Coving

[Tony]

I'm going to put up coving to cover up the gaps between my new dry-lined ceiling (see my other thread) and the existing walls.

I always planned to use good old-fashioned plaster coving, which is kind of like plasterboard but coving shaped. I'd fix it with coving adhesive and pin it in with small nails until set. I know the alternative is polystyrene coving but this doesn't have the same quality finish and is more difficult to cut squarely.

When I was at B&Q last night I noticed a third option - it's a coving which at first glance looks identical to plaster coving but is extremely light. It has a paper finish (like plasterboard) but on close inspection it seems to be manufactured from some sort of plastic/polystyrene. It is cheap, light and comes with free mitered ends (saving some time I'm sure)....

Anyone got any experience of this new fangled coving?

[manatbandq]

No, but I can recommend the "Covemaster" paper covered polystyrene that they also sell with straight ends. You buy the appropriate mitres seperately for internal or external corners.

MBQ

[Chips]

Having put all three up I can compare:

The real stuff is best but it's heavy, awkward, tricky to cut and expensive - if you aren't properly renovating a Victorian building don't bother. At £10 a metre, accidentally dropping a piece from the top of a ladder is a soul destroying experience. The joints can be immaculate though.

Dense blown poly is (IMHO) crap and even when painted you can see exactly what it's made of. Cutting the cheap stuff is a pain (bobbles) and if the adhesive isn't really wet it slips off onto the cat.

Paper wrapped poly. goes up very easily - that is to say one can actually carry it up a ladder when it's laden with adhesive. The painted finish is as good as anything else. It's superior to dense blown poly in every respect. You can cut it with a kitchen knife but I still use a fine saw.

Now, maybe I'm just thick but IME once one has made oneself a cutting jig, one should cut and glue a short inner and a short outer mitre to act as an aide-memoir. Or keep same in shed.

Chips.

[Dave Plowman (News)]

Real plaster coving - something like plasterboard in construction - is nothing like that price. You're referring to some type of ornamental cornice at 10 quid a metre.

[Stuart]

I've only ever used the Blue Hawk(?) stuff but as far as ready cut mitres are concerned I'm sure that sounds fine but it's a bit unlikely that your walls will be exactly 90 degrees will they .?

Stuart

[TheScullster]

"Tony" wrote

The good thing about the plaster cove is that, if fitted well, it bridges the wall/ceiling joint. The lighter options will, I would expect, move more with the ceiling and show the cracks sooner.

Phil

[The3rd Earl Of Derby]

As stuart pointed out preset mitred coving is ludicrus as no two walls are true.

Go to a builders yard first you might find the good stuff cheaper there? Plaster coving in my local DIY buiders yard is 22GBP for 44ft but that's just 4" half moon,nothing fancy

[Chris Bacon]

What's that, then?

[The3rd Earl Of Derby]

What the L are you on about. :-P

[Chris Bacon]

^^^ What's that stupid thing supposed to convey?

I asked "what is your local DIY builders yard?".

[The3rd Earl Of Derby]

Probably one thats not in your neck of the woods.

Jems DIY

[Chris Bacon]

I just wondered whether it was a DIY/hardware shop, or a BM. Possibly it's in between, like Wickes.

[Tony]

Thanks for all your help.

In the end I used Covemaster (paper wrapped poly) which looks identical to the plaster coving I have in the rest of my house but is *much* lighter, and I was able to do the entire job (a 4m x 3m room with 5 internal corners and 1 external corner) on my own in two and a half hours. The coving came with pre-mitred ends which were very helpful (the corners were pretty much 90 degrees) and I could cut it to length using a kitchen knife which saved time.

All in all I am very pleased with the result.