Magazine Case Study

When originally asked to redecorate this hallway, with a three-storey staircase plus landings, the owners hadn't considered what may be hiding behind the old wallpaper. Thankfully, Image Decor Decorating & Plastering had the skills to deal with it. Michell Parrish tells us about the extensive preparation and finishing work...

We were asked to fully redecorate the hallway, stairs and landings at this house in Moseley, Birmingham. The clients

previously employed us to carry out work for them a couple of times, so we already had a good relationship.

This was definitely a benefit, as once we removed the old wallpaper it revealed that around a third of the plaster had failed, which also extended to a number of ceilings. Of course, this needed completely removing and replacing before any decorating work could begin, and we hadn't included this extensive work in our priginal quote.

With all the old plaster stripped away, we replaced all areas with plasterboard and bonding. This was followed by three coats of spray plaster, with mesh imbedded into the first coat to support and brace the walls.

We then moved onto the woodwork preparation by burning off all the old paint, right back to bare wood. Doors were all removed so we could open any cracked joints and fill them with resin.

Once the holes, cracks and joints were filled, we sprayed a first coat of primer before filling a second time and sanding back with 240 grade sanding pads.

A third and final coat of primer was then applied by spraying, with two coats of Sayerlack AT99 providing a beautifully smooth finish.

We then wrapped up the woodwork up with brown

paper and tape, so we could move on to spraying all the ceilings using Tikkurila Anti-Reflex White 2. This paint is great for older properties with uneven surfaces as it eliminates flashing and removes imperfections, leaving a smooth finish.

For the walls, we brush and rollered a first coat of emulsion on before doing a 'micro fill', which was sanded down before applying two coats of Dulux Heritage Velvet Matt to finish the walls.

Other than the problems with the old plaster, the only other issue we encountered was an ongoing shortage of materials such as bonding, but most importantly the clients love what we've done, so hopefully well be asked to work for them a fourth time!