Coopersburg, Lehigh County
Skim coating in Coopersburg, PA.
Nearly a third of Coopersburg's homes predate 1940 and about half went up between 1950 and 1979. Old plaster and middle-aged walls both end up patched, and both can be skimmed smooth again.
Skim coating for Coopersburg homes
The borough's oldest rooms and its postwar rooms wear out differently but end up in the same place. Plaster in a Main Street house cracks and gets filled over a century; a wall from the 1960s collects decades of anchors, nail pops and remodel scars. Either way, a wall that should have one texture ends up with a dozen.
A skim coat puts one texture back. Compound is spread thin over the whole wall and wiped tight, then sanded once dry and primed, so the finish coat reads evenly from any angle. On sound plaster it avoids tear-out entirely, and on drywall that is scarred rather than damaged it does the same.
Coopersburg
Main Street plaster and the postwar borough
The Coopersburg Historic District, listed on the National Register in 1982, takes in 175 buildings around Main Street in Federal, Queen Anne and Colonial Revival styles. Houses of that age are plaster on lath. Where a room has been rewired, replumbed and repainted many times over, the plaster is usually sound underneath and uneven on top, which is the condition a skim coat suits best.
About half the borough's homes date from 1950 to 1979, and nearly two-thirds of all its homes are detached houses. Upper Saucon Township, which wraps around the borough, is newer still, with close to half its homes built since 1990. In those houses a skim coat usually answers one particular wall rather than whole rooms: a wall with an old texture, one where a border was stripped off, or one a remodel left patchy.
Worth knowing
Prewar plaster is worth keeping
Loose areas are secured or cut out and filled, and then the skim covers the repairs and the original surface alike.
Keep the house warm
Compound dries by evaporation, so in the cold months the house stays heated and the air keeps moving. A closed, chilly room slows every coat.
Outlets off, trim in place
Switch plates and outlet covers come off and go back after painting. Baseboards and casings stay put, with the compound feathered tight against them.
The work
How the work goes
The same care on every job, in every town. The full guide to skim coating.
Walkthrough and estimate
Randy walks the rooms with you, looks at how sound the plaster and old paint are, and explains what each wall needs. The walkthrough and written estimate are complimentary.
Repairs first
Loose plaster is reattached, cracks are opened and bridged with mesh tape, and deep holes are filled with setting-type compound, which shrinks less than ordinary joint compound. A skim over an unsound wall only hides the problem for a while.
Clean, dull, seal
Walls are washed and glossy paint is dulled so the compound can grip. Torn paper facing and leftover wallpaper paste are sealed with an oil- or shellac-based primer, because water in the compound would make them bubble.
Thin coats, edge to edge
Compound is spread over the whole wall and wiped back tight, then left to dry hard before the next pass. Thin coats, never one heavy one: thick compound shrinks and cracks as it dries.
Sand, prime, paint
The dry wall is sanded smooth and cleaned of dust. Primer evens out how the surface absorbs, so the paint dries to the same sheen everywhere.
Questions
Skim coating, Coopersburg.
Do newer houses around Center Valley need skim coating, or is that a Level 5 question?
For new or unpainted drywall it is usually a Level 5 question, since that is the finish specified for new board under strong light. Skim coating is for walls that already exist and have been painted, patched or textured, such as a 1990s family room with years of anchors in it.
Our Main Street house has old plaster with newer drywall patches set into it. Can they be skimmed as one?
Yes. The patches are brought flush with the plaster face and taped where they meet it, then the skim runs across both, so the joint between old and new disappears under paint. Plaster and board absorb paint differently, which is why skimming and priming over both matters.
Our Coopersburg house is from the 1960s and its walls are textured. Can they be made smooth?
Usually. Texture applied before the mid-1980s can contain asbestos, so a sample is tested before anything is sanded or scraped; if it comes back positive, removing it is work for a certified asbestos abatement contractor. If it is clear, the high points are knocked down and the wall is skimmed in thin coats until it is smooth.
More in Coopersburg
Other services here.
- Level 5 drywall finishA skim coat over the entire surface, for walls that hold up under raking light and dark paint.
- Plaster repairCracked, loose and failing plaster in older homes, repaired and made sound.
- Interior paintingWalls, ceilings, trim, doors and millwork, prepared properly and finished clean.
- Exterior paintingSiding, trim, porches, stucco and brick, prepared to stand up to Pennsylvania weather.
- Drywall installation & repairNew drywall hung, taped and finished; cracks, holes and water damage repaired invisibly.
- Drywall texture matching & removalTexture matched so repairs disappear, applied where you want it, or taken off for a smooth wall.
- Popcorn ceiling removalOld acoustic texture taken down and the ceiling finished smooth.
- Wallpaper removalOld wallpaper and wall linings stripped without tearing up the wall beneath.
- Wood stainingDecks, porch floors, doors and trim, inside and out, stained by hand.
Consultation
Request a private consultation.
Private walkthrough & written estimate, complimentary. Tell us a little about the house and the rooms, and Randy will be in touch to arrange a time.
- Hours
- Monday – Friday8:30 AM – 5:30 PMSaturday10 AM – 3 PMSundayClosed
- Service area
- Easton, Bethlehem, Allentown and the greater Lehigh Valley; Bucks County, Pennsylvania.
Fully insured — proof on request. Residential and commercial.