Doylestown, Bucks County
Skim coating in Doylestown, PA.
The borough's older houses carry plaster on stone, brick and lath, and their double parlors put walls in view of one another. Next door, most of the township's walls are drywall from 1960 to 1999.
Skim coating for Doylestown homes
In a side-hall house with double parlors, a wall is rarely seen alone. The two rooms open into each other, and a wall that has been skimmed smooth sits in the same view as one that has not. The borough's National Register nomination names that plan as typical of the late-Federal houses built in the 1830s, when Doylestown became a borough.
Skim coating brings a run of connected rooms to one surface. Old plaster is made sound, the cracks are taped, and thin coats go over every wall that shares a view, so color and sheen read the same from the hall to the back parlor. The plaster, the window casings and the millwork all stay exactly where they are.
Doylestown
Plaster on fieldstone, brick and Victorian lath
About three in ten borough homes were built before 1940. The historic district's nomination records that fieldstone was most common before the mid-1830s, and that brick, exposed and plastered, carried the better houses of the mid-1800s. Inside walls like those, plaster often sits directly on the masonry, and where damp or an old repair has loosened it, that area is cut back and rebuilt before any skim, or the new surface cracks along its edges.
The frame neighborhoods of the 1870s to 1900, East Oakland and Maple Avenues among them, are plaster on wood lath, where cracks tend to follow the lath and loose areas can be fastened back. Doylestown Township is another matter: four in five of its homes date from 1960 to 1999, and their walls are drywall carrying the patches, anchors and occasional texture of several owners.
Worth knowing
Interiors are outside HARB
The borough's review board covers exterior features that can be seen from a public street, and interiors are exempt, so skimming walls inside needs no board approval.
Thick walls, built-up patches
Plaster on wood lath is usually thicker than standard drywall, so any area cut out is built back up in layers to the old face before the skim goes over it.
Hairline cracks are cosmetic
Fine cracks in plaster that is otherwise sound are taped or filled and vanish under the skim. Wide or growing cracks get a closer look first.
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, Doylestown.
Our side-hall house has double parlors that open into each other. Do both rooms need skimming?
Usually, if either does. With the doors open, both rooms sit in one view, and a smooth wall beside an old one shows the difference under the same light and paint. Skimming them together keeps the surface and the sheen continuous from one parlor to the next.
The plaster in our borough house is wavy. Will a skim coat make it flat?
Not dead flat, and usually it should not. Thin coats follow the wall's broad contour, taking out the cracks, ridges and patch edges while leaving the gentle movement old plaster has. Making a wavy wall dead flat would take heavy fills, and thick compound shrinks and cracks as it dries.
Is a skim coat worth it in a 1970s Doylestown Township house?
Where the walls are heavily patched or textured, or headed for a darker color, yes. A wall with a few dings that will stay flat and light needs only repair and paint. Any texture from before the mid-1980s is sampled and tested before it is touched; if it holds asbestos, removal belongs to a certified asbestos abatement contractor.
More in Doylestown
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.