In article ,
"Bob Mannix" writes:
When I were young, I assumed that one plastered the dark side of
plasterboard and used the ivory side if you weren't skimming (note I said
"assumed", 'assumption is the mother of all cock-ups' etc...). As I matured
I came to the conclusion you could skim either side but used to skim the
dark side still.

I note now that manufacturers carefully stamp "plaster other side only" on
the dark side (ie you must use the ivory side).

Don't really want a huge flame of indignation (but it is uk.d-i-y, that's
kind of a given ) ). Two questions:

1. Have I been wrong all this time?

No - it changed about 25 years ago when we started importing
significant amounts of plasterboard, and the UK had been at
odds with the rest of the world.
(This was covered on my plastering course.)

2. What is the *manufacturer's* reason for insisting you plaster the ivory
side?

Ivory side is quality controlled with regards to absorbency, to
give consistent results when plastered (or painted). Brown side
isn't and different boards might behave differently.

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