My father in law has just had various walls in his house plastered, mostly dot and dab.  A very good job - but now the carpenter is saying there should have been a 1 1/2 gap at the base to stop damp rising up the walls.  

He asked my opinion.  I must admit,  as an amateur I have always allowed a gap.  However, the walls and floor are bone dry so I said in this case it probably wasn't so crucial though to me it wasn't best practice, and plastering direct to the floor does help get a dead straight wall.  

But it has set me wondering - with modern poly moisture barriers under floor slabs and good dpc's, its it acceptable now to plaster direct to the floor?

Thanks

John Davies

If they didn't put a DPM under the wall, damp would track up the wall anyway.