Plastering a large ceiling in sections

Hi,

I normally plaster whole ceilings in one go, 2 coats of skim, but I usually have decked out the room with milk crates and reused plywood to walk on while plastering ceiling to avoid the need for ladders, but if u do not have this and rely on say a step ladder or a scaff board and two crates or whatever then it might be best to plaster in sections, where u PVA the whole ceiling as usual, then plaster the section of ceiling, flatten it and feather out the edge of plaster coat before moving your access equipment and maybe knocking up more plaster and then plaster the next section and so on, ensure u do it in the same day to make it easier to achieve a invisible join between the sections of plaster and go back to plaster the 2nd coat as before but this time make sure the plaster s flat and smooth before moving on to next section so on.. if u wish u could always go back and polish the plaster again..
Best if u get someone to knock up the plaster for u as u work, easier and quicker to get ceiling done before it sets!
Hope you manage ok, plastering is not a easy job even tho' pros make it look easy!

 

I agree with plasterboy.Had a 25 foot bt 11 foot ceiling to do a few weeks ago.Asked advice on this forum which was basically what p/boy is saying.Used a 8by4 piece of plywood on top of milk crates(great idea).Paid my nephew a few quid to knock up for me and did the whole lot in one go.Hard work,my arm was shorter than the other when I finished but the householder was happy with my work and so was I when he coughed up the readies.

 

hello all thats right you really do need to skim it in one go I dont care who you are you will always see it , well I could anyway deck the whole room out with small trestles you need to be about 10 inches away from the ceilinf these people who skim a whole ceiling on steps and crates are just daft.

Andy

 

Hi Andy,
Welcome to the forum, yeah trestles re great, I also come from a long line of plasterers/builders and milk crates and scaffolding planks always been the prefered method, got single crates and two crates welded together, just found them in skips etc and used them!! Easy to set up and take down! Every tradesmen to their own method as long they get the job done to a high standard.. Just curios, do you mean using trestles with scaffolding planks laid on them? Metal trestles aren't they heavy? Cheers for now

 

Hi all
yeah i always use crates to skim the tops of walls and the odd small ceiling but where talking about a large ceiling and cretes are no good what so ever 1, they are to short ! 2, they can twist third and most important its bad for your health. A major killer for plasterers is heart attacks from over strecting and straing you body , just like skimming a ceiling off cretes so thats where trestles come in the small ones which the top lifts up take up no room in your van store them down the garden when your not using them. I always use trestles with planks if i havnt enough i just use cretes to take the whip out of the plank.

 

i remember when spreads always used courage beer crates or hovis bread bins.never yet seen a spread using a sainsburys box.but a lot now use the robo legs (stilts) an seems 2 work well.

 

I always use the bright green whites lemonade cretes i can remember my dad and grandad using the big metal drums death traps ...

 

http://www.screwfix.com/talk/thread.jspa?forumID=21&threadID=19675&messageID=192588#192588

Read this: Being the best plasterer on two legs in the whole wide world bar none.... Robbo knows what he's talking about

 

get ur point robbo,so wat iv u were working on the 6th floor or higher,say service lifts were caput,nice wallpaper up the staircase,wood u still want 2 lug up all those boards an bring em down when u finished.

 

They would have to be paying me a Kings ransom to walk up six flights of stairs to plaster a ceiling B&S, so if they were, the answer is simple....pay some fecker else to carry em for me!!

 

capitalist