Last updated on November 26th, 2022 at 06:40 am
Skim coats have become popular in the modern era. As a homeowner, you may want to consider a new look for your interiors. Should you go for a skim coat or regular paint; what are the advantages of the former?
A skim coat makes walls smoother; it’s relatively easy to apply, covers up seams, and makes the wall look glossier. However, it requires skill in its application, and a careless handyperson could ruin the job.
Advantages of Using A Skim Coat
Applying a skim coat is one of the best ways to smooth old walls and ceilings. Also, give walls, ceilings, and the entire building a new look, and what’s more? Skim Coat is usually smoother than plaster; you can scrap out damaged drywall and put some soft skim coat on it.
Also, you can do it yourself instead of paying a professional, which can cost you thousands of dollars.
However, skim coating is not always the best thing after chocolate. It is not always a perfect solution and may also have some disadvantages. Not to worry, I’ll be telling you about both sides of the skin coat coin.
So is skim coat the best option when it involves retouching and painting walls and ceilings? And what are the advantages of using a skim coat?
1. Skim coating is generally applied to make walls and ceilings smoother, even if you intend to paint afterward.
Although skim coating is not compulsory, it is advised that you do it. In most cases, if you hire a professional to work on your walls and ceilings, they will suggest skimming coating. If they do not, you should mention it to them. Ask if the surfaces need a skim coat.
2. Though not in all cases, it is necessary to get a skim coat if you want the overall paint job to be perfect. That is in cases where you’re prepping the walls for repainting.
One advantage of this is that it helps eliminate uneven surfaces on the walls; skim coating can remove all of the bumps and lumps that could be there.
It would be best to consider skim coating; otherwise, even after repainting or reworking, you may end up with uneven walls and ceilings, which would have all been a waste of time. Trust me; you don’t want that.
3. The skim coating can cover seams, moldings, and the space between bricks. While skim coating, you could also fill in the holes and smoothen the uneven edges.
Even with brand-new drywall, it is better to do some skim coat to make the wall more blended and smoother.
It can cover the seams between sheets and bricks and the potentially rough edges before the finishing paint comes on. You make the overall paint job much more professional and lovely.
4. Using a skim coat is critical to getting a nice finish if you’re using glossy, shiny paint; without skim coating, the entire surface will look warped and rough, especially if the color used is glossy.
Rough patches and lumpy areas are more evident if you use shiny paint. Even the little places you thought paint would be enough to cover will look terrible because they can’t be covered up properly with primer and paint.
5. Furthermore, it is advantageous to skim-coat your walls from top to bottom before applying the finish because then, you will have a smooth floor-to-surface wall and an even blend causing the floor to layer less in the wall.
Usually, without skim coating, the area between the floor and the ceiling would be pretty obvious, which is just not pleasant.
However, this blends that skim coating gives the room also makes the ceiling look higher, making the room seem more significant.
The reason is that with the gentle and friendly blend, the eye won’t quickly tell where the floors end and the walls begin.
6. The skim coating makes painting the walls easier and more uniform. The paintbrush glides over the walls with smooth and clean walls without any rough patches or peeling paint to work over.
Printing directly on drywall could make the process tacky and unattractive; with a skim coat, your printing will be easier, and the result will be smoother and brighter.
7. And not just that, the skim coating is easy if you already know how to do it. Although you may need to try before getting the hang of it, once you’ve mastered it, you can do an excellent job and still save yourself some money by doing everything yourself instead of paying people to do it for you.
You could achieve better results overall and save some money while at it.
Disadvantages of Using A Skim Coat
Although skim coating is a helpful process that every handyperson, professional, or even an amateur homeowner will find beneficial and easy to get the hang of, it is not entirely a perfect process and does have disadvantages.
So if you decide to skim-coat your home, office walls, or ceiling, as the case may be, you should consider the following factors and weigh the costs to determine if it is well worth it.
1. First, the process of skin coating requires more skill and more work. It’s more time-consuming, so you could make a mess and incur more costs if you don’t know how to do it.
Unlike the other processes of repairing walls and ceilings, a skim coating is both energy-consuming and time- and labor-intensive.
2. Apart from the above, it is usually more expensive since it requires skill and lots of work. This aspect is why some homeowners decide not to do it because they feel the cost is not worth it.
So if you want to skim-coat, you should consider the cost involved in the project, especially if you’re skim coating an entire house and you have to hire professionals to do it for you.
3. Although skim coats cover damage to walls when the skim-coated wall becomes damaged, the damage is usually more visible through the paint than other wall repair methods, like the textured wall.
4. Furthermore, you cannot skim-coat your walls if you’re not a professional. I mean, you could, but the walls would look terrible.
Since skim coating is an intensive and challenging process, it is usually best for a professional to carry out the task.
An unprofessional person is typically no genius at putting the finish on walls and ceilings, especially if they’re doing it for the first time.
5. Skim coating will take a more extended period because the skim coat takes more time to dry off.
As such, this could also be disadvantageous, especially if you’re in a hurry or the whole process has to be completed quickly.
So if you’re on the clock, using skim coating could not be the best option because it may take more time than you’re willing to spare.
6. Unless you’re proficient in skim coating, you could ruin your walls or make a huge mess if you try to do it yourself. So if you’ve never done it before, you’ll have to pay a professional to do it for you.
You would end up incurring unplanned expenses, especially if you planned to do the entire work on your own and not pay professionals to do it for you.
7. Another disadvantage of skim coating is that if you happen to skim coat over an already painted wall with the paint still in place, the paint can start peeling off under the skim coat, which would make the walls rough and uneven, thereby undermining the entire purpose of the skim coat, So it’s best to remove the old paint on the walls before skim coating.
Conclusion
A Skim coat makes for a pretty decent finish on drywall, and if you wish to, you could skim coat an entire house or entire portions of walls to achieve that smooth, even finish.
However, if you’re considering skim coating, you should consider both the advantages and disadvantages. If you still feel it’s something you can do after weighing the pros and cons, then go right ahead.