learning to plaster - success so far

[daddyfreddy]

That's a good website. And I particularly like the fact he's written it so even stupid people won't get it wrong:

'This is done by wetting the wall, a good technique is to wet a paint brush and then throw it at the wall, but keep hold of the brush and the water will hit the wall.'

LMAO....

[The3rd Earl Of Derby]

oops! sorry,he may be right. :-)

Ok when I wrote that I meant in the sense of A wall start at the ceiling and work down, now do follow. ;-)

-- Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite

[swinster]

I have a newly plaster room - skimmed plasterboard - but after the first mist coat of emulsion I have noticed some very obvious ripples and lines in certain areas. What do you mean by "polishing the plaster"? Is this a way of getting rid of these imperfections?

I am currently trying to sand back the affected areas and was thinking of slapping some filler into these areas then sanding back again. Otherwise, the only option I can think of is to re-skim everything - which obviously I (or the builder for that matter) don't want to do.

In addition to these ripples, there are a couple of areas that were patched due to late changes in design. Again, there are visible areas where the patch has taken place. I assume trying to blend this lines in would need a similar techniquie to smoothing the ripples.

Any suggestions for this - without lining the wall with lining paper.

Chris

[The3rd Earl Of Derby]

The polishing can only be done whilst the plaster is still damp, 20mins after applying it to the wall.

Takes a lot of doing even with a sander as the sandpaper gets clogged quite easilyand creates a lot of dust. reskim is only option.

These patches obviously where not polished as the edges would have almost blended with the original plaster

I'd skim again if your looking for perfection otherwise it's a case of Lining the walls.

-- Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite

[Chris Bacon]

Should be OK - apply the filler with a float to get a good flat finish before light rubbing down. Damp the plaster first!

[The3rd Earl Of Derby]

swinster wrote: What do you mean by "polishing the plaster"? oops! forgot the important bit.

Polishing is scraping the blade at an angle to the wall all over and wetting the wall at intervals to keep the blade moist a sort of burning process to iron out imperfections and at the same time putting a sheen on the finshished appearance, small amounts of plaster is need to fill some imperfections as can be seen when polishing at different eye positions.

did you read the details in the URL I posted for a better understanding?

-- Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite

[trenchfoot]

I'd have to disagree.You always start at the top left hand corner if you're right handed.Do your fills along the wall and ceiling and then work left to right.This way you're constantly skimming over your 'clean off' finish.

[Des Higgins]

can you please post the URL again? My browser wont go back far enough through the news.

Thanks!

The Right Hon. Henry Bonsor Sneditch

[The3rd Earl Of Derby]

Disagree with whom/what? Plastering is down to the DIY individual and at what level they feel comfortable.

-- Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite

[The3rd Earl Of Derby]

Benjamin Middlethwaite

[Weatherlawyer]

Idiot.

You mean you hired a real plasterer rather than an idiot and now realise your mistake? Pillock.

29 posts into a thread about learning to plaster via the internet and you think you are no longer a muppet?

1. The surface is cleaner at the top. If you start low down you pick up all the dirt off the floor and get into trouble you pilock.
2. Water runs down hill. Starting at the top means it wont run down onto finished work you idiot muppet pillock.
3. It's easier to clean snots off an unfinished surface rather than a finished one, idiot.
4. Running all over the floor with a trowel full of plaster while staring intently at the ceiling will cause a lot less damage to an unfinished surface, insert favourite epithet here.
5. Planks tend to bang against walls when installing the scaffold. Then they tend to bang against them when in use folowing the final work on the ceiling, planks tend to bang against walls as they are removed, you plank.

I really hope he overcharged you.

[The3rd Earl Of Derby]

Do you have any idea why plasters start with ceiling first? Idiot.

-- Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite

[Des Higgins]

tanks very much yer lordship. It is so nice to deal with royalty round here for a change.

Des

[swinster]

Bugger - I was hoping that this was NOT going to be the suggestion. I did have a word with a local Leyland's decorator's store who suggested that something like a powder joint filler (Gyproc Easi-Fill) spread with a large flexible filler applicator.

I phoned our builder and as kind of expected he was not best please that I may want everything re-skimmed. He said something along the lines of he can't re-skim as we may suffer form further cracking and bit falling out due to the fact that the boards are below the first floor. However, he did say he would try to level ripples with a joint filler, in a similar fashion to what was suggested to me earlier. He also said that it was a very difficult job because the original ceiling joists did not give a very flat ceiling line. It was difficult for them to work, as we could also not afford to loose a lot of head height (the job was a converted basement).

My original filling exercise has proved to by rubbish.

Chris

[The3rd Earl Of Derby]

Shoot the builder. ;-)

-- Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite

[swinster]

I take it that from this remark that reskimming would be fine and casue no problems. Shooting the builder would not actully fix the ripples in our plaster.

We spent ages interviewing builders for this job, gathering quote and chansing references. It was no small exercise for us and the builder have done a very good job in the whole of the converstion - just a supper smoth finsh is not quite as expected.

[The3rd Earl Of Derby]

Always hire a Pro for the plastering if you want super dooper finish. Years ago before I got into plastering I got recommended a plasterer and decided against not having him do the work because during the conversation of what I wanted doing he came up with a remark like" I can get the wall looking flat, but I can't give you a complete flatness finish".

-- Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite

[swinster]

So am I being unreasonable in my expectations? We paid in excess of 20 grand for this job and it has left us flat broke after years of saving. We have painted half the walls and ceilings and I can notice obvious bumps and undulations nearly everywhere. With the matt paint on this imperfections are only highlighted further. I don't really want to waste anymore time and paint in covering the rest of the walls just to show up any further discrepancies, but I fear I must.

What would be the correct way to reskim these walls? This is something I will NOT be taking on myself, but I would like an understanding for the steps required. IS a super flat finish truly achievable?

Chris

[The3rd Earl Of Derby]

If your not totally happy with the plastering work then have it out with the builder after all the plaster is the "icing on the cake", and for 20k I'd want it perfect.

Only a plasterer who's dedicated to his proffession will give you a truly flat finish, the type that will use the old method of using a straight edge(Darby).

-- Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite

[swinster]

Many thanks for the advice. I think my first step is to get a second opinion. I have a used a specialist plasterer in the past for another job (although this was artex). I will see what his opions is and go from there.