Re-Peeling plaster  -

I had a similar problem when I did my kitchen.

Old Voctorian semi with nearly nothing left of old DPC, so I replaced the first course of bricks which appeared above floor level with blue engineering bricks - a few at a time.

Thought it might be a good idea to get the walls rendered from skirting level to about a metre high.
Used cementone No2 at 'swimming-pool strength' and PVA with the render mix.

Plasterer applied this, then skimmed over the top with plaster. About 3 months afterwards, the plaster skim began to peel and crack off.

Had the plasterer back to sort it out, and re-skim, but the only reason we could come up with as to why the plaster cracked the way that it did, was because the render coat hadn't fully dried out when the skim was put on, and had continued to dry and shrink behind the skim coat.

Been redone about 3 months ago and all is fine now.

TT

I use the tape and join method all the time and find that it is very good. The main advantage is that like Kesh says you can do it yourself so you can get jobs done quicker.

If you're thinking of doing it yourself (tape + join).

The best stuff to use is gyproc easy fill, you need to mix it up yourself.

I used to use the ready mixed stuff but i find it so much better with the easy fill.

Also dont use the paper jointing tape its much easier with the self adhesive scrim.