Hello everyone,
I have started a project where I plan to plaster all the indoor walls of my 60s villa, which will then be filled in the seams and repainted.
We chose to use plaster since the old walls have wallpaper/fabric on them and are not in the best condition.
However, we have a somewhat unusual smell in the house, it smells kind of like "old" wood, or like a summer cottage that hasn't been visited for a while. Hard to explain...
I brought in a renovation company, and according to them, there are masonite/tretex boards behind all the wallpaper and fabric. They said it's these that smell, and even if you put plaster on them, the smell will always remain. So they suggested removing all these boards down to the studs and insulation. Then put new foil, OSB boards, and plaster on them.
What do you think about this? Does it sound reasonable, should we do it like this?
Worth mentioning is that we have had some moisture in the basement, and the smell was not the best. It has likely been that way for many years (recently bought the villa). Could it be that the smell has spread to the upper floor and seeped into the walls?
Best regards,
Andreas
I have started a project where I plan to plaster all the indoor walls of my 60s villa, which will then be filled in the seams and repainted.
We chose to use plaster since the old walls have wallpaper/fabric on them and are not in the best condition.
However, we have a somewhat unusual smell in the house, it smells kind of like "old" wood, or like a summer cottage that hasn't been visited for a while. Hard to explain...
I brought in a renovation company, and according to them, there are masonite/tretex boards behind all the wallpaper and fabric. They said it's these that smell, and even if you put plaster on them, the smell will always remain. So they suggested removing all these boards down to the studs and insulation. Then put new foil, OSB boards, and plaster on them.
What do you think about this? Does it sound reasonable, should we do it like this?
Worth mentioning is that we have had some moisture in the basement, and the smell was not the best. It has likely been that way for many years (recently bought the villa). Could it be that the smell has spread to the upper floor and seeped into the walls?
Best regards,
Andreas
Last edited:
We had the same solution, except tretex in outer walls and inner walls in raw planks with flexible masonite and a thousand layers of weave/wallpaper.. also thought it smelled, but probably thought more that it was a retiree!
Put gypsum on all the walls, spackle, paint, wallpaper, and the smell was gone..
Put gypsum on all the walls, spackle, paint, wallpaper, and the smell was gone..
E Ericplumber said:We had the same solution, but with tretex on exterior walls and interior walls in raw planking with flexible masonite and a thousand layers of fabric/wallpaper.. also thought it smelled, but more like it was a pensioner!
Put gypsum on all walls, spackle, paint, wallpaper and smell's gone..
Hi,
Thanks for your reply. Hmm, it might be tretex on the exterior walls. The company just said masonite without really looking at it. Lots of wallpaper and fabric.. He was probably just guessing.
Exactly, the smell is like old furniture, and now that you mention it, I've noticed this smell at the neighbors who are 70+..
It would be nice to avoid tearing everything down.. It becomes such a much bigger project..
We have torn down all the fiberboard panels in the house ('65) and installed drywall. It is true that we noticed an extremely big difference in the smell almost immediately. Something that also contributed to a lot of odor was the glued hardboard on all the floors! So if you have that, I recommend pulling it up as well. If you are doing this work yourselves, note that it produces a lot of dust and you'll have to pull out many, many nails from the walls and ceiling!
Tear down the tretex and put up OSB + plasterboard. That way you get rid of the smell and get walls that can handle hanging things. Take the opportunity to install new electrical wiring and network at the same time. Old houses tend to have too few outlets.
/M
/M
Tear down the wallpaper and see what happens.
I have a house from the 1940s that I'm working on, and I started by removing all the vinyl wallpapers. They really smelled like an old person. Then I tore down as much wallpaper as possible in the first room and also removed the thin cardboard ceiling before I plastered and painted it. The smell is completely gone in the areas that are finished.
I'm working in a new room now, and it smells like putty.
I should mention that I screwed gypsum boards on top of tre-tex, which has planking behind it.
I have a house from the 1940s that I'm working on, and I started by removing all the vinyl wallpapers. They really smelled like an old person. Then I tore down as much wallpaper as possible in the first room and also removed the thin cardboard ceiling before I plastered and painted it. The smell is completely gone in the areas that are finished.
I'm working in a new room now, and it smells like putty.
I should mention that I screwed gypsum boards on top of tre-tex, which has planking behind it.
In all honesty, I'm amazed by everyone's work zeal in this forum... "It smelled a bit strange so I tore out all the walls, floors, and ceiling, and now I'm left with a chimney and a gravelled garage driveway, but the smell is gone! Now it's just rebuilding left and then we can continue with the wallpapering!"
"It smelled a bit strange so I tore out all the walls, floors, and ceiling, and now I'm left with a chimney and a gravelled garage driveway, but the smell is gone! Now it's just rebuilding left and then we can continue with the wallpapering!" Yeah, or you could do things properly from the start instead of putting lipstick on a pig?MariaiÖstergötland said:
In all honesty, I am amazed at everyone's work enthusiasm in this forum...
Certainly, if you have the conditions and means for it.B boohoo said:
Tearing down surface layers is generally negligible cost-wise really, a few plasterboards don't cost much. If you find oddities it can become expensive, but on the other hand, it's positive that they're discovered.