george (dicegeorge) coughed up some electrons that declared:



I've got a ton of plastering to do, like most of a (small) house. And
although I'm quite competent at most DIY tasks, electrical, plumbing,
Joinery etc, I've never plastered anything in my life.

ditto here...

i'm thinking of roughly plastering the walls
then getting an expert to skim over and do a luverly job
but how could i mess it up and make their job harder,
such that theyd have to remove all my work?

If I dont use PVA correctly beforehand would my plaster have to be
removed?

They never used to, though I expect they would have wetted the walls down
first and scraped off the paint(?). You really should use PVA (cheap
enough) and *definately* on friable or painted surfaces.

Apply one dilute PVA to soak into the bare plaster bits and another less
dilute coat an hour (+/-) before plastering and plaster to the the tacky,
not dry, surface.

Cheers

Tim