Plastering a wall, Any Guide out there on how to do it?

This is about 2- 3 days work for a decent pro, so by the time you've bought some kit to do the work, you won't be a million miles off the cost of a days professional plastering. Just something to consider before starting

 

Without being rude, a big part of this depends on the finish that you want / expect and also, if your then expecting to just paint over the skim

For a novice wishing to learn, seems a big job to take on for the first attempt. Maybe 2-3 days getting the plaster on the wall but. How many days then going over the stuff and sorting out the blemishes

Realise your labour is free but sometimes you just have to be realistic, although fair play for the have a go attitude

DA has some experience with DIY plastering and loads of advise / advice / both in fact. Hopefully he may well offer you his wisdom

 

Just pay a pro to do the job, 80m2 to plaster isn't a small area for some who has never plastered before.

Get it wrong,it's an expensive way to learn to plaster when you have to get someone to sort it out your mistakes.

 

I,ve just done about 10sq mtrs as part of a refurb,I,m a spark and don,t normally do plastering except for patching,the guy asked me to do it as it was not in an area that was on show and he wanted to save a bit of time and money.It's not as good as a proper plasterer would have done but the guy is happy,he couldn't get a plasterer in the timescale for the job and the one he used last time was worse than me.However what I would say is that it was 24 degrees centigrade on the day I did the job,I had all the right tools,hawk,float,internal and external corner trowels as well as a margin trowel and power mixer and it was hard going! It's a delicate balance,how much plaster do you mix in one go,how smooth you try to get it before waiting for final polish,once the mix starts to go off you'll never get a decent finish on the wall.I've seen a lot of amateurs make a mess by playing with it for too long,you have to know how far to go with it,then know how long to wait before you splash water on it and polish out the final marks.To be honest I'd start with a small area and see how I went on with that,the tools are not cheap and without them you will struggle.For an area that size I think I'd employ someone,a hawk is going to set you back at least £15,a good float about £25,the other trowels about £15 each,fine if you can do it and have more work but for a one off I'd bite the bullet and get someone in.It may look easy when you watch a professional but that's just it,I make my job look easy but then again I've been doing it for over 30 years,it's the experience and skill that makes any job look easy.

 

Agree Phil, my Refina Plaziflex Plastic trowel alone cost £25, once you add in other trowels cost soon go up, not worth the expense for a one off job.

As for splashing water on,occasionally still use a brush, but I tend to use a spray bottle/ sprayer now, less messy.

 

Wau, what's the worse that can happen, you ask...

Actually, the worst is that you'll spend a loooong time sanding and filling if it goes wrong

Actually, possibly the worst is if you mistime it and try and use plaster that's started to go orf - you then run the real risk of it not adhering properly - and that would be a 'mare.

But but but - should you give it a bash? Of course!

I've written speils on this, and really can't be arrissed doing so again, so really it's a case of watching videos and going for it.

What I would say is, aim for sections you can manage at a time - one small, contained wall; stop at the corners!

Use a proper mixing tool you put in a drill.

Get a good trowel - the one KIAB keeps going on about sounds good

Have decent lighting, sat at a lowish angle to the wall at the far end - especially important when you are 'polishing' and getting the finish to its best.

Apply the first coat and get it basically level with no major tramlines and/or hollows. Then get the next coat on top - starting at the same point as before, so the first coat will have firmed up a bit by having some of its water drawn oot by the 'board.

Once the second coat is on, don't fuss over it - just get it 'on' and levelled and flatten out any major tramlines and fill in any major hollows - do NOT try and get it smooth, 'cos it won't. 'Cos it's soft.

You need to wait until it starts to go a bit like 'plasticine' - thick and can be pressed into shape. Only then can you really start to smoothen it orf. Of course, you then only have a certain 'window' to play with...

The more it sets, the harder you can press with the blade if need be to smoothen it off, so the progressively better the finish you'll get.

When you go over it for the final polishing stages, you m ay well be holding the trowel blade at a goodly 45o so's to 'scrape' the surface, removing any sticky-out bits that shouldn't be...

I use a spray-bottle too - at the end it's spray-wipe, spray-wipe...

Good news - when you finish, it'll look GREAT! A nice smooth deep pink - yummy.

Bad news - then it'll dry and look a bit pants... Light pink with obvious hollows, ridges, and other nasties. Probably.

Nice low-angle light - flat sanding block and 400-ish grit (coarse-ish, but make sure it doesn't leave scratches - go finer if it does) and a good dust mask. Work over the worst of it, but don't fuss too much.

Brush it down, give it a diluted coat of matt emulsion (around 20% water) and - more good news - it'll look darned good again!

Once this coat has dried, you can then decide if it's ok or whether there's more localised sanding to be done, or even a wipe over with surface filler in any hollows.

The next wall you do will likely be better - since you don;t have anyone there to guide you, it'll be a case of learning by your 'mistakes'. Which is fine.

When you come to do the next wall, watch out for the first wall drawing out water from your fresh skim and ending up with dry crumbling plaster along the corner - you may need to spray the freshly-done edge first to stop it drawing.

Enjoy - it is GREAT fun. Frustrating and rewarding in equal measures...

 

Just buy a standard size 11" Ish trowel...Ragni are good value for money. You don't need any corner trowels or Darby.

 

NO! NO PVA! (Except when it's needed in some exceptional areas. But not of fresh p'baord.)

Corners - really, you should fit plastic (or stainless steel) corner beading on external corners - perfect finish and really strong.

Don't know which trowels to recommend. I'd be tempted by the plastic one KIAB goes orn about, tho' - looks interesting. Don't forget you are about to save yourself a £ew hundred, so why not £25-odd on a decent trowel.

After all, if you buy a cheapie, you'll chust blame it when it all goes pear-shaped...


Once last tip: go for it as tho' you are already a pro, or at least as if you know what you are doing. Intimidate that wall... . Pretend it's your buddy - after all, you are going to get plastered together...

 

Many advantages old chap, blade is replaceable, blade is available in various lengths, it's has a slight flex, you can't cut yourself with a plastic blade, like you can with a metal one.
Any nicks in blade can be rub out out with fine sandpaper,trowel is lighter, not so tiring on the arms,& it's easier to polish off with one.





And good light is a must.

 

I am terrible at plastering but superb at getting plastered!

 

If you are on plaserboard you shouldn't need a Darby,normally you only need them on old brickwork,you use them to get a level surface.Basically you put a laod of plaster on the wall and use the Darby to get an approximate level,then smooth it out with the float,the Darby just stops you getting massive differences in the finish,yes you can still get slight humps and hollows but they're only millimetres,on rough brick without one you can get massive humps and hollows.

 

There is a tutorial video of Stephen Norton where he explains how to plaster a wall:


Use a trowel to place the mound of the veneer plaster onto the hawk and then scoop up some plaster with the trowel and then make sure that it is centered on its blade.


Smear the plaster onto the wall with the trowel by using an unsweeping motion.Turn the trowel over and then work the plaster down.


Maintain an even pressure whilst doing this to produce a thin,plaster coat and then continue working across the wall using a stepladder to reach higher areas.

 

I would let wall dry,a day all to easy to mark it, as it a skim will quickly dry.