Thread: Painting over fibro internal walls

Hi,
It may not be fibro underneath, could be Masonite, with fibro (Tilux) just in the wet areas. Easy to tell, just try to nail in a fine panel pin.

You should't have any problems with the fibro, it was probably painted for years before the wallpaper went on. Just don't get stuck into it with a sander etc. Don't create dust.

An old mate of mine who was a tradesman painter used a steam stripper to get old wallpaper off. Maybe you can hire one. Sponge it with water and let it soften, let the water do the work.

What you find underneath the wallpaper may be another matter. Typically the original fibro linings, wall and ceilings, would have had some form of cover strip or batten over the sheet joints. Sometime in the past an owner has removed them and patched the joints and painted the walls in an attempt to make it look better. It very rarely does, so the next step would be to cover with wallpaper.

When you have got the paper off, (try one small wall) you will have to decide what to do with it. Possible options you may have,
Back to new wallpaper, cover fibro with new Gyprock, remove old fibro and replace with Gyprock.

I have a webpage on fibro here.
http://www.builderbill-diy-help.com/asbestos.html

Regards
Bill

Bill,

Thank you very much for your advice, it is great to hear that something can be done with possible fibro internal walls.

If I nail a fine panel pin if it goes in fine it is fibro, if it cracks it isn't fibro, is that correct?

Also, once taking off the wallpaper, if I just paint over the walls, don't you think it will look very good?

Approx how much to gyprock all internal walls?

Originally Posted by yellowploppy

Bill,

Thank you very much for your advice, it is great to hear that something can be done with possible fibro internal walls.

If I nail a fine panel pin if it goes in fine it is fibro, if it cracks it isn't fibro, is that correct?

Also, once taking off the wallpaper, if I just paint over the walls, don't you think it will look very good?

Approx how much to gyprock all internal walls?

The other way round. If it goes in easy it is plaster, if it is hard to hammer in it is probably fibro.

How old is the house?

I lived in Sydney for 40 years doing all sorts of work in older houses. Very few houses in Sydney had fibro as the internal lining except in wet areas. Most have depending on the age timber lath plaster, fibrous plaster or Gyprock type cladding.

In the country areas a lot of houses have fibro internal linings.

Fibro is a thin rock hard substance (especially if its old.) What are the ceiling like. If they are sheets with a joining strip they are probably fibro so the walls would be also. Its unlikely much work was done on the ceilings so if they have no joining strips you may be OK.

If you tap the wall and it sounds as if the material is really hard it is possibly fibro. It is very brittle so try and find a stud to nail onto as billbeee suggested or you may break the sheet trying to nail into it without support behind it. Drilling a small hole may also give you some clues, again being hard it will be more difficult to drill than plaster or masonite.

If its fibro it probably was covered at the joints with a wooden strip, if its been removed and filled there will be evidence of that when the paper comes off. Take some paper off the join area and have a look see. If it has been filled it will be fibro with a filler in the space between the sheets ( about 1/4 inch gap) have a dig with a screw driver or something and you should be able to see exactly what the situation is.

A fibro house could also have fibrous plaster as a lining depending on when it was put up and what standard it was at the time. the plaster would be a lot softer and you should be able to press a sharp nail into it easy.


As mentioned dust from the fibro is the problem, so removing it creates lots of problems ( especially costs, its a major job disposing of the stuff and usually requires specialist removers)) so leave it there unless you have a really good reason to strip it down.

I lived in a house with fibro walls for 20 years, it was built in 1907 with a hardwood frame and fibro lining. The developer I bought it from raced through the house with a spray gun and plastic painted over all the walls and ceilings. ( even painted the light globes) I removed the joining boards. Some walls I wallpapered others I painted. Some of the rough ones we covered in lining paper and then painted.

I'm at the moment gyprocking brick walls its easy to work with but you will be adding about 10mm to the walls which can create work where you have door/window frames power points etc. but you could just stick it straight over the fibro.

Depending on your likes and standards I think you should be able to strip the paper and repaper or paint to a reasonable standard for you to live with the existing fibro (if thats whats there.)

Fibro cement sheet may contain ASBESTOS. So remember not to drill or sand because it's not good for you to inhale the partical.