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Message started by Natedog on May 2nd, 2018, 6:04pm

Title: Plastering
Post by Natedog on May 2nd, 2018, 6:04pm

I've got a room that needs plastering.  I was hoping to get someone in to do it as my plastering isn't that good, but 2 large car bills mean I'm gonna have to sit

The ceiling is coming down (old lath and plaster) and being boarded.  

The walls have all been papered previously, and there are far too many scraper marks from where it's been stripped to hit them all with filler - I'd end up covering 75% of the walls with filler!  One of the internal walls is a stud partition, so I'm just going to chuck new plasterboard on and skim it.  

What do I need to do to the remaining walls in order to skim them?  They're solid red brick with mostly the original plaster on (lime plaster at a guess) although there are some sections that have been repaired with a white plaster (one coat patching at a guess)

Can I just skim over the whole lot with multi finish, or would it be better to hack it all off and start again?  

Thanks :)

Title: Re: Plastering
Post by londonman on May 2nd, 2018, 9:42pm

Blue Grit is your friend

Got to strip the paper off first though

Title: Re: Plastering
Post by woodsmith on May 3rd, 2018, 9:00am

Are you plastering the ceiling?

Title: Re: Plastering
Post by Natedog on May 4th, 2018, 8:53am


londonman wrote on May 2nd, 2018, 9:42pm:
Blue Grit is your friend

Got to strip the paper off first though



blue grit?  never seen that before.  thanks dude, i'll check it out

and yes, i know the paper needs to come off.  shouldn't be too hard, it's peeling quite badly already

Title: Re: Plastering
Post by Natedog on May 4th, 2018, 8:56am


woodsmith wrote on May 3rd, 2018, 9:00am:
Are you plastering the ceiling?


walls and ceiling, yes

Title: Re: Plastering
Post by stuart45 on May 4th, 2018, 10:52am

If you are boarding the ceiling there is the option of taping and filling the joints which is  much easier to achieve a good finish if you are not a good spread.

Title: Re: Plastering
Post by woodsmith on May 4th, 2018, 3:05pm

Using taper edged boards is an option for the whole room. It's not as good as a proper plaster finish but a lot easier.

For the ceiling the big problem is just getting up there. I usually set up a trestle so that I can do the length or width of the room in one go. Trying to work off a ladder is very difficult except for the smallest rooms

There are lots of videos on YouTube which are worth watching, but I apply a coat of plaster, lay that off as flat as possible, leave it to go off a bit then put a final skim coat on top to get the really smooth finish. I'm not an expert plasterer and so I shine a tasklight across the wall to show up any imperfections, get the light as close to the wall as you can and it really helps.

Title: Re: Plastering
Post by Natedog on May 4th, 2018, 8:58pm

I've bought a couple of the little work platforms that aldi had in last week.  They're just the right height to make reaching the ceiling comfortable.  

I've done walls before, and a few bits of sloping ceiling.  Never done a full room before though.  This is going to be the hardest room to plaster out of all of them that need doing, so if it goes well the rest should be plain sailing.

I'll make sure to get some pics once I'm done to give you a laugh  ;D

I like the idea of shining the light along the wall rather than straight at it.  Wish I'd thought of that when I did the landing.  6m long corridor.  You can see the waves in it now, but looked fine with a floodlight on it

Title: Re: Plastering
Post by Natedog on May 4th, 2018, 9:02pm


stuart45 wrote on May 4th, 2018, 10:52am:
If you are boarding the ceiling there is the option of taping and filling the joints which is  much easier to achieve a good finish if you are not a good spread.


Do you mean just filling the joints and not skimming the whole thing?

Title: Re: Plastering
Post by stuart45 on May 4th, 2018, 9:47pm


Natedog wrote on May 4th, 2018, 9:02pm:

stuart45 wrote on May 4th, 2018, 10:52am:
If you are boarding the ceiling there is the option of taping and filling the joints which is  much easier to achieve a good finish if you are not a good spread.


Do you mean just filling the joints and not skimming the whole thing?

Yes, that's correct. You use taper edged boards. You then tape the joints and fill the joint will a filler that can be sanded flush the next day,
Once it's sanded you can't see the joint, and a good job looks the same as a skimmed wall.
This is the normal method in the USA, but here it's not as common.
I've done it myself a few times on ceilings and once painted it looks really smooth.
I've skimmed a few ceiling's as well, but being a bricklayer by trade I don't get such a good finish as a spread.

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