[Tim S]

Hi,

Thanks for the previous tips on PVA (1:5 dilution to stabilise old plaster
and 1:3 over everything to ensure plaster sticks, especially to painted
bits).

With that and a few viewings of this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rO4orltyxfk

I tried re-skimming my first whole wall today. And it turned out not bad.
Not pro - but just about good enough not to hack it off and start again.

It was rubbish after the first flattening in but the second ultra thin coat
of multifinish magically transformed it.

Now the problem I had was the edges - inside edges mostly, but external
corners too to some extent.

I found that no matter how hard I tried, I tend to have too little thickness
there leading to hollows. I found it difficult to apply and work the
plaster into the corners. All the natural motions with a trowell tend to
want to take plaster away from inside edges.

Any tips?

Cheers


Tim

[jim]

On 25 Apr, 23:35, Tim S wrote:
Hi,

Thanks for the previous tips on PVA (1:5 dilution to stabilise old plaster
and 1:3 over everything to ensure plaster sticks, especially to painted
bits).

With that and a few viewings of this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rO4orltyxfk

I tried re-skimming my first whole wall today. And it turned out not bad.
Not pro - but just about good enough not to hack it off and start again.

It was rubbish after the first flattening in but the second ultra thin coat
of multifinish magically transformed it.

Now the problem I had was the edges - inside edges mostly, but external
corners too to some extent.

I found that no matter how hard I tried, I tend to have too little thickness
there leading to hollows. I found it difficult to apply and work the
plaster into the corners. All the natural motions with a trowell tend to
want to take plaster away from inside edges.

Any tips?

Cheers

Tim

practise practise etc -

Internal corners - pick up some plaster along the long edge of the
trowel and then stick that into the corner first press on and pull
horizontally out of the corner - repeat as necess. save vertical
strokes for smoothing etc.

don;t try to plaster 2 adjacent internal corner faces in one session -
far easier to let it go off and mix up again for the "other" side...
before doing that wet the edge of the preiously done face (spray or
brush) so the new stuff isn't sucked dry straightaway.

jim

[Tim S]

jim coughed up some electrons that declared:

On 25 Apr, 23:35, Tim S wrote:
Hi,

Thanks for the previous tips on PVA (1:5 dilution to stabilise old
plaster and 1:3 over everything to ensure plaster sticks, especially to
painted bits).

With that and a few viewings of this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rO4orltyxfk

I tried re-skimming my first whole wall today. And it turned out not bad.
Not pro - but just about good enough not to hack it off and start again.

It was rubbish after the first flattening in but the second ultra thin
coat of multifinish magically transformed it.

Now the problem I had was the edges - inside edges mostly, but external
corners too to some extent.

I found that no matter how hard I tried, I tend to have too little
thickness there leading to hollows. I found it difficult to apply and
work the plaster into the corners. All the natural motions with a trowell
tend to want to take plaster away from inside edges.

Any tips?

Cheers

Tim

practise practise etc -

Internal corners - pick up some plaster along the long edge of the
trowel and then stick that into the corner first press on and pull
horizontally out of the corner - repeat as necess. save vertical
strokes for smoothing etc.

OK - I'll give that a try. I was trying to do vertical strokes straight
away.

don;t try to plaster 2 adjacent internal corner faces in one session -
far easier to let it go off and mix up again for the "other" side...
before doing that wet the edge of the preiously done face (spray or
brush) so the new stuff isn't sucked dry straightaway.


Hehe - I'd already figured that

If my speed picks up, I'll aim to do opposite walls in alternation (2nd on
whilst first going cheesy).


Thanks

Tim

[Andrew Gabriel]

In article ,
jim writes:
practise practise etc -

I usually suggest starting with the cupboard under the stairs,
or the garage wall, or similar.

Internal corners - pick up some plaster along the long edge of the
trowel and then stick that into the corner first press on and pull
horizontally out of the corner - repeat as necess. save vertical
strokes for smoothing etc.

don;t try to plaster 2 adjacent internal corner faces in one session -
far easier to let it go off and mix up again for the "other" side...
before doing that wet the edge of the preiously done face (spray or
brush) so the new stuff isn't sucked dry straightaway.

The ceiling edge is a more tricky version of the same thing,
because pulling down vertically pulls the plaster off the wall.
The way to do this is to do the wall up to that point as close
as you can (say, within a trowel's width). Then you use the last
bit of your plaster mix, which is probably starting to go off
and stiffen up a little by this point, to do the same trick as
above. It will still slide down the trowel face, but when you've
got it against the wall (without hesitating, or you'll find it's
all over your feet), you can pivot the trowel to force it back
up to the top, and then pull away carefully, in a circular
motion so you aren't pulling downwards.

(One of the most difficult ones I've done was a ceiling edge
up against an artexted ceiling with thousands of little
stalactites hanging from it. You end up snapping them off
with the trowel edge and dragging them into your finish coat,
wrecking it until you painstakingly pick them all out.)

A circular motion upwards in vertical corners is also a good
trick to avoid pulling the plaster away.

Keep an eye on the straightness of the corner. If it's a
wavering line, that's because you haven't got the plaster on
evenly, and some areas probably need more plaster to straighten
it. It's more important (visually) to get corners straight than
it is to keep the wall perfectly flat in the lead up to the
corner. You will find that in most professionally plastered
rooms, the flat face of the wall comes out a little at the
inside corners, and no one ever notices (unless they are trying
to fit something perfectly square hard up against the plaster).

