Renovation fleece or skim coat: what is the difference and when do you choose which?

What is the difference between renovation fleece and a skim coat?

Renovation fleece is a paintable non-woven wallpaper that we paste onto the wall, seal at the joints and paint. It absorbs small irregularities and bridges small shrinkage cracks. A skim coat, also called a film coat, is a thin layer of plaster that makes the wall itself flat.

Prices exclude VAT. The VAT rate is stated in the quote: 21% for new builds, usually 6% for renovation work on a home more than 10 years old.

Together they form the last two steps of what we call the shrinkage-crack chain. A new-build home settles and shrinks, thick plasterwork cracks along with it, renovation fleece bridges those cracks, and the skim coat is the base on which the fleece goes. That chain is also exactly why renovation fleece is so often chosen for new builds.

When can renovation fleece go straight on the wall, and when is a skim coat needed?

Renovation fleece absorbs small irregularities, but not open joints, holes or a coarse texture. Those stay visible through the wallpaper, especially when light falls across the wall at a low angle. So the question is how flat your wall was when it was handed over.

Plasterboard with neatly filled joints and recessed screw heads can usually take fleece directly, after a primer. If the joints are open or rough, a skim coat goes on first. Before we put fleece on a board like that, we therefore check the joints and the screw heads.

Concrete and sand-lime brick are often flat, but can have rough patches, small holes or protruding edges. In that case it depends on the wall. We assess this wall by wall during the site survey, not home by home: one room may take fleece directly, while the next needs a skim coat first.

Would you like to get an idea yourself beforehand? Hold a long straight batten against the wall and look along it in side light from a window. If you see clear hollows, bumps or joints, there is a good chance a skim coat is needed.

What does renovation fleece cost with and without a skim coat?

Renovation fleece and skim coat are two separate items, each with its own price scale. The fleece package consists of pasting, sealing the joints and one coat of paint in RAL 9010 or 9016.

A worked example for 160 m² of wall. The fleece costs 160 × €14.99 = €2,398.40. If that whole wall needs a skim coat, a further 160 × €17.49 = €2,798.40 is added, making €5,196.80 in total. If only some of the walls need a skim coat, you pay for it only on those m².

That is why assessing wall by wall pays off. For an ordinary room, you can work out what renovation fleece costs per m² and per room, and if you want both price scales in full, have a look at the prices page.

Can you not simply paint the skim coat directly?

On a new build that is not a good idea, even if the wall is already flat. The reason lies in the movement of a new home. A new build settles and shrinks during its first years, and a skim coat, like other plasterwork, is hard. A shrinkage crack in the wall then shows up again in the paint.

Renovation fleece lies over that movement as a flexible layer. A small crack behind the wallpaper therefore stays invisible. And such shrinkage cracks in a new build simply appear during the first years.

A bare, sanded skim coat is not meant to be left as it is either. Painting directly is only possible on a wall that has been finished completely smooth for that purpose, and even then the risk of visible shrinkage cracks in a new build remains.

Who applies the skim coat and the fleece, and in what order?

The plasterer first, then the wallpaper hanger. The skim coat is applied by our 32 plasterers, the fleece is pasted by our 40 wallpaper hangers, and they all come from the same team of 97 in-house tradespeople on permanent contracts. The wallpaper hanger only starts once the skim coat is dry and sanded. We take care of that handover, not you.

We apply the skim coat by hand. For a whole home we allow 3 to 5 days for applying and drying. In summer that goes faster, and with heat blowers we can speed up the drying. After that, hanging and painting the fleece in a whole home takes 3 days.

Where this combination goes wrong is a wall mistaken for one that can take fleece when it actually needs a skim coat first. So state in your request whether it is a new build and which walls are plasterboard, concrete or sand-lime brick. The free quote you receive within 24 hours will then include both items where that seems necessary. During the site survey we look at every wall.

If your wall is already flat, you can simply have renovation fleece applied straight away. And if a layer has to go underneath first, we schedule the skim coat for your new build in advance.