Is it my lack of skill or the plaster? I have had to cut out a smallish
area of plaster to fill in a large crack. Normally I use undercoat and
the finish plaster, though no expert I can usually get a reasonable
finish. However the sheds only seem to do large bags of undercoat and
finishing plaster, which would be a waste, so I purchased one coat
plaster, however the finish looks more like rough cast than plaster.
What am I doing wrong, or is one coat plaster normally difficult to
finish satisfactorily?
--
Remember the early bird may catch the worm but the second mouse gets the
cheese.

Broadback wrote:

However the sheds only seem to do large bags of undercoat and
finishing plaster, which would be a waste, so I purchased one coat
plaster, however the finish looks more like rough cast than plaster.
What am I doing wrong, or is one coat plaster normally difficult to
finish satisfactorily?

I used a load once when first playing with plaster and it was very
course and not at all finishable in a good way. Having played with
finishing plaster since, I'd be tempted to use that exclusively for
filling chases, etc.

Scott

In message , Broadback
writes
Is it my lack of skill or the plaster? I have had to cut out a smallish
area of plaster to fill in a large crack. Normally I use undercoat and
the finish plaster, though no expert I can usually get a reasonable
finish. However the sheds only seem to do large bags of undercoat and
finishing plaster, which would be a waste, so I purchased one coat
plaster, however the finish looks more like rough cast than plaster.
What am I doing wrong, or is one coat plaster normally difficult to
finish satisfactorily?

Pretty much my experience:-(

Partly lack of skill but floats used once in 10 years a main
contributor. For my next attempt, I will leave space for a finish coat
of polyfilla or some such.

--
Tim Lamb

On 16/01/2013 09:09, Broadback wrote:
Is it my lack of skill or the plaster? I have had to cut out a smallish
area of plaster to fill in a large crack. Normally I use undercoat and
the finish plaster, though no expert I can usually get a reasonable
finish. However the sheds only seem to do large bags of undercoat and
finishing plaster, which would be a waste, so I purchased one coat
plaster, however the finish looks more like rough cast than plaster.
What am I doing wrong, or is one coat plaster normally difficult to
finish satisfactorily?

Last time I had a big bit to do, got some board fixing plaster. Nice and
smooth, slower going off. Relatively sensibly sized bags.

--
Rod

On Jan 16, 9:58 am, polygonum wrote:
On 16/01/2013 09:09, Broadback wrote:

Is it my lack of skill or the plaster? I have had to cut out a smallish
area of plaster to fill in a large crack. Normally I use undercoat and
the finish plaster, though no expert I can usually get a reasonable
finish. However the sheds only seem to do large bags of undercoat and
finishing plaster, which would be a waste, so I purchased one coat
plaster, however the finish looks more like rough cast than plaster.
What am I doing wrong, or is one coat plaster normally difficult to
finish satisfactorily?

Last time I had a big bit to do, got some board fixing plaster. Nice and
smooth, slower going off. Relatively sensibly sized bags.

--
Rod

some what?

Jim K

On 16/01/2013 10:01, Jim K wrote:
On Jan 16, 9:58 am, polygonum wrote:
On 16/01/2013 09:09, Broadback wrote:

Is it my lack of skill or the plaster? I have had to cut out a smallish
area of plaster to fill in a large crack. Normally I use undercoat and
the finish plaster, though no expert I can usually get a reasonable
finish. However the sheds only seem to do large bags of undercoat and
finishing plaster, which would be a waste, so I purchased one coat
plaster, however the finish looks more like rough cast than plaster.
What am I doing wrong, or is one coat plaster normally difficult to
finish satisfactorily?

Last time I had a big bit to do, got some board fixing plaster. Nice and
smooth, slower going off. Relatively sensibly sized bags.

--
Rod

some what?

Jim K

http://www.wickes.co.uk/plasterboard...g/invt/220600/

--
Rod

Is it my lack of skill or the plaster? I have had to cut out a
smallish area of plaster to fill in a large crack. Normally I use
undercoat and the finish plaster, though no expert I can usually get
a reasonable finish. However the sheds only seem to do large bags of
undercoat and finishing plaster, which would be a waste, so I
purchased one coat plaster, however the finish looks more like rough
cast than plaster. What am I doing wrong, or is one coat plaster
normally difficult to finish satisfactorily?

FWIW you are not alone. I've failed miserably with that stuff - even
when I've applied it in two coats as recommended in the past here.
--
Robin
reply to address is (meant to be) valid

On Jan 16, 10:09 am, polygonum wrote:
On 16/01/2013 10:01, Jim K wrote:

On Jan 16, 9:58 am, polygonum wrote:
On 16/01/2013 09:09, Broadback wrote:

Is it my lack of skill or the plaster? I have had to cut out a smallish
area of plaster to fill in a large crack. Normally I use undercoat and
the finish plaster, though no expert I can usually get a reasonable
finish. However the sheds only seem to do large bags of undercoat and
finishing plaster, which would be a waste, so I purchased one coat
plaster, however the finish looks more like rough cast than plaster.
What am I doing wrong, or is one coat plaster normally difficult to
finish satisfactorily?

