DIY Duel: Staircase Restoration – Part 4 (Starting to loose count)

Our staircase restoration is almost complete and not wanting the project to end although we’re desperate for the project to end, we’ve made even more work for ourselves by deciding to install some panelling along the staircase wall. You can read about our panelling plans here.

This weekend was meant to be dedicated to finishing the sanding, doing a bit of painting and also attaching the panelling. None of that happened. From Friday onwards we were both ill and spent almost the whole weekend in bed feeling very sorry for ourselves.

At the moment, the staircase wall is very uneven with chips and cracks all over. Before we can even consider attaching the panelling we will have to sort the wall.

We had considered covering the wall with a wooden board to hide any imperfections, but because we want to keep the existing dado rail and skirting board, a board would be too thick and we’d end up coming out too far. The only option we have is to skim the wall and then attach the panelling directly to the wall.

Let’s just say, skimming and plastering is much harder than it looks. Because it’s such a small area, we bought something called Ready Mixed Finishing Skim. The process itself was very straight forward. First of all the mixture is applied with a paintbrush.

Then you all you have to do is smooth the surface with the included tool.

Smoothing it however is easier said than done. It’s really difficult to achieve a flawless finish. After what felt like hours of smoothing without managing to get the surface completely flat, I decided to just let it dry and see what happens. After about 24 hours the coat of skim was dry enough to sand. Yay, more sanding.

Luckily the skim was extremely easy to sand and after just a few hours of work, the surface was completely flat. There are a few areas that still aren’t perfect and will need patching up, but it’s already a huge improvement.

You can see in the difference in the before and after shot.

Hopefully we will be able to attach the wood moulding directly to the wall – that’s the plan at least.

We’ve already ordered the moulding for the panels (the one we decided on was the only one not in stock) and hope to be able to attach them this weekend.

We’d hoped to be further along with the staircase restoration, but being ill put us back by about a week.

You can read about how the other lovely ladies in the DIY Duel are getting on here:

Sarah @ Ugly Duckling House

Micha @ Little Old House

Kit @ DIY Diva

Ann @ Our Handmade Home

Nicki @ Perfect Prospect

Sandra @ The House of Bing

We’d better get a move on, but our chances aren’t looking good, as all of the ladies are doing amazingly well.