IanWatson

Evening all!

I need some expert advice from any experienced plasterwork people out there. I've had three rooms of our new place plastered professionally - effectively 8m walls. They look incredible - no marks or blemishes. Problem is it cost me around £1500, so I'd like to try and do the rest myself.

I'm fairly experienced on the DIY front, so I know the 'you need years of practice so don't bother' line - I know, but I still want to teach myself, and what's left to do are panels no wider than my biggest scraper!
I've made sure I bought the right kit (proper metal scraper/smoother things up to 1.5m wide, corner trowels etc) and I don't find it hard getting the plaster on the walls fairly evenly and quickly - the problem is getting the final 'polish' right.

Any tips on this? Do I need to re-wet the plaster get a slurry that will fill slight roughness left after the original application?

Thanks in advance,
Ian

dnb

If you work it out, let me know please

All I can suggest is keep trying - practice does make perfect. A builder told me that if I worked at it, I would be reasonably happy with my plastering by the time I had done a room....

He wasn't far wrong - just need to start over on that room now, as I know I can do better now

You seem to have the tools he suggested I got - he also said wash them as soon as you have finished, as plaster will make them go rusty very quickly.

[Edited by dnb - 8/30/2002 7:44:40 PM]

IanWatson

Hi dnb

Did you sponge the wallsafter letting the plaster dry for a bit?

I gave the wall a bit of a wetting after ten minutes or so, then reskimmed it. Looks OK in bits. Was wondering how long to let the wall stand, and how wet I should get it.

dnb

I'm still experimenting with plaster really, so I'm not the best source of advice. Still, this is how I've done it in the past.

I had a bucket of water, which I used to keep the float wet. I let the plaster sit on the walls for a few minutes (only about 5 or so), then using the wet float smoothed the surface.

I used a plant sprayer thing to wet the walls. Then they don't have to be touched.

As the Readers Digest DIY Manual 1976 says
It goes on to show pictures of plastering using a dampening brush for the final smoothing.

fast bloke

Assuming you are talking about normal finish, let it set until you can't make a finger print in it - depends on heat, humidity, amount of water used to mix it, how hard you squeeze it onto the wall, so anything from 5 minues to an hour. Then give it a rub with a wet trowel. Wet it as soon as you cannot generate any more surface moisture. The most difficuly bit is getting it on fairly evenly to start with. - Polishing can be perfected fairly quickly. The thing that really pisses me off is the way a plasterer only uses his scraper to confirm that the walls are already near perfect, while I use mine to transfer at least a bag of finish onto the floor.

(Iwould consider myself as follows
- expert at joinery and electrics
- good at everything else except plastering and finishing concrete floors
- struggling at plastering
- concrete floors - don't even go there

fast bloke

p. shhhhh. If you aren't getting as good a finish as you hope, get a pasting brush and use it to wet the walls. Dip it in water and hold it a couple of inches in front of the trowel as you rub up when it starts to go off

dnb

FB - I know how you feel about concrete floors and plaster.

I'm sure they are a work of the devil

jonny gav

iTrader: (1)

my advice is save up and get the job done properly.
remember-if you bugger it up you will have to pay someone to take all the plaster off and do the job properly

RON

I reckon you got an expensive plasterer there mate, I'm haing a whole house done for £3000, and it ain't a small house either, rendered and plastered too!!!!