Last time I had a big bit to do, got some board fixing plaster. Nice and
smooth, slower going off. Relatively sensibly sized bags.

--
Rod

some what?

Jim K

http://www.wickes.co.uk/plasterboard...g/invt/220600/

--
Rod

that's also in a 25kg bag and almost twice as expensive than finish
plaster?

and you used this to do a "big bit" of what?

way to go - er not

Jim K

On Jan 16, 10:30 am, Jim K wrote:
On Jan 16, 10:09 am, polygonum wrote:



On 16/01/2013 10:01, Jim K wrote:

On Jan 16, 9:58 am, polygonum wrote:
On 16/01/2013 09:09, Broadback wrote:

Is it my lack of skill or the plaster? I have had to cut out a smallish
area of plaster to fill in a large crack. Normally I use undercoat and
the finish plaster, though no expert I can usually get a reasonable
finish. However the sheds only seem to do large bags of undercoat and
finishing plaster, which would be a waste, so I purchased one coat
plaster, however the finish looks more like rough cast than plaster.
What am I doing wrong, or is one coat plaster normally difficult to
finish satisfactorily?

Last time I had a big bit to do, got some board fixing plaster. Nice and
smooth, slower going off. Relatively sensibly sized bags.

--
Rod

some what?

Jim K

http://www.wickes.co.uk/plasterboard...g/invt/220600/

--
Rod

that's also in a 25kg bag and almost twice as expensive than finish
plaster?

and you used this to do a "big bit" of what?

way to go - er not

Jim K

also setting time is IIRC 45 mins - i.e. same as more usual
plasters...

did you mean something else?

Jim K

On 16/01/2013 10:34, Jim K wrote:
On Jan 16, 10:30 am, Jim K wrote:
On Jan 16, 10:09 am, polygonum wrote:



On 16/01/2013 10:01, Jim K wrote:

On Jan 16, 9:58 am, polygonum wrote:
On 16/01/2013 09:09, Broadback wrote:

Is it my lack of skill or the plaster? I have had to cut out a smallish
area of plaster to fill in a large crack. Normally I use undercoat and
the finish plaster, though no expert I can usually get a reasonable
finish. However the sheds only seem to do large bags of undercoat and
finishing plaster, which would be a waste, so I purchased one coat
plaster, however the finish looks more like rough cast than plaster.
What am I doing wrong, or is one coat plaster normally difficult to
finish satisfactorily?

Last time I had a big bit to do, got some board fixing plaster. Nice and
smooth, slower going off. Relatively sensibly sized bags.

--
Rod

some what?

Jim K

http://www.wickes.co.uk/plasterboard...g/invt/220600/

--
Rod

that's also in a 25kg bag and almost twice as expensive than finish
plaster?

and you used this to do a "big bit" of what?

way to go - er not

Jim K

also setting time is IIRC 45 mins - i.e. same as more usual
plasters...

did you mean something else?

Jim K

No - but I did only give that link as the first one for that sort of
product. The question had been "some what?" - rather than "where from
and at what price?"

http://www.diy.com/nav/build/buildin...skuId=12388287

There may be other manufacturers, package sizes, retailers and prices.
This is one example only.

Setting time to me seems slower - certainly had no problems with it in
that regard wheres I often do with other products.

--
Rod

On 16/01/2013 10:39, polygonum wrote:


There may be other manufacturers, package sizes, retailers and prices.
This is one example only.

Setting time to me seems slower - certainly had no problems with it in
that regard wheres I often do with other products.


What I use isn't an adhesive, it is the filler for taper edge boards.
Apparently expensive, but it does not go off like finish plaster. My bag
must be 10 years old and it was still working a couple of years ago.

On 16 Jan, 16:03, newshound wrote:
On 16/01/2013 10:39, polygonum wrote:



There may be other manufacturers, package sizes, retailers and prices.
This is one example only.

Setting time to me seems slower - certainly had no problems with it in
that regard wheres I often do with other products.

What I use isn't an adhesive, it is the filler for taper edge boards.
Apparently expensive, but it does not go off like finish plaster. My bag
must be 10 years old and it was still working a couple of years ago.

yeah i once had a ready mixed 25litre? bucket of that stuff - that too
lasted for years ;)

Jim K

On 16/01/2013 10:16, Robin wrote:
Is it my lack of skill or the plaster? I have had to cut out a
smallish area of plaster to fill in a large crack. Normally I use
undercoat and the finish plaster, though no expert I can usually get
a reasonable finish. However the sheds only seem to do large bags of
undercoat and finishing plaster, which would be a waste, so I
purchased one coat plaster, however the finish looks more like rough
cast than plaster. What am I doing wrong, or is one coat plaster
normally difficult to finish satisfactorily?

