Newtown, Bucks County
Skim coating in Newtown, PA.
More than half the borough's homes predate 1940, while about eight in ten township homes date from 1980 on. Skim coating means different work in each, so it pays to know which house you have.
Skim coating for Newtown homes
The borough and the township around it hold two very different kinds of house. In the borough, a Queen Anne or Gothic Revival frame house has plaster on wood lath, often under layers of paint and paper; in Newtown Township, a house from the 1980s or 1990s has drywall that has carried forty years of pictures, shelves and remodels. Both can end up with walls that look tired in side light.
Skim coating suits both, for different reasons. On old plaster it buries a century of crack repairs and the scars left when wallcoverings come down; on township drywall it evens out patches, anchor holes and joints that have shadowed through. Either way the wall ends with one surface, and nothing is torn out to get there.
Newtown
Borough Victorians and 1980s township walls
About 58 percent of borough homes were built before 1940. East of State Street the town filled in with frame houses, and in the two extensions added to the National Register district in 1986, about three-quarters of the buildings are frame, with Queen Anne and Gothic Revival the leading styles. Plaster in houses of that era was sometimes canvassed, lined with fabric to hide cracks and steady the paper or decorative paint above it, so when a lining or paper comes off, the plaster beneath often needs repair before a skim.
The township grew from about 4,500 people in 1980 to more than 18,000 by 2000, and close to eight in ten of its homes date from 1980 on. Drywall that age is usually sound; what it shows is wear, from popped nails and filled dings to the patch where a wall was opened for a remodel. Those walls need evening out, not rebuilding.
Worth knowing
Paste comes off or gets sealed
Leftover wallpaper paste is washed off or sealed with an oil-based primer before skimming. Water in fresh compound would soften it and lift the new coat.
Linings come down slowly
Old fabric linings and paper are taken off with care, because plaster that was already cracked underneath can come away with them.
Tall Victorian rooms
High ceilings in the borough's Victorians mean the upper walls are skimmed from staging rather than a stepladder, so each pass runs the full height evenly.
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, Newtown.
Is skim coating mostly for Newtown Borough's old houses, or do township homes need it too?
Both, for different reasons. Borough plaster usually needs cracks taped and loose areas refastened before the skim; township drywall usually needs popped fasteners reset and old patches flattened. A township house with only a few dings may need nothing more than patching and paint.
We stripped old wallpaper in a borough Victorian and found cracked plaster underneath. What now?
That is common in old houses, where paper and linings often went up over plaster that was already cracked or patched. The cracks are taped, loose areas fastened back and the paste washed off or sealed, and then the whole wall is skimmed so the paint has one surface to sit on.
Do you work in Upper Makefield and Wrightstown too?
Yes, both. Wrightstown has about 140 houses at least a century old, and Upper Makefield's villages keep old stone houses beside newer subdivisions, so skimming there runs from plaster to drywall.
More in Newtown
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.