Afternoon I had to smash a hole in a newly plaster boarded and skimmed ceiling today because the nice plasterer pushed my lighting wires too far away from the hole and I couldn't get them. How do I repair it? Approx 350mm long x 200mm wide irregular!
afternoon mate, aw what a bummer! i would cut the edges nice and square, put some batten up there with plenty of over-hang and then cut a piece as tight as you can get it to go in the hole and screw to the batten. You can then skim over it. Any chance you/your customer can speak with the plasterer and appeal to his nicer side - especially considering you had no option and he pushed your cables back in.
I was about to suggest the same Fats, you beat me to it. When trying to get at the wires I think I would have used a different method than a hammer. I would have cut the downlight hole, get the cables through & reused the plasterboard cutout fixing with battens above, I have done this on a number of occasions. Its also easier to skim over. Trust your both ok.
hi Wal, yeah thats a good idea and smaller area to plaster over too. Did you used to do a bit of skimming too? Hope you are feeling a lot better?
Thanks for the help. No I couldn't get in to the loft because the loft hatch used to be in the same room and it was sealed over with the plaster board!
Did the skimming as well Fats, if you go careful you can't hardly see the repair. I used to set the battens above slightly higher such as a small piece of cardboard & this will slightly recess the refitted plasterboard to allow skimming over it. Not feeling to bad Fats, each day is different.
Its done. I cut the damaged plaster board in to a trapezium shape and one edge was half on a joist. I angled the edges 45 deg and cut the new piece so it rested in the angles and nailed the one edge to the joist. I put some board adhesive along the edges to glue the new piece in, then put scrim around the joints and used multfinish to complete. Looks grand.
Well done un, another job done. I had to do rather a big filling job on a ceiling a few years back. Was in the bedroom with the carpet partly rolled up & was in a hurry to finish the job off, foot slipped off the carpet & straight through the lath & plaster ceiing below, rather a big hole to fill but I did it ok & the customer was happy with it. When I was employed many years ago I was using one of those heavy duty kango for chasing the walls, very hard bricks & very soft joints . Not a good combination as most off the bricks where sitting on the floor in the other room. All sorted though. We all have problems on occasions
Have you had the picture falling off the wall as well, Wal? You are hammering away and you hear 'crash' and the bloody picture on the other side of the wall has hit the deck! I now remove all pictures off the wall behind the one I am working on.
Un - Glad you sorted it mate. Out of curiosity, do you do your making good for ceilings and walls normally, or get a plasterer in? The falling picture! Had a glass fall off once Wal - Thats a good idea about setting the piece slightly higher to allow for a few mm of plaster! I normally put two thin coats on and then use the brush to feather it in, but willl try what you suggest next time.
Hi FATS, I have tried several methods of making good on jobs. i can do a reasonable job of making good but I have found it is disproportionate to do this in terms of time and money. You can spend, say, a couple of hours doing the electrical installation then 4 hours making good and it just doesn't add up. On house rewires I have found costing in a plasterer is best as it finishes the job off nicely. If I make a mistake and damage stuff I try to make it good myself to avoid losing profit but again it all depends on the scale of the task. With plastering it is the time it takes for the stuff to set so you can get a finish. Hours trowelling is not a good situation for a sparky to be in. I think overall it is best not to make good if it is avoidable.
Hate it when that happens. Sinking socket boxes into thin block walls is a nightmare. Sometimes I bed the boxes into plaster in the chase, let it dry then screw in sideways.
Hi UN, Yeah, i can see where you are coming from mate. I guess it all boils down to whether its worth (time versus quote) making good yourself, or getting a spread in. I've done a fair bit of plastering but know what you mean as there is a fair bit of waiting around for say a ceiling or wall, compared to making good of a cable drop that you can go back to whilst doing other things.
I tend to agree with UN on this. While I can do a bit of plastering myself, It is not something I like doing and I'm slow at doing it. A good pro will do a whole room in a couple of hours. For that reason I tend to get a plasterer in to do it.
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