Has my plasterer done an acceptable job?

Discussion in 'Other Trades Talk' started by Dsdans, Nov 30, 2018.

  1. Dsdans

    Dsdans New Member

    Hi,

    Never paid someone to do plastering for me before so I'm not sure what's reasonable to expect. The work was done 3 days ago and since then the windows have been left open to keep the room cool as requested by plasterer.

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    Walls are reasonably flat, and the condition before was fairly bad. Half the room was then overboarded and the rest bonded by the plasterer.

    Is this a good job? Should I expect some issues to be rectified? I imagine the skrim tape being visible in the first photo isn't really acceptable?

    I'm paying just over £400 in the Midlands
     
    Topetamer likes this.
  2. No,the photo's are not great,but there looks to be a lot of issues.
    When it dries you will see better and show up even more with a coat of paint.
     
  3. chippie244

    chippie244 Super Member

    That's awful. It needs another coat.
     
  4. CGN

    CGN Screwfix Select

    Looks rough tbh. Can't always tell frpm photos, or until its painted, but whoever plastered that, is not a propper spread.
     
    DIY womble likes this.
  5. Dsdans

    Dsdans New Member

    Sorry, i know im highlighted in on the errors and its hars to see the full picture.

    Would you recommend I ask him to come back and do another full coat? Is it not something that can be filled/patched up?

    Issue is most of the bathroom is fitted now.
     
  6. chippie244

    chippie244 Super Member

    You can see the joint tape and that will show.
     
  7. kitfit1

    kitfit1 Screwfix Select

    I'm not a plasterer, but have a lot of experience of seeing both good and bad plastering. In my view, the plasterer didn't wait long enough for the first coat went off before applying the second coat. That is plainly obvious when you look at the "shrink back" from the bead in the 3rd pic. As chippie244 says, it needs another coat. Which actually begs the question, did the plasterer even give it 2 coats in the first place ?
     
    Allsorts likes this.
  8. Dsdans

    Dsdans New Member

    The bead is slightly showing on all the corners. Is this normal? Will it look bad when painted?

    I don't know what to do at this stage. It's our 1st house and it's the 1st time someone has done work I'm not really happy with
     
  9. DIY womble

    DIY womble Well-Known Member

    What
    Assumed the 3rd pic was a floated bonding coat that shrunk from poor "suction control" , probably during top coat trowelled with lashings of water.
    Mist coat and ask him to see what he thinks
     
    Jord86 likes this.
  10. chippie244

    chippie244 Super Member

    Tell the plasterer that you're not happy, ask him to come back to discuss the problem, show him the problem and if he's any sort of a tradesman he will hold his hands up and sort it out.
    Don't be bolshy, which I'm sure you won't be, but be strong because that isn't right.
     
    Allsorts likes this.
  11. Wayners

    Wayners Screwfix Select

    I think they skimmed OK ish but the preparation was not right causing problems in the plaster as it dried. That's my guess. Call them back to have a look. The fibre tape showing can be fixed with a fine sanding, and can show like that sometimes but the corners don't look good and the main problem. As for dring it can take a week if the weather is damp unlike summertime when it's dry in 48 hours
     
    Allsorts likes this.
  12. blarblarblarblar

    blarblarblarblar Active Member

    Would you recommend I ask him to come back and do another full coat? Is it not something that can be filled/patched up?

    Issue is most of the bathroom is fitted now.[/QUOTE]
    I wouldn’t ask him back to do another poor job...have you paid.
     
  13. Wayners

    Wayners Screwfix Select

    I'd call him back... If I was called back I make good . That would be digg out naff areas. Fill. Sand and I'd prime ready for emulsion. I get it's looking perfect with nice white primer on ready to paint. I apologise and say any problems give me a call. 28 years in the trade I've never mucked up . On no not me. No ever.. Hum...
     
    Allsorts and chippie244 like this.
  14. Dsdans

    Dsdans New Member

    I wouldn’t ask him back to do another poor job...have you paid.[/QUOTE]
    No I have not yet paid.

    I don't want to not pay someone for a couple of days graft, I just want it put right.
    Is it THAT bad I shouldn't be comfortable with him trying to patch up?
     
  15. Wayners

    Wayners Screwfix Select

    You got to give the guy a chance to put it right. Imo... You just can't say get lost and I ain't paying you... If he doesn't put it right then tell him to get lost. Not I nice position to be in though.
     
    Allsorts likes this.
  16. Astramax

    Astramax Super Member

    Looks pretty average after ten days training at the Skill Centre. :rolleyes:
     
  17. Dsdans

    Dsdans New Member

    So...
    Had the plasterer back round today to have a look around. Showed him the issues I took pictures of. The scrim tape apparently won't be seen after painting.
    I'm told the rest of the issues should lightly sand smooth or be filled, and that he was "up against it" on this one.
    I grabbed some sanding pads for h8m to demonstrate this, and when he tried and failed to smooth out the patch in photo 2 he simply asked "what do you want to pay me"...

    Unhappy at this point and realising it would take me some hours of filling and sanding to get right, I grabbed my wallet and paid him £380 (£50 shy of full quote, please bear in mind at the last minute I was also asked to scrape all of the artex off the ceiling, to which I agreed and got on with).