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]

[Tim S]

Andrew Gabriel coughed up some electrons that declared:

In article
, jim
writes:
practise practise etc -

I usually suggest starting with the cupboard under the stairs,
or the garage wall, or similar.

Out of necessity I started with a chimney breast - talk about making life
hard

Internal corners - pick up some plaster along the long edge of the
trowel and then stick that into the corner first press on and pull
horizontally out of the corner - repeat as necess. save vertical
strokes for smoothing etc.

don;t try to plaster 2 adjacent internal corner faces in one session -
far easier to let it go off and mix up again for the "other" side...
before doing that wet the edge of the preiously done face (spray or
brush) so the new stuff isn't sucked dry straightaway.

The ceiling edge is a more tricky version of the same thing,
because pulling down vertically pulls the plaster off the wall.
The way to do this is to do the wall up to that point as close
as you can (say, within a trowel's width). Then you use the last
bit of your plaster mix, which is probably starting to go off
and stiffen up a little by this point, to do the same trick as
above. It will still slide down the trowel face, but when you've
got it against the wall (without hesitating, or you'll find it's
all over your feet), you can pivot the trowel to force it back
up to the top, and then pull away carefully, in a circular
motion so you aren't pulling downwards.

OK - think I understand that. I didn't find small amounts too bad at sliding
off - it was when I had 1/2 hawk's worth then the floor got covered.

(One of the most difficult ones I've done was a ceiling edge
up against an artexted ceiling with thousands of little
stalactites hanging from it. You end up snapping them off
with the trowel edge and dragging them into your finish coat,
wrecking it until you painstakingly pick them all out.)

A circular motion upwards in vertical corners is also a good
trick to avoid pulling the plaster away.

Keep an eye on the straightness of the corner. If it's a
wavering line, that's because you haven't got the plaster on
evenly, and some areas probably need more plaster to straighten
it. It's more important (visually) to get corners straight than
it is to keep the wall perfectly flat in the lead up to the
corner. You will find that in most professionally plastered
rooms, the flat face of the wall comes out a little at the
inside corners, and no one ever notices (unless they are trying
to fit something perfectly square hard up against the plaster).


I did find that at the flattening out stage, I could detect this - I got a
fairly long trowell (13" IIRC) and it does make achieving general flatness
easier - one of the Marshalltown Permashapes. I must say it's very good.
There were 3 of us on this, and at one stage my nephew has the good trowell
and I used an old one, which was horrible (too flat).

I'll be sinking the electrics next week, so I'll get some more practise
doing all the rest of the walls.

It's very satisfying doing a job with perhaps 20 quids worth of materials
that a pro would charge 200-300 quid for I can live with less than
perfect for that. For odd dints there's always polyfilla.

Cheers

Tim

[The Medway Handyman]

Tim S wrote:
Hi,

Thanks for the previous tips on PVA (1:5 dilution to stabilise old
plaster and 1:3 over everything to ensure plaster sticks, especially
to painted bits).

With that and a few viewings of this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rO4orltyxfk

Love the video! He's got everything; stubble, bum crack, tea addiction,
cash payment - typical British builder :-)


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk

[Tim S]

The Medway Handyman coughed up some electrons that declared:

Tim S wrote:
Hi,

Thanks for the previous tips on PVA (1:5 dilution to stabilise old
plaster and 1:3 over everything to ensure plaster sticks, especially
to painted bits).

With that and a few viewings of this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rO4orltyxfk

Love the video! He's got everything; stubble, bum crack, tea addiction,
cash payment - typical British builder :-)



He made my whole family laugh.

I reckon he's been or is a professional instructor too - he has the
presentation skills.

[Stuart B[_4_]]

On Sat, 25 Apr 2009 23:35:19 +0100, Tim S wrote:

Hi,

Thanks for the previous tips on PVA (1:5 dilution to stabilise old plaster
and 1:3 over everything to ensure plaster sticks, especially to painted
bits).

With that and a few viewings of this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rO4orltyxfk

I tried re-skimming my first whole wall today. And it turned out not bad.
Not pro - but just about good enough not to hack it off and start again.

It was rubbish after the first flattening in but the second ultra thin coat
of multifinish magically transformed it.

Now the problem I had was the edges - inside edges mostly, but external
corners too to some extent.

I found that no matter how hard I tried, I tend to have too little thickness
there leading to hollows. I found it difficult to apply and work the
plaster into the corners. All the natural motions with a trowell tend to
want to take plaster away from inside edges.

Any tips?

Cheers


Tim
You can get a trowel designed for internal corners I believe .





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[Anna Kettle[_3_]]

On Sun, 26 Apr 2009 12:26:06 GMT, "The Medway Handyman"
wrote:

Tim S wrote:
Hi,

Thanks for the previous tips on PVA (1:5 dilution to stabilise old
plaster and 1:3 over everything to ensure plaster sticks, especially
to painted bits).

With that and a few viewings of this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rO4orltyxfk

Love the video! He's got everything; stubble, bum crack, tea addiction,
cash payment - typical British builder :-)

And a step ladder which would make a H&S person have a fit

Anna

[Andrew Gabriel]

In article ,
Tim S writes:
For odd dints there's always polyfilla.

Reminds me, probably 2nd or 3rd wall I did... Had just finished
getting it smoothed out, waiting for it to go off some more so
I could polish it. Wasn't going to need any more plaster, so I
cleaned up and packed away the plastering table (a sheet of ply
clamped to the Workmate), folded up the Workmate, which promptly
toppled over and went crashing into the new plaster :-(

--
Andrew Gabriel
[email address is not usable -- followup in the newsgroup]