I am in the process of skimming some walls, mostly lime plaster and one that has been previously skimmed. All the walls have been patched with bonding.
My next question is :
Given that I am a beginner and very slow, do you think that I should apply one or two coats ? I would obviously prefer if I could get away with one coat, but if an amateur needs to apply 2 coats to get a reasonable finish, then I will have to bite the bullet.
TIA
Con
I don't think your question is easily answerable. My advice (as a rank amateur plasterer as well) is to have a go on the smallest wall first and see how you get on. Also I'm afraid I believe "very slow" and "reasonable finish" may be mutually exclusive in skimming terms, however many coats you put on or bullets you bite. One thing's for certain, trying a wall will reveal the answer!
Good luck.
I already have had a go on a small wall, where I applied two coats. The finish looks almost reasonable, but hard to tell as it has not dried out fully. My worry was, that the extra coat was not going to give me any better finish.
Con.
Reason for two finish coats (extracted from a posting I did in February)...
Remove any obvious lumps above the surface. The first skim coat goes on normally as thin as you can but should leave the plaster level with the most proud bumps remaining on the wall. i.e. you tend to scrape the trowl edge over the rough surface, but it should leave you with a flat surface. The reason for the second coat is that you can't polish this first coat because of the background coming to the surface in places. So the second coat is then put on ~2mm thick to give you clearance over the most proud bumps on the background, and that's enough to enable you to polish the surface.
So, I always presume I will do two finish coats. Occasionally the wall was in good enough condition that after the first coat, I decide that can be polished off without doing a second. It's a question of whether you can polish off the surface with the trowel without hitting any of the proud bumps on the original wall.
February)...
Thanks for that Andrew. One more question : Do you start at the top or the bottom of the wall ? I have seen conflicting answers on this. Quite a few suggest starting in the bottom corner, but a few people say it is better to start at the top, due to the fact that if any plaster slips down the wall it will not fall on an area that is already done.
Con
Bottom, and applying by sweeping up. You can't start at the top -- if you try sweeping down or sideways applying finish coat, it should run off the bottom edge of the trowel onto the floor or it was too thick. Obviously, by just sweeping up, you can't get to the top edge, nor very well to the sides. When you've got the bulk of the mix on the wall, then you can consider filling in the top and side edges. By this stage, remaining mix may be starting to get thicker which helps, but isn't essential. For the top edge, you will be using the trowel over-arm, rather than the the under-arm action for the upward sweeping. Load the trowel with a line of plaster along what will be the top edge, and throw the trowel in position at the top edge of the wall before the plaster has a chance to fall off, with the top edge also in contact with the ceiling (no hesitating here or the plaster goes down your arm, in your hair, or in your trouser pocket;). Then press firmly into the wall so plaster ozeses into all the crevices under the trowel, release pressure a bit, and sweep down just far enough to meet the plaster you already applied. If you sweep down over the plaster you already applied at this point, you'll just pull it straight off. Similar techneque is used for the side edges.
It doesn't matter if plaster drops onto an area you already applied. At this stage you are only concerned with getting it all on the wall, not what it looks like -- it will all be full of trowel marks, and you can't begin to get rid of these until it has started going off anyway.
I've always started at bottom left ( Right handed ) but the plastering quiz at
Always good to go on a course if it is something that interests you, especially if you have already had a go. I believe the reason for starting off plastering at the top-left or right depending on dexterity; is so that the water run off is utilised in the application. I suspect this was a rule of thumb that changed with plasterboard techniques. All immaterial as the OP is a rank beginner.
Make more than enough for the first coat. At some 3 to 5 quid a bag you can afford a lavish lifestyle at the bottom of this curve.
Look up the post a previous correspondent referred to and take it from there. Where is said plastering post? Fancy not supplying a link!
Start at the most comfortable postion for you and stretch yourself. Have maid bring cup of tea and biscuits when finished laying on. Finish tea and trowel out the plaster. Have maid serve tea once more -no biscuits though and either trowel to a finish when ready- when it starts to change colour, or give it another coat. (Sans second cuppa.)
If -once finished, you are happy with the job, ravish the maid. If it was not a success you can live with happily, go down the pub instead.
Then come back and ravish the maid.
put the theory to the test...
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