Plasticky paint layer over plaster in older house

[kernowgal]

Hi all,

I've been stripping wallpaper in my kitchen (early 1950s house) and have uncovered a couple of layers of what seems to be very thin plastic. It chips off like paint in some places, and peels off in others. Eventually I'd like to have this wall reskimmed so it seems best to take it off, but any ideas how? Or even what it is??

www.diydoctor.org.uk/projects/artex.htm

Sounds like artex?

Potentially has asbestos in it if its 1970s. Remove wet with a wallpaper steamer and bag carefully. Dispose of properly.

Ah no, definitely not artex - my parents have that. This is really thin, as in layer of paint thin, and it's blue/turquoise. I wondered if it was some sort of PVC paint that they put on the plaster before painting it, to stop the plaster absorbing the paint perhaps?

We had some magic jollop as a base coat on a lime plaster section of wall. We were told normal paint wouldn't stick to lime plaster properly otherwise. That colour.

Magic jollop?? What is that?

No idea what kind of plaster it is - just grey cement plaster from what I can see.

It doesn't look like it's been painted on. It's very odd, never seen anything like it!

It was magic! It may well have been plasterers grip coat. This is bonding agent. Brand might have been Febond blue grit?
You know how people use PVA before painting?

Well I did wonder if it was some sort of blue PVA type thing - it's really shiny, like blue clingfilm if that makes sense! It's very smooth, doesn't even look like it's been painted on. I suppose it could be gloss, because it's in the kitchen and this would have been a sort of damp-proofing perhaps?

Pics attached in case they help!

No idea then, but the photos are pretty! Very abstract :-)

Ha, thank you! My kitchen art installation...

I had something very similar to that in a room I stripped. Also kind of 1950s house (victorian terrace, bombed in the war a rebuilt in 50s to look like the rest of the row). Was a small room, so I just got rid of it with sheer persistence/steam/elbow grease.

Isn't that just a thickly layered on waterproof paint?

Yeah we also had that, also blue, but only above the line of the picture rail in one room. Weird.

I think that is a thick layer of gloss paint.
Not usually applied to plaster, so you won't have encountered it before.

Our house is over 100 years old and about 50 years ago someone glossed the plaster.

Old gloss goes like cling film it's a bugger to get off. We ended up using wall paper steamer. It seemed to make it swell and helped get rid of it.

it's distemper. You either need to take it off completely or prime it before painting - is glue based.

It may be something called Binder Coat. A builder recommended that to us for the plaster in an old house. That was some time ago and I think it was pale green and it was like transparent shiny paint rather than a thin sheet of plastic.

I didn't think distemper looked shiny. I think it is matt.

Doesn't look like distemper to me. If its old plaster, looks like someone has used a really chemically paint to 'toughen' it up.

What is your house built from?

distemper is chalky

and gloss paint eventually sticks....I reckon the plasticky layer is just that..1970s nondrip gloss

my "outside" but now inside downstairs toilet was painted peach and the one remaining bit that is a curved bit over the door is just like that but peach and a bit peely in places. I am slathering matt white emulsion over it. I have removed any l oose bits though.

Thanks all, I'll try steaming it and see what happens.

Tondelaya - bloody peach paint! My entire house is painted peach. It is revolting. I'm painting everything white and it just looks so much better.