When I steamed off wallpaper in a room, I found that the wall material was masonite (I suspected this because the wall felt a bit weak).
According to the guy at the hardware store, masonite was a cheap material used in some walls in the '70s. His advice was to put renovation drywall over the masonite to give it more stability. He also claimed that it's enough to screw the drywall into the masonite without needing to aim for the studs behind. Is this really true, or should I bother to try to find studs to attach the drywall to?
According to the guy at the hardware store, masonite was a cheap material used in some walls in the '70s. His advice was to put renovation drywall over the masonite to give it more stability. He also claimed that it's enough to screw the drywall into the masonite without needing to aim for the studs behind. Is this really true, or should I bother to try to find studs to attach the drywall to?
Well, I'm not sure I agree that masonite was a cheap material. Instead, ask what alternatives existed when it was built. It was common to put masonite on the walls and even the ceiling in the kitchen, hall, and bathroom, where you simply wanted a more durable surface, often painted. In living rooms and bedrooms, treetex was used. Masonite and treetex have been used for a long time, not just the '70s. I'm a bit puzzled as it seems you don't have any wood behind the masonite, except for frames. At least in the past, there was usually tongue and groove boards or regular boards behind. Personally, I wouldn't use renovation plasterboard. I think it's too expensive compared to regular boards. I don't think it matters if you choose to keep the masonite behind. It works perfectly for screwing into as long as you don't tighten too hard.
When you’re putting up drywall, make sure to do it properly or not at all.
It sounds like the seller wanted to make it simple and cheaper, but proper drywall is not much more expensive.
Consider removing the masonite, it’s an excellent opportunity to check what’s behind and inspect it. Ideally, you can remove the masonite and just have the raw timber. A friend of mine did this in his house, then put up drywall, filled the joints, sanded, then applied wallpaper, laid new parquet flooring, and installed moldings.
It looked brand new. Another advantage of doing it properly is that you get a solid wall to hang things on.
It sounds like the seller wanted to make it simple and cheaper, but proper drywall is not much more expensive.
Consider removing the masonite, it’s an excellent opportunity to check what’s behind and inspect it. Ideally, you can remove the masonite and just have the raw timber. A friend of mine did this in his house, then put up drywall, filled the joints, sanded, then applied wallpaper, laid new parquet flooring, and installed moldings.
It looked brand new. Another advantage of doing it properly is that you get a solid wall to hang things on.
Renovation plasterboard is significantly more expensive than regular plasterboards, check how it fits with trim, moldings, and so on if you don't plan to remove them. If you're going to remove all the moldings, buy regular plasterboard and leave the masonite as it doesn't matter, the screw attaches to the raw board behind...
The advantage of renovation plasterboard is precisely that it adds so little thickness that you often don't need to remove moldings and trims. If you add with 13mm plasterboard, you usually have to pack it out before you can put the trims back, which means extra work. In your case, I would remove the masonite and replace it with renovation plasterboard, which would probably only add 2-3 mm beyond the current masonite. The somewhat higher cost is likely offset many times over by the fact that you save quite a lot of work.
Renovation gypsum is not a good option in your case, I think, since it is so weak that it follows the smallest imperfection on the wall, and you will likely have to use wide spackle on the entire walls to get a good result. Regular gypsum hides more and provides a more stable wall in my opinion.
How are you planning to finish the wall later? Wallpaper, paint? Is the wall unstable or why do you need extra support? My thought is to keep the masonite, secure it with cut nails, and patch where necessary. Once you’ve wallpapered, no difference will be visible. You save a lot of work and get a harder, more durable wall. Also, masonite is available in 6 and 9 mm thickness, an excellent base for wallpapering and painting. Environmentally friendly and allergy-friendly. Gosh, I’m going on. I’m not a salesperson, I just have a hard time seeing the advantages of gypsum.
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Thanks for the helpful tips!
I had planned to paint the walls in the room.
A carpenter who fixed a bathroom in the house inspected the walls in the current room the other day. One of the four walls had masonite while the other three walls had drywall. On the masonite wall, I had started to steam off the wallpaper (and that's how I exposed the masonite). The carpenter applied renovation drywall on the masonite wall (to make it work with moldings and such, he chose a 6 mm sheet). On the other walls, he suggested that I try painting on the wallpaper to see if it works before I start steaming off the wallpaper. Hopefully, I can paint directly on the wallpaper on the other three walls and paint on the now drywall-covered wall after applying fabric and filling the seam.
I had planned to paint the walls in the room.
A carpenter who fixed a bathroom in the house inspected the walls in the current room the other day. One of the four walls had masonite while the other three walls had drywall. On the masonite wall, I had started to steam off the wallpaper (and that's how I exposed the masonite). The carpenter applied renovation drywall on the masonite wall (to make it work with moldings and such, he chose a 6 mm sheet). On the other walls, he suggested that I try painting on the wallpaper to see if it works before I start steaming off the wallpaper. Hopefully, I can paint directly on the wallpaper on the other three walls and paint on the now drywall-covered wall after applying fabric and filling the seam.
Apply a layer of oil-based primer before you start plastering. Least work, best result, smells the most.
Oh sorry. I meant on the wallpaper. On the drywall, you don't need to do anything before spackling, except for applying tape.
The oil-based primer minimizes blistering on old wallpaper. It might still blister, but then there's nothing more to be done. Remove everything that's loose then apply oil primer, then spackle, and lastly paint. Good luck!
The oil-based primer minimizes blistering on old wallpaper. It might still blister, but then there's nothing more to be done. Remove everything that's loose then apply oil primer, then spackle, and lastly paint. Good luck!
