How to renovate these walls in an old house

[Erica R]

Hello.

I have moved into a house from 1890 and am going to renovate a room.

The walls have layers of wallpaper and have cracks and holes (there were shelves all over the room which we have removed). The electrical cable sits in the corner of the room and is wallpapered over, so the corner is rounded 🤔. I don't mind prep work and the walls not being perfectly straight, etc., but here I'm not even sure if it's possible to make the walls somewhat nice - therefore I'm wondering:

Should I remove the board that is in the room and put up new boards (like plasterboard)? I can send a picture of what seems to be under the wallpaper (you can see at the bottom edge because the floor is taken up) or put new boards on top (do you have to add studs to the existing ones then?). I'm also wondering what can be used as an alternative to plasterboard (I'm a bit sensitive to acoustics in rooms, and plaster has a very hard acoustics)? Or would you leave the wall as it is, cut out cables and put up something else (renovation wallpaper or similar) to make it look nice?

Advice would be much appreciated!

 

[BirgitS]

The board you have is probably a Treetex board that was popular a few decades around the 60s because it provides some insulation and is easier to smooth than the kloasongvägg that is likely behind it (unless it's a log house).
https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treetex
https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kloasongvägg
https://www.byggahus.se/forum/threads/treetex-foerdelar-och-nackdelar.105500/
https://byggnadsvard.se/laga-tretex-och-tapet-som-slappt/

If you think old houses are charming because you can see that it's craftsmanship and that it has character, while new modern-style houses are dull, or if you want to engage in building preservation, you shouldn't install drywall. Even visible electrical wiring, painted-over cables, etc. are characteristic of such old houses.

 

[Erica R]

Hello! Thanks for your response and information. It sounds like Treetex.
I would prefer not to install drywall (or any boards at all if it can be avoided) but rather do something about the wall that's there. However, I must cut into the wallpaper to extract the electrical cable in the corner of the room and also make the cracks in the treetex board look nice. Do you think that's possible?
Can you plaster in the cracks on the wall and corner (once the cable is gone) and then apply new renovation wallpaper throughout the room? Could that work?

 

[BirgitS]

If you replace gipsa with spackla, it sounds reasonable. Maybe complement with a tapethyvel if there are overlapping wallpapers (hard to see).

 

[pacman42]

I would have rewired the electricity inside the walls even in an old house. If you're going to undertake a major renovation, it's worth it to avoid seeing the cables and also to have it grounded.

 

[BirgitS]

I would redo the wiring inside the walls even in an old house. If you're going to undertake a major renovation, it's worth it to avoid seeing the cables and also to get grounded.

But grounded outlets are rarely useful today with all the double-insulated lamps and appliances. A change can cause some problems if you want to use an old lamp made for an insulated environment.

 

[tensiden]

We are doing a complete renovation of most rooms in the house. The latest room was probably in similar condition to yours. The house is from the 1850s and the walls are timber-masonite-wallpaper layers. Specifically for the painting, we hire painters because we believe they do it both better and faster than we can and we don't have the time or energy to also handle interior rooms. They applied putty and paper strips as far as I could see. Maybe there was some renovation wallpaper too, I know they used it in another room anyway.

Then we install new exposed electrical wiring. Grounded.

I absolutely don't mind the cables being visible. I almost prefer it because it's an old house. Additionally, it's easier to see what is there. The cables are painted and fixed nicely, and we install new porcelain junction boxes.

So I know what I would do in your place.

 

[pacman42]

But grounded outlets are rarely of much use today with all the double-insulated lamps and appliances. A changeover might cause some problems if you want to use an old lamp designed for an insulated environment.

There aren't many lamps that require ungrounded outlets. They can (and often should) be converted to grounded anyway.

The old electrical outlets probably should be replaced anyway. And in some cases, the cables as well, so it's just as well to build them in - that's what I think, at least.

On the other hand, I have senilfosor (rot-dosor) in abundance at home since I've installed many more outlets than there were originally. A house from the late '80s has far too few power outlets! How is it then in even older houses?

 

[Erica R]

We're doing a total renovation of most rooms in the house. The latest room was in the same condition as yours. The house is from the 1850s and the walls are timber-masonite-wallpaper layers. For the painting, we hire painters because we assess that they do it both better and faster than we can, and we don't have the time or energy to handle the interior rooms as well. They applied filler and paper tape as far as I could see. Perhaps there was some renovation wallpaper too, as I know they put it in another room anyway.

Then we nail external new electrics. Earthed.

I absolutely don't mind if the cables are visible. Almost prefer it since it's an old house. Besides, it's easier to see what is there. The cables are painted and fixed nicely, and we use new porcelain junction boxes.

So I know what I would have done in your place.

Thanks for all the advice! I'm starting to lean towards working a bit with the walls that are there, with some paper tape, filler, etc. A bit of differing opinions here with the cables. In this case, it will probably be external and visible (mostly because the rest of the house looks like that).