Mark wrote in message ...
Wickes plaster is Knauf I think,
As Metacrawler says on searching for "Knauf plaster"......."Did you
mean naff plaster?"

Naff is how I've found it, google found
http://tinyurl.com/5hase


Well, I'm just about finished and I have to say, hats off to all plasterers
out there! All I can say is you must be very fit and very patient.

Anyway...

Wish I'd read this before buying 4 bags of the Knauf stuff... :-) D'oh!
Only bought it 'cause that's what everyone else seemed to be buying so I
(wrongly) thought it must be the product of choice. Oh well, live and
learn...

Anyway, after persevering with 1 batch of the Wickes/Knauf stuff (and
thinking my plastering technique was to blame) I eventually gave up, went
back to Wickes and bought the Thistle Multi-Finish instead. The Knauf stuff
would be OK for minor patching jobs etc. since the finish is pretty good
without polishing, but other than that it's the work of the devil. The
Thistle stuff is MUCH MUCH easier to work with (although it does go off
quicker so you have to work faster).

I also sharpened up / rounded the edges off my float, which helped a lot.
Never heard of this tip before - found it on he
http://www.goldtrowel.org/plastering-tips.htm. Before doing this I had a
big problem with trowel marks from the sharp edges of the float.

Also, for future reference, Thistle Bonding Coat should NOT be left to dry
out before applying subsequent coats (D'OH!!!). It's so ultra-absorbent the
skim dries the second it touches the basecoat and a) makes it completely
unworkable and b) stops the skim from sticking properly. I found this out
the hard way when a large section of skim 'fell off' the wall. IF the
basecoat dries out you MUST re-PVA the wall before applying the final skim.

Anyway, just about got my head 'round this plastering stuff and I'm glad I
had a bash at it, but never again. I repeat...

NEVER
AGAIN

Andy