FWIW you are not alone. I've failed miserably with that stuff - even
when I've applied it in two coats as recommended in the past here.

I'm by no means a plastering expert (for what it costs, I've been
copping out and getting a real plasterer on the job when needed) but
isn't the problem that you can't have everything? In this case, filling
to any serious depth without cracking will always require a coarser
material while a smooth finish needs a finer particle size. My guess is
that if there was a good simple one-coat solution, all the pro
plasterers would use it.
If it's any use to anyone, my man uses hardwall to fill cracks and make
deeper repairs and skims with finish. He reckons the secret to getting
a good finish is to keep going over the surface at the right (difficult
to define, though generally timed in ciggies and tea) points after
applying it. Chatting with him (he hadn't counted before), he floats
everything 7 times.
Since watching him, I have thought about giving it a try again myself
but for what he charges it never seems worth it, especially given the
energy he puts into a day's work and it's always good to watch a skilled
man work...

On 16/01/2013 18:30, Jim K wrote:
On 16 Jan, 16:03, newshound wrote:
On 16/01/2013 10:39, polygonum wrote:



There may be other manufacturers, package sizes, retailers and prices.
This is one example only.

Setting time to me seems slower - certainly had no problems with it in
that regard wheres I often do with other products.

What I use isn't an adhesive, it is the filler for taper edge boards.
Apparently expensive, but it does not go off like finish plaster. My bag
must be 10 years old and it was still working a couple of years ago.

yeah i once had a ready mixed 25litre? bucket of that stuff - that too
lasted for years ;)

I'll second that - I've not found anything as easy to finish for small
repairs as joint filler. It feathers to nothing with no effort, and yes,
it does remain useable for years.

SteveW

On 16/01/2013 10:39, polygonum wrote:
There may be other manufacturers, package sizes, retailers and prices.
This is one example only.

I'm surprised to find (from the data sheet) that Artex, Gyproc and
Thistle are _all_ brands of Saint-Gobain!

Andy

In article ,
Broadback writes:
Is it my lack of skill or the plaster? I have had to cut out a smallish
area of plaster to fill in a large crack. Normally I use undercoat and
the finish plaster, though no expert I can usually get a reasonable
finish. However the sheds only seem to do large bags of undercoat and
finishing plaster, which would be a waste, so I purchased one coat
plaster, however the finish looks more like rough cast than plaster.
What am I doing wrong, or is one coat plaster normally difficult to
finish satisfactorily?

It's a compromise product.

For small quantities in chases/channels, you can use just finish coat
plaster. For the undercoat, mix it up with a _little_ PVA, which makes
it a bit like bonding coat. Use that, leaving space for finish coat.
As this undercoat sets, it will crack badly, but this doesn't matter
in this case, and simply gives you a good surface for the finish coat.

If you have an old (expired) bag of finish coat, it works really well
for this because it sets quickly (which is normally a bad thing, unless
you are doing just a small area, like refilling a chase).

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

On 17/01/2013 11:04, Andrew Gabriel wrote:
In article ,
Broadback writes:
Is it my lack of skill or the plaster? I have had to cut out a smallish
area of plaster to fill in a large crack. Normally I use undercoat and
the finish plaster, though no expert I can usually get a reasonable
finish. However the sheds only seem to do large bags of undercoat and
finishing plaster, which would be a waste, so I purchased one coat
plaster, however the finish looks more like rough cast than plaster.
What am I doing wrong, or is one coat plaster normally difficult to
finish satisfactorily?

It's a compromise product.

For small quantities in chases/channels, you can use just finish coat
plaster. For the undercoat, mix it up with a _little_ PVA, which makes
it a bit like bonding coat. Use that, leaving space for finish coat.
As this undercoat sets, it will crack badly, but this doesn't matter
in this case, and simply gives you a good surface for the finish coat.

If you have an old (expired) bag of finish coat, it works really well
for this because it sets quickly (which is normally a bad thing, unless
you are doing just a small area, like refilling a chase).

Thank you one and all for your excellent tips, I have taken great care
to save it them for future use.

--
Remember the early bird may catch the worm but the second mouse gets the
cheese.

On Wednesday, January 16, 2013 9:26:34 AM UTC, Scott M wrote:
I used a load once when first playing with plaster and
it was very course and not at all finishable in a good way.

One coat for bulk fill.
Multi-finish skims fast, flat & smooth on top.

Multi-finish is not designed for bulk fill, cracks too severely if very deep.

Joint filler feathers better than multi-finish, it is meant to re tapered and taped plasterboard joints. Trying to get one coat up to multi-finish standards is impossible because of time (even if it looks good, it would have looked better with multi-finish for the same effort).