Damp and Fire-Damaged Rooms: The Work Before the Paint
Before the Work Starts
Part 5 of 5
Work on a room with damp or fire damage has more unknowns than an ordinary paint job. A few questions beforehand save misunderstandings and surprises.
What to ask
- Has the cause of the damage been found? Who will fix it, and when, compared with the painting?
- How far will the scraping go: just the paint, the plaster, or down to the masonry?
- How will mould and stains be dealt with? Will a primer go on, and what kind?
- Will whole walls and the ceiling be painted, or only the damaged areas?
- How long does the new plaster need to dry before it is painted?
- Which furniture must leave the room, and which will be covered where it stands?
- After a fire: has an electrician checked the wiring?
What to expect
Scraping often uncovers more damage than was visible, so the job can grow once the wall is opened up. It's best to have talked this through beforehand, so you know what happens if it does.
There will be dust and noise, and halfway through the room will look worse than before. In one apartment, the furniture that stayed in the room was covered with plastic sheeting before painting. In a shop unit, the walls were painted along the whole length of the space first, and then it was the floor's turn.
After the painting
Ventilate regularly, especially kitchens, bathrooms and bedrooms, and don't push furniture tight against walls that had mould. Keep an eye on the spots that had problems as time goes by, especially after rain.
If stains or bubbling come back in the same place, the cause is still active. Then the cause has to be looked at again before any new painting, because another coat of paint won't solve it.