Hey! Newly minted homeowner.
Not all thumbs but zero renovation experience.
Bought a 1940s 1.5-story house. The lower floor, about 90 sqm, needs renovation due to the previous owner smoking inside. Most of the smell is in the kitchen.
But it seems like there’s tretex/particle board throughout the house with wallpaper directly on it. All the electricity is also DIY and lies on the walls. This needs to be redone and moved inside the walls with a new panel.
So my question is, how much trouble am I getting into if I put 13mm drywall on the walls?
All the windows need to be replaced on the lower floor and the electricity has to go inside the walls. Maybe I’m doing myself a favor by just putting up drywall?
It will cost me a few thousand but maybe it will be so much better in the end.
Not all thumbs but zero renovation experience.
Bought a 1940s 1.5-story house. The lower floor, about 90 sqm, needs renovation due to the previous owner smoking inside. Most of the smell is in the kitchen.
But it seems like there’s tretex/particle board throughout the house with wallpaper directly on it. All the electricity is also DIY and lies on the walls. This needs to be redone and moved inside the walls with a new panel.
So my question is, how much trouble am I getting into if I put 13mm drywall on the walls?
All the windows need to be replaced on the lower floor and the electricity has to go inside the walls. Maybe I’m doing myself a favor by just putting up drywall?
It will cost me a few thousand but maybe it will be so much better in the end.
But the idea is to keep the plasterboard? Or am I misunderstanding you?L Lopex said:
I've heard that tretex is decent insulation, and the walls are actually unusually straight. But to avoid having to fill in all the milling grooves, I thought it would be easier to put plasterboard over the tretex.
If I tear down the tretex, I lose the insulation value, and plasterboard doesn't have much insulation value.
You write that you are going to renovate due to smoke smell. In that case, I would recommend removing all Tretex because the smoke odor gets stuck in it. If you are also planning to recess the wiring, it will be much easier if you remove the Tretex. So get rid of the old mess and put up gypsum. 
The question is if it's tretex? How thick is it usually?
The house was renovated in the 90s and the boards visible through the wallpaper really looked like chipboard to me. I'll see if I can get a picture this week.
I don't think it's a major cost to re-plaster. But I wouldn't want just plasterboard, I'd like OSB behind it.
But there's talk that tretex has an insulating function. Don't I lose a large part of the insulation if you just put plasterboard?
Because the idea is if I tear down the tretex or chipboard, to just attach directly to the existing studs?
The house was renovated in the 90s and the boards visible through the wallpaper really looked like chipboard to me. I'll see if I can get a picture this week.
I don't think it's a major cost to re-plaster. But I wouldn't want just plasterboard, I'd like OSB behind it.
But there's talk that tretex has an insulating function. Don't I lose a large part of the insulation if you just put plasterboard?
Because the idea is if I tear down the tretex or chipboard, to just attach directly to the existing studs?
It is an extension that I believe was built sometime in the '90s. At that time, the rest of the house was renovated. So it might still be particle board, because the description of how tretex looks and feels does not match my image of the material. The board feels thicker and more like particle board.
I do not have access to the house yet, hence I cannot drill holes or test it yet.
I do not have access to the house yet, hence I cannot drill holes or test it yet.
We had Tretex in our old house. (We have it in our current one too.)
When we renovated the kitchen, there were thick planks behind the Tretex, nothing else.
We (the carpenter) removed the Tretex and put up wind paper(?) and 45mm insulation. It made a huge difference in the room. It's hard to describe in a good way, but it created a softer indoor environment in some way. Of course, it was warmer, but more comfortable in some way. Less raw.
If you can, frame and put up insulation. I think you'll benefit from it.
When we renovated the kitchen, there were thick planks behind the Tretex, nothing else.
We (the carpenter) removed the Tretex and put up wind paper(?) and 45mm insulation. It made a huge difference in the room. It's hard to describe in a good way, but it created a softer indoor environment in some way. Of course, it was warmer, but more comfortable in some way. Less raw.
If you can, frame and put up insulation. I think you'll benefit from it.
40s houses here too with tretex + wallpaper. I went for leveling the wallpaper with a plane and filler, then renovation wallpaper on top before new wallpapering/painting. Turned out really well despite a poor starting point.
If you're worried about the smell in the tretex itself, tear it out. I once cheated and laid wooden flooring over an old glued-down carpet, and now there's an old carpet smell in that room that bothers me daily.T Timbuktu said:
Our tretex was only about 2cm, so it probably doesn't make a huge difference in insulation.