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camlan_gw

Painting flaking plaster walls

camlan
17 years ago

We're (my siblings and I) fixing up our Dad's 1880 Victorian house to sell it. There's a back hall/mud room that needs a lot of work. The lower 4 feet of the walls is tiled, but the rest, up to the 12 foot ceiling, is a flaking, peeling mess. The walls are plaster. The paint was starting to peel 30 years ago when we moved in and it has only gotten worse. (Dad's a firm believer in only fixing "important" stuff, like the roof and furnace and wiring. Cosmetic stuff like paint and waxing the floor doesn't count.)

How do we scrape off the peeling paint? We're not going to get all of it off, I'm guessing, so how do we smooth out the walls?

And any tips on how to safely do all this with such high ceilings?

I've done a fair bit of painting in my time, but not on such a messy surface and not on such tall walls, so I'm a bit intimidated. And I know the walls will need some work before we get to the painting stage; I'm just not sure what work will be necessary.

It's going to be a bit of a challenge--it's a small space, with the door to outside and doors to the kitchen, back stairs and living room. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

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