The most common mistakes in gotelé removal are choosing the method without testing the wall, forcing off texture that should have been skimmed, skipping crack and corner repairs, sanding without dust control, not checking under raking light, painting without primer and leaving edges untidy. Each one is avoidable with the right process, and each one is easy to ask about before you hire anyone.
Choosing the method without testing the wall
The first and most consequential mistake is deciding how to remove the gotelé without testing it. Trying to strip a texture that will not soften leads to gouged plaster and far more repair work than planned. Skimming over a loose texture that should have been removed leads to a surface that can crack or blister later.
A small test patch in a discreet spot answers the question in minutes. If a contractor proposes a method without testing, ask why. Our guide on how gotelé is removed explains what the test shows.
Poor protection and uncontrolled dust
Gotelé removal is wet and dusty. Loose dust sheets, unmasked windows, sockets left uncovered and furniture left against walls all lead to damage and a much bigger clean-up. Sanding by hand in a closed room without extraction fills the whole home with fine dust that reaches wardrobes and electronics.
Ask how the floors, windows and furniture will be protected, how dust will be extracted and how the rest of the home will be sealed off. These questions say a lot about how the job will be run.
Skipping repairs and edge work
Once the texture is gone or covered, the wall underneath often shows cracks, damaged corners and old fixings. Painting over them leaves a smooth wall with obvious defects. Cracks that are filled without being opened tend to reappear. Corners left rounded and dented look worse on a flat wall than they did under the texture.
Edges are another frequent weak point: the line where wall meets ceiling, the area around door frames and the margins around switches and sockets. A thickened edge or wavy junction undermines an otherwise good job. Our wall skimming page explains how these details are handled.
Not checking under raking light
A wall that looks flat under an overhead light can reveal ridges, hollows and sanding marks when the sun comes in low through a window or when a cove light grazes along it. Checking with a strong lamp held close to the surface before painting shows those defects while they are still easy to correct.
Skipping this check is tempting when time is short. It is also the step whose absence you notice the most once the room is finished, particularly in homes with large windows or indirect lighting.
Painting too soon or without primer
New filler and skimmed surfaces must be dry and primed before painting. Painting too soon can trap moisture, and painting without primer gives patchy results because repaired areas absorb paint differently. Both mistakes are tempting because they save time, and both are hard to spot on handover day.
A quote that mentions priming explicitly and allows for drying in the schedule is a good sign. For the full service, see our gotelé removal page.
Doing the rooms in the wrong order
The order of work matters more than it seems. Laying new floors before the walls are finished means they spend weeks under protection and still collect splashes and scratches. Painting walls before new ceiling lighting is installed means chasing fresh plaster for cables. Lacquering doors and then sanding the walls next to them coats the new finish in dust.
The right sequence is generally ceilings before walls, dusty work before clean work, electrical work before closing ceilings and skimming, and floors once the dust has settled. In an occupied home, the order of the rooms is also planned so that you always have somewhere clean to sleep. Our guide on removing gotelé in a lived-in home describes a typical sequence.
Ignoring what the walls are telling you
Sometimes removing the texture reveals something more serious: cracks that run diagonally from the corners of doors and windows, damp patches, salt marks or plaster that is soft to the touch. Covering these with a fresh skim and paint hides them for a while but does not solve them. A good contractor stops, shows you what has been found and explains the options, including when a technician should be consulted before continuing.
It is not a pleasant conversation to have halfway through a job, but it is far better than discovering the same crack through your new paint a few months later.
Bauman Raymond Attila · Quitar Gotelé Málaga · Avenida Antonio Belón 3, Marbella. Last reviewed: 05/11/2026.
