Bedroom wall, roughly 4m by 2.4m, with about a dozen nail pops and two shallow dents. I have painted plenty but never skimmed. The paint is a mid sheen which shows everything. I have a free weekend and no plastering tools. Is spot patching a false economy on a sheen finish?
Spot patch, but do it properly and change the paint.
A dozen nail pops is a two hour job: drive a screw about 5cm above and below each pop into the stud, deal with the popped nail, then three thin coats of compound with sanding between, then prime the patches. Spot patches show almost entirely because people do one thick coat feathered over 10cm instead of three thin coats feathered over 30cm.
The bigger lever is sheen. Mid sheen on a wall with history is unforgiving - it is doing the work of showing every repair. A matt or eggshell finish hides ordinary wall texture and will make more difference than a full skim would.
Skimming a whole wall as your first plastering job on a free weekend is how you end up sanding for three days.
Yes. The pop means the nail lost its grip, so the fix is fresh fasteners holding the board, not the same nail hammered back in.
Screw above and below rather than refixing the nail - is that to actually pull the board tight?
Buy a 25cm knife rather than the 10cm one in the kit. Wide knife, thin coats, and most of the skill problem goes away.
If you hate the result after the first coat you can still decide to skim. That door does not close.
@knobandtube_nan · 12mo ago · 3 replies
Prime the patches or they will flash. Compound absorbs differently from the surrounding paint and you get dull circles under a sheen even when the surface is perfectly flat.
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@knobandtube_nan · 12mo ago
A proper drywall primer is better and it is cheap. Thinned emulsion works at a push but it soaks in unevenly, which is the thing you are trying to avoid.
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@rust_bloom_bo · 12mo ago
Does an ordinary emulsion undercoat do, or does it need a dedicated primer?
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