How to prep walls for install of VJ paneling

[JAD]

Hi everyone, we purchased a house in Perth, moving from the eastern states

 The internal walls had already been "painted" when we moved in so we decided we would change colors in the master bedroom. walls were prepped and cleaned with sugar soap and repainted, fast fwd to present, and the paint has completely peeled off. We found the previous owners had not sealed the walls before they painted. 

We are looking to install VJ panels (Easy Ascot)  but the wall we are starting with (cavity wall) has an awful lot of cracks in the plaster and some that will require attention. 

My questions to the community,

- can the panels be directly applied to the plastered walls? 

- would it be better to prime the wall or remove the plaster instead and apply panels to cement finish or bare brick? 

Any assistance, guidance, and tips are greatly appreciated.

Regards,

JAD

 

[EricL]

Hi @JAD

Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community. It's a pleasure to have you join us, and thank you for sharing your question about installing Easycraft VJ panelling.

Easycraft VJ Panels are installed using adhesive and nails. But before doing that you'll have to assess the condition of the wall. I suggest checking that parts of the wall are not flaking away and plaster is not falling out in chunks. The key tasks will be preparation and restoration. If the plaster wall is in fair condition and only needs cosmetic repair you can skip this part if it will be covered by the panels. However, if parts of the plaster have large gouges or holes in them, these areas will need to be filled in and repaired. 

When in doubt always prime your wall. By using a primer, you seal the surface of the wall and you can paint or attach anything to it. A good example would be Taubmans Easycoat Prep Undercoat Primer Sealer Paint it functions both as primer and sealer. 

Unfortunately, some surfaces need more work than others. If parts of the surface of the wall are coming off you either repair or replace and if it's a cement wall it will need to be resurfaced. But as I mentioned if it's only a cosmetic repair and it will be covered by the panels you can choose not to repair it, if it will be covered by the panels.

Here is a link to the installation guides for Easycraft: Easycraft Installation Guides

Here is a handy step-by-step guide: How to create a VJ feature wall

Here are some Easycraft installation projects our Workshop members have shared.

• Recessed TV feature wall with EasyVJ panels by @ProjectPete

• VJ panelling feature wall by @craftyhopper

• VJ panelling for home office by @Megarakawa.     

If you need further assistance, please let us know.

Eric

[JAD]

Hi Eric, thanks for the response to my call out for guidance.

I checked out the various links and I did find a post from another community member and they had used a combination of both glue and wall plugs and screws to secure the panels in place. 

Our walls are also dbl brick and I'm going to apply a similar method. I plan to place a panel on the wall and mark out a location top and bottom to secure with screws and drill 2-3 mm holes in the panels, then mark against the wall and drill out to the size for using plastic plugs and screws. 

Regards

JAD

[EricL]

Hi @JAD

That sounds like a great plan. Any photo updates you can provide while installing the panels would be greatly appreciated.

If you have any other questions we can help with, please let us know.

Eric