Woodchip - feel my pain!

[ridingjacksbeanstalk]

Buying a new home and it has wood chip on literally every wall.
Are there any clever Mumsnetters who could advise me on the best way to 'coat' on top of it? My DH said he had heard of Polyfilla being used (a specific one for skimming) but I would appreciate and advice you can give!

I really, really don't want to start peeling it off as I know the walls will come down with it

In the past, we have bitten the bullet and steam stripped it off. Alternative, if the plaster is unstable then hack it off and reskim.
I don't think Polyfilla would give you an any better result.
Several coats of paint do diminish it, but you know it's there!

Strip it. Nothing you do to cover it will look good. If you can't afford to have the walls skimmed afterwards, you might be able to fill any cracks or holes and then paper with heavy lining paper. That's what we did in our old house, but it's not as good as replastering.

Strip it or live with it. Anything you try to cover it with will be just as dreadful. It can be a bastard to get off even with a steam stripper.

Argh its the worst to get off! We had it up whole hallway! All way to top floor! :-/ id personally get it off then sort the walls. Mayaswell do a proper job than a half hearted attempt of covering :/

Strip it! It will honestly look shite otherwise, so bite the bullet.

Get one of these www.diy.com/departments/hamilton-prestige-4-heavy-duty-stripper/36418_BQ.prd -you have to hold it at the right angle but that should take the top coat and chips off - then spray the thin lining paper like layer with water and scrape/peel off...
I did my kitchen ceiling like that - after much faffing and steaming and scoring etc found that was the easiest way...I did occasionally get the angle wrong and gorge the ceiling but it is easier on walls and also you can always have it skimmed/patched...(I was having the ceiling skimmed anyway)
Also if you are lucky -usually more likely if there are a few layers of paint on it -some of it might come off in whole sheets....

As well, the amount of polyfilla required to even do a botch job would be equal to the amount of plastering walls.

Score the paper with a sharp knife diagonally 1 way then the other. Spray the wall with a plant sprayer with hot water and a bit of washing up liquid. Leave it 10 minutes then spray again. Repeat. Then try scraping it off. Time, heat and soapy water are better than a steamer on woodchip ime

X post

Every bloody house I have ever bought has been woodchip palace. Strip it. Be prepared for areas where it will come off easily in almost full sheets then random spots where it is superglued to the wall. Accept that you won't want porridge for a while

Why is the woodchip there?

We once stripped woodchip, and most of the plaster followed it onto the floor.

This might be more than the quick decorating job you expect it to be.

hard it might not be the walls ...my parents bought a run down house and refurbished it . They got a grant to cover part of the cost to get it modernised/habitable (this was 40yrs ago before it was worth doing otherwise). To get the grant money you had to have the house finished - decorated - so the whole house was done in woodchip and white emulsion...even on the newly skimmed walls, although some existing walls too - cheap, easy to hang and covered up unevenness where nec, no decisions to make - most of it has been replaced now...

Get one of those things Lucky linked to, really helped sorting it in our house.

Our woodchip in a Victorian house came off pretty easily as it had been painted so many times. There was the odd crack but the plaster itself was pretty sound. Enough to just put lining paper over the top.

Update: chickened out and painted over it for now

there are only two reasons for hanging woodchip:

1. to hide horrible defective plaster

2. insanity

We succeeded with very dark patterned and textured wallpaper in one room. The other room we had to strip, didn't want it in dark paper. Most people don't want dark patterned wallpaper throughout their house though so yes, sadly, stripping and repairing is the only solution ... Or in the case of a ceiling, plaster boarding over..

As long as it is really well attached a plasterer can add pva and skim over it