Removing textured render from internal walls

Does anyone know if you can remove that horrible textured render (which was so popular in the 70s & 80s) from internal plasterboard walls? If I remember correctly, it was applied with a special roller to give it a more textured finish.

My daughter & son-in-law are looking at buying a house where this has been used on all the internal walls. It is terrible stuff - collects dust and is really rough so worse than sand paper on your skin if you should happen to bump into it (not good for small children!). The house is in good condition otherwise.

The only thing we can think of is to render over the top with a smooth finish but don't know if the new render will stick to the old stuff.

Any ideas?

I remember when looking for a house to buy, seeing a house with all internal walls AND ceilings done this way and I couldn't get out of there quick enough for the very reasons you stated.

I think the best way would be to replace the plasterboard, which would give you the opportunity to insulate and sound proof. What ever way you choose it will be expensive/labour extensive and its possibly why the house hasn't been sold before now.

As UA says - you will not be able to successfully remove all the coatings from the plasterboard without damaging it - probably extensively. Replacing the plasterboard would probably end up being a lot quicker in the end - not cheaper mind you but you will end up with a better job once painted.
The good thing about doing this though is that you can do it one room at a time and on the external walls you could install insulation if there is none in there.
Any extra wiring could be run as well.

Stewie

Thanks for the responses, guys. That is pretty much what I thought we would need to do. I was just hoping that there might be a simple way to remove it. Ah well, as you say, they can do it one room at a time and insulate etc as well.

There is an excellent paint stripper called Peelaway 8 that removes up to 15 coats of architectural and industrial coatings from a variety of different surfaces in one application and is also safe for lead paint removal.

It is a water based product that you spread on 3-4mm thick(like icing a cake) place a paper backing over and then leave for 24-72hrs. It basically reverts the paint back to a thick liquid form that can be removed very easily by scraping. It is also ph neutral, so you only have to wash the surface down with water prior to repainting.

At 3mm thick, the coverage rate is approx. 1sqm:1.5kg of product. It is available in 300gm, 1kg, 5kg and 15kg sizes.

We sell the 15kg drum for $179.95

So it'll cost you approx $179.95 per 10sqm.

http://www.peelaway.com.au/index.php?route=product/category&path=49

As Uncle Arfur said though, replacing the wall sheets may be the better option...

Ive seen stuff like this on TV when they are stripping fancy cornices/mouldings etc in the old mansions in the UK and while it looks great I think would be extremely laborious and time consuming -- besides you dont know whats underneath, it could be even worse (if thats possible) than the texture coat and the very reason it was used

It's actually not so bad, the only issues are trying to get uniformity of product thickness and the fact that you have to wait between 24 and 72hrs for the product to work.

Of course it does take time to apply, but aside from that, it is quite easy to use and everything will come off back to bare surface if used correctly.

Having said that, it is quite possible that the texture coat was used to hide a poor, imperfect surface.

Like you said though, either way it would be labour intensive and costly.

Edit: After re-reading your thread title, note that this product would only work on a texture paint coating, not a textured render application.