    He was very unhappy with this and accused me of doing him over. I feel I was generous.

    Have I underpaid here, really?
     
    Last edited: Dec 1, 2018
    Paul12345 likes this.
  18. DIY womble

    DIY womble Well-Known Member

    Depends on your agreement, personally I don't quote overskim work , £/hr or please get someone else
     
  19. Allsorts

    Allsorts Super Member

    Dsdans - relax - you are best shot of him, and you certainly have not underpaid him - quite the opposite.

    What an unprofessional attitude from the guy - awful.

    1) He shouldn't have 'been up against it' in the first place; he should have allowed enough time to do a proper job. You should never compromise the quality of your work like that.
    2) He should have realised that it wasn't good enough and not wait to be told this by an unhappy customer.
    3) He shouldn't have tried to fob you off with anything suggesting it's an easy fix, as if it ain't a problem - it is. And it's his.
    4) He failed to sort out the patchy issue but, rather than act in a professional manner and suggest professional ways to sort it, he just copped out as if he just couldn't be bothered.
    5) Once he made it clear he wasn't up to sorting it, or couldn't be bothered doing so, he should have offered you a very substantial discount that reflects either the hours needed to fix it, or else the cost of paying someone else to do so. I'd suggest 50%. No kidding.

    You were very generous. He was a complete a***.

    If this guy is on t'net using sites which encourage reviews, then he does deserve one - obviously clear and factual.

    Now that he's gone, how do you sort this? Are you up for some work?! This shouldn't be too bad to sort; it is largely a case of light sanding and then I'd suggest a coat of stabiliser followed by a coat of matt emulsion. Then you can look at it and see what bits need filling in - and there are quite a few, but it shouldn't be a hassle.

    (If you try and 'fill' the cracks, shrinks and holes first, it'll be a 'mare as the dry skim will suck the life out of the filler you apply and make it hellish to work.)

    My main concern would be the bits that have shrunk back (the corner beadings) and the bits that show cracks and crazes; are these still firmly attached or do they sound hollow? Hopefully they are firmly stuck so all they'll need is filling and sanding back.

    Ok, this is what I'd do - pros will likely have their own methods. First, I wouldn't get another plasterer in for the simple reason that - although it's the 'ideal' solution - it will cost you the same amount again. Also, I don't think it's essential.

    First I would gently sand the whole surface after its fully dried - all of it light pink. For most of the areas this will be the lightest of sanding using, say, 180 grit on a flat block. Then the patchy areas - if the edges are raised - will need more work to feather it off neatly. The areas with the scrim tape showing should be done very lightly - the barest amount to remove any ridges/textures you can feel under your fingertips. Chances are this will be ok for painting afterwards - I hope some of the scrim pattern is only because of the drying pattern and not because it's actually showing through the skim!

    Ok, brush/wipe down the walls to get them dust free. This is what I would do now (and have done in the past when faced with varying dodgy surfaces like this); I would roller on a good coat of stabilising solution such as Everbuild 406 which is cheap-but-good. The reason I would do this is many - well, at least two; it will soak in well and 'stabilise' - bond/solidify - that plaster skim, especially important where there are cracks showing - it should bond it all together. It will also bond that skim where it's thin and fragile to the substrate behind it - it'll soak right in and 'glue' it all together. Finally it'll make that skim unsucky so that when you apply filler and then paint, it won't suck it dry and make it hard to work.

    That's three reasons.

    Once stabilised, I think I would actually go ahead with the first coat of paint - use matt emulsion. I wouldn't bother diluting this first coat as the surface has been sealed and stabilised - it therefore ain't necessary. Once this good coat dries, you will have a very good idea of what is still required. Hopefully the scrim tape has disappeared - jobbie jobbed. Hopefully the patchy areas are also near-not-noticeable - jobbie probably jobbed. They will quite likely require further sanding, but you'll actually find that this good matt coat will have acted as a very fine surface filler and would have helped to blend in these boundaries.

    That leaves the holes (last pic) the crazies and the shrunken corner beads. These are all handled the same way - with fine surface filler. You need to be careful here and not choose a really 'good' type that sets rock hard, but rather a pre-mixed type which is dead easy to sand after it dries. (I did a tidy-up at t'in-law's house when she sold it, and filled numerous picture hook holes with Ronseal ready-mixed fine surface filler. It's great stuff, but I hand't realised that the walls were p'board and not skimmed; as I sanded the filler, the surrounding areas 'roughed up' as the thin paint and paper layer was sanded - the filler was the hardest parts by far. A 'mare...)

    Fill these gaps and crazies using a filling knife, levelling it off neatly - hold the blade at a low angle as you do the final scrape - you can always add a further layer, but you want to reduce sanding to a min.

    Paint over - perhaps a slightly-thinned first coat, or else stabilise as before - and see how it looks.

    You'll get there :)
     
    DIY womble likes this.
  20. blarblarblarblar

    blarblarblarblar Active Member

    Underpaid, NO. you have got some work todo and as Allsorts has said, you’ll get there...happy sanding.
     

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