I need to do some jointing of taper edge plasterboard with suitable tape and filler in order to produce a surface suitable for painting - i.e. sanding but not skimming.
There seem to be various different types of tape and filler on the market. Please could somebody who has successfully done this recommend some specific products and comment on tools/techniques to achieve a good result.
thanks
.andy
I've used both the perforated paper and the self-adhesive mesh tape - I find the self-adhesive stuff MUCH easier to work with. It's my least-favourite diy job.
Thanks.
Do you remember the tape brand/product you used, the filler and how you applied it?
random adhesive tape (sf?) and knauff one coat plaster from wickes. applied in the usual manner: stick the tape over the gap, apply jollop, light rub down where required. I emulsioned & wallpapered over the board and joints, I'd be surprised if you could just paint over /any/ joints without a critical eye being able to spot it. I think the amount of effort required wouldn't compare to a covering of lining paper ?
I use this, it's fairly generic though get it anywhere, sheds, merchants etc
if you're papering over it just follow the above method, that knauff stuff prefers to be applied of a /lot/ thicker consistency than you think it might (well, thicker than I thought it might) and once you get the consistency right it flies /smoothly/on, almost one strike, and rubs down so easily even a hamfisted oik like me can jet a v. good result. I use a basket on a stick type mixer on the end of a cheapo 1050w drill I picked up from aldi for £17.99
Good point. I'd probably paper it before painting anyway....
Yes - that looks like the stuff I've used. I don't remember which 'mud' I applied over it.
The little I've done I just used the self adhesive mesh and the ordinary plaster that the builders merchant had in stock... The plaster was Supamix Onecoat.
Bit like skim plastering fairly stiff mix, splodgit on, push through the mesh, roughly smooth, leave, then polish as normal. Make sure your float will bridge between the faces of the boards with a reasonable amount on the face each side.
Well, I've never done it, but the first part of skimming plasterboard is similar, and I can't see why it wouldn't work. Fix boards with a
1/4" gap between them, unless both edges are screwed to the same timber along their length. Apply scrim tape (plastic netting) along the join (it's slightly sticky when new to hold it in place, but becomes less so with age in which case use dabs of plaster/filler to hold it in place). Fill the taper with whatever plaster or filler you are using. If the boards have a gap, you use enough to force it right through and out the back, which bonds the board edges together when it sets. (This works well with sloppy plaster, but might not work so well with a thicker filler, which might pull the scrim tape through with it.)
Meaning that if they are they can be butted together?
OK. Is the technique the same for corners?
OK. How does one polish?
Thanks. Sounds promising
Yes. Not all plasterers bother with the gap at all, but it does significantly improve the rigidity of a floating plasterboard edge and reduce chance of cracking.
Yes. However (at least when plastering), do just one of the walls into the corner first and let it set. Then do the other. It will be impossible to get a good corner if you are working against the other wall which you can't touch without screwing up the finish on it. Us the long edge of a rectangular plastering trowel to form internal corners -- don't bother with an internal corner trowel.
OK, thanks, Andrew
What would be the correct action with the trowel for both butt and corner joints? Up and down, sideways and away from the joint or ??
What's the technique to polish the surface?
For plastering (filler may be different), sideways and away from the joint to get the material in (and oozed right through any gap under pressure).
Probably all directions. For corners, you hold the trowel vertical with the long edge touching along the corner, and without changing the orientation of the trowel, you sweep an arc which starts as an upward movement but sweeps round to a horizontal movement out from the corner, so you don't dig the trowel corner into the wall corner. When plaster is partially set, you can also use an initial downward sweep, but if you do this when it's only just been applied, a downward sweep of any description is likely to pull it off the wall. Fillers may behave differently.
Note that doing this (or any plastering) with a new plastering trowel is very difficult, because the trowel corners will be sharp and the edges not yet worn in. You can artificially wear them in. Plasterers often use the flat face of a house brick, given they are easy to find laying around on building sites, although the traditional way is to give a new trowel to a renderer for a few weeks, where it's use on sand and cement will wear it in very nicely.
Thanks Andrew. Wearing in I know about.
When you say vertical, that's clear, but also do you mean with the trowel flat against the surface or with the edge working the material?
Also, I've seen plasterers flick on water while polishing (I think). Is that necessary here, and why?
I think I'll do some practice anyway though.
Just the edge. You never use the face of the trowel, except to transport plaster to the wall in the first place, and place it.
It is necessary as the plaster sets -- it acts as a lubricant, and without it, you will rough up the surface when it's set to a certain point. The polishing process works by removal of the peaks by the trowel edge, which are carried in the water and deposited in the troughs as the water soaks in to the plaster surface.
Hence the importance of the running in....
OK. So worth it in moderation, even considering the paper surface of the plasterboard?
As one would normally... B-)
I've used a spray bottle in the past but wasn't particulary succesful. The chap who plastered round our windows used a wetish (not dripping) plastic paste brush and gently swept that over part of the area to be polished. This applies water and lifts the surface to form a good cream. It looks terrible with the brush mark but one firm sweep of the float and all is smooth, few more firm movements and a lovely smooth polished surface appears.
I suspect that knowing ones plaster and how far it has set is the key to this as always but the paste brush will be what I'll be trying next time.
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