheap and is hugely messy.

david4791

I wonder how the Americans and Australians deal with this?

Darren1o1

david4791 wrote: »

I wonder how the Americans and Australians deal with this?

I am in the US building a house right now and questioned the builder on what he uses. It is taping but some builders do skim coat. I am contemplating the differences so would be interested to know the differences.

david4791

From speaking to some painters they state they get a much better finish on a skimmed wall.

david4791

In response to Knipex, I dont understand how the tape could be hindering your paintwork. The tape should be plastered over at the joint, no tape should be exposed on a well finished job.

knipex

david4791 wrote: »

In response to Knipex, I dont understand how the tape could be hindering your paintwork. The tape should be plastered over at the joint, no tape should be exposed on a well finished job.

There was a very light skim-coat over the tape.

When you paint the walls or ceilings you can actually see the tape sag and if you poke it with a paint brush it will actually peel away taking the skim-coat with it.

The other issue is on the slab surface. If you look closely you can see bubbling or blisters where the paper is pulling way from the plasterboard.

I don't know is this is down to a previous paint job, 30 odd years of repeat painting or poor workmanship in the initial construction...

What I can say is that removing existing slabs, replacing them and getting them skim coated is both expensive and messy. In my case I am using the opportunity to upgrade the insulation in the walls and am double slabbing the ceilings (new slab screwed on top of the old one) but its not a job I would recommend to most home owners.

david4791

I guess the best option there is as you've stated, to slab over - So will you skim or tape new plasterboard layer - ??????????????????????????

knipex

david4791 wrote: »

I guess the best option there is as you've stated, to slab over - So will you skim or tape new plasterboard layer - ??????????????????????????

Slabbing over walls isn't really an option (you would have to replace door frames etc.) so replacing wall slabs and slabbing over ceilings..

Skim..... every time...............