New Hope, Bucks County
Skim coating in New Hope, PA.
New Hope's houses are stone, brick and frame, many enlarged room by room since the 1800s. Plaster, lath and later board often meet in one wall, and near the river, every wall has to be dry first.
Skim coating for New Hope homes
A visitor in 1859 found the town's houses mostly wooden and very small. A century and a half of additions later, many of them hold walls from three or four eras side by side: lime plaster on lath, later gypsum patches, a run of drywall where a wall was once opened, each with its own grain and its own way of taking paint.
Skim coating is how those mixed walls become one. The joints between materials are taped and filled flush, thin coats go over the full surface, and a primer evens out how it all takes the finish. It will not turn drywall into plaster, but under paint the line between them stops showing, and whatever old plaster remains stays in the house.
New Hope
Stone walls, frame additions and the river
In 1984 the borough's buildings were about 30 percent stone, 20 percent brick and half frame, and more than twenty 18th-century buildings survive, many of them stone. Plaster on stone stays sound only while the masonry behind it stays dry, and in a river town that is never a given. Where plaster has bubbled or gone powdery it is cut back and rebuilt before any skim, since compound spread over a damp base fails along with it.
The Delaware has topped major flood stage at the river gauge here several times, three of them between 2004 and 2006, with the record crest in 1955. In a house that took on water, skimming is the last step, not the first: soaked board comes out, framing and masonry dry fully, repairs go in, and only then does compound go over the whole wall. The land climbs steeply from the river, so that worry belongs to houses near the water, not the whole town.
Worth knowing
Stains get sealed first
Water stains on dried plaster are sealed with a stain-blocking primer before any compound goes on. Skipped, they bleed up through the skim and the paint.
Small rooms, close view
The canal company's houses had two or three rooms to a floor. In rooms that size every wall is seen from a few feet away, which is where a smooth surface shows most.
Where old meets new
Where an addition's drywall butts into old plaster, the two faces are leveled and the joint taped before skimming, so the line between eras disappears.
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, New Hope.
Do we need a Certificate of Appropriateness to skim coat inside a house in New Hope's historic district?
No. The certificate covers changes to the exterior, painting included, and HARB's jurisdiction is limited to what can be seen from a public street or way. Interior wall work is outside it. Repainting the outside of the same house is a different matter, and that does need the certificate.
We have a 1970s house in the borough with textured walls. What does it take to make them smooth?
First a test. About a third of the borough's homes date from the 1970s, and texture applied before the mid-1980s can contain asbestos, so a sample is checked before anyone sands or scrapes; if it is positive, a certified asbestos abatement contractor removes it. Once it tests clear, the texture is knocked down and the wall skimmed in thin coats.
Do you skim coat in Solebury, Lahaska and the villages around New Hope?
Yes, all of them. Solebury mixes more than 400 houses from the 1700s and 1800s with a majority built since 1980, so the work there runs from skimming old plaster on stone to resurfacing drywall that has been patched or textured.
More in New Hope
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.