Hi there,

This weekend I will be embarking upon my first ever plastering related
project. I am going to skim a chimney breast! I have a brand new hawk, a
float (not brand new but nice and clean looking), a bucket, a bag of Wickes
Universal Finishing Plaster and last but by no means least a Wickes good
idea leaflet telling me how to do it. I aim to do the following and I
invite people to contradict me where experience dictates:

1) Preperation - this part is important I am told. The breast is currently
very uneven and patched but for the most part is covered in grey cement
plaster type stuff. I intend to brush this down with a stiff brush to
remove lose particles and prime this with a 5:1 PVA:Water mix and give this
plenty of time to dry.

2) Putting beading on the corners - the corners are presently badly defined
with wooded beading - I would like to use some angle beads to re-create the
corners - and this brings about my first question: Which angle beads do I
need? I have bought some but I am concerned that they are too deep for
skimming and are probably more suited to plastering from scratch. Is there
a special bead that should be used for skimming existing plaster or am I
worrying over nothing and should I just put the stuff I've got up and see
what happens? Which leads me on to my second question - what should I use
to fix the beading to the walls?

3) I am then going to apply a 3:1 PVA:Water mix to the walls and allow it to
go tacky, during which time I will mix the finishing plaster as per
instructions in said leaflet. I will then attempt to skim the breast, again
as per said leaflet. Will one coat be enough or should I plan to do two?

Any tips/help/advice muchly appreciated but I fear that in the end it will
come down to weather or not I am any good at it! We will find out in good
time I am sure!

Thanks,
Ric.

In article ,
"Ric" writes:
Hi there,

This weekend I will be embarking upon my first ever plastering related
project. I am going to skim a chimney breast!

That's not a good move -- I suggest you start by replastering the
inside of the cupboard under your stairs or a garage wall, not the
focal point in your living room. ;-)

I have a brand new hawk, a
float (not brand new but nice and clean looking),

I presume you mean a trowel (metal) and not a float (wood or plastic).
A new trowel is difficult to use -- a used one is much easier, but
make sure there are no nics in the long edges. If there are, you can
polish them out using house brick with a good flat surface -- use a
motion like trying to saw through the brick with the trowl, but hold
the trowl at a 45º angle. If the corners or edges are sharp (as
with a new trowel), polish the sharpness out on the brick too.
(This is one reason why a new trowel is bad news for a plasterer.)

a bucket, a bag of Wickes
Universal Finishing Plaster and last but by no means least a Wickes good
idea leaflet telling me how to do it. I aim to do the following and I
invite people to contradict me where experience dictates:

1) Preperation - this part is important I am told. The breast is currently
very uneven and patched but for the most part is covered in grey cement
plaster type stuff. I intend to brush this down with a stiff brush to
remove lose particles and prime this with a 5:1 PVA:Water mix and give this
plenty of time to dry.

2) Putting beading on the corners - the corners are presently badly defined
with wooded beading - I would like to use some angle beads to re-create the
corners - and this brings about my first question: Which angle beads do I
need? I have bought some but I am concerned that they are too deep for
skimming and are probably more suited to plastering from scratch. Is there
a special bead that should be used for skimming existing plaster or am I
worrying over nothing and should I just put the stuff I've got up and see
what happens?

You should use plasterboard beading, which is indended for taking
a skim coat. Plaster beading (as opposed to plasterboard beading)
is intended to go in the scratch (base) coat which you aren't
replacing, so they won't be useful.

Which leads me on to my second question - what should I use
to fix the beading to the walls?

Some people nail them (nails are supposed to be galvanised to stop
rust marks coming through the finished paintwork). I actually just
use the plaster itself -- a smear all down the groove, and then
push it into place. Make sure it's well seated on the corner and
not springing away.

3) I am then going to apply a 3:1 PVA:Water mix to the walls and allow it to
go tacky, during which time I will mix the finishing plaster as per
instructions in said leaflet. I will then attempt to skim the breast, again
as per said leaflet. Will one coat be enough or should I plan to do two?

Always plan for two. Sometimes having done one, I decide it's good
enough to polish up, but this requires that the wall behind is in
good condition (almost good enough that it barely needed replastering).

Any tips/help/advice muchly appreciated but I fear that in the end it will
come down to weather or not I am any good at it! We will find out in good
time I am sure!

I and others have posted loads of tips -- check back on google.

--
Andrew Gabriel

Ric typed:


snip
Any tips/help/advice muchly appreciated but I fear that in the end it
will come down to weather or not I am any good at it! We will find
out in good time I am sure!

Thanks,
Ric.

A few practical bits........
2Lt water makes about 4Lt by volume of plaster, which is sufficient to skim
coat, an 8x4-sheet plasterboard so if your chimney has a fire surround,
thats about the same size.
Mixing more then 4Lt by hand is hard work trying to get the lumps out, I
sometimes use an elec kitchen whisk on *SLOW* speed for small jobs.
Get a straightedge and concentrate on getting it level, surface
imperfections
can sorted once the plaster has set, waviness cant.
Make sure you put covering down on the floors were you are working and don't
reuse any plaster that ends up there.(as it will).... :-)

--
mark

In message , Andrew Gabriel
writes
In article ,
"Ric" writes:
Hi there,

This weekend I will be embarking upon my first ever plastering related
project. I am going to skim a chimney breast!

That's not a good move -- I suggest you start by replastering the
inside of the cupboard under your stairs or a garage wall, not the
focal point in your living room. ;-)

Indeed, brave man. The suggestion made previously here about getting a
sheet of plasterboard and practising on that would seem to be good
advice.


2) Putting beading on the corners - the corners are presently badly defined
with wooded beading - I would like to use some angle beads to re-create the
corners - and this brings about my first question: Which angle beads do I
need?

You should use plasterboard beading, which is indended for taking
a skim coat.

I've always seen heard them called 'Thin-coat beads'

Which leads me on to my second question - what should I use
to fix the beading to the walls?

Some people nail them (nails are supposed to be galvanised to stop
rust marks coming through the finished paintwork). I actually just
use the plaster itself

My plasterer uses drywall adhesive


Any tips/help/advice muchly appreciated but I fear that in the end it will
come down to weather or not I am any good at it! We will find out in good
time I am sure!

I and others have posted loads of tips -- check back on google.


My tip would be prepared to be immensely frustrated :-( I've not done
anything major in the replastering line, but it really is much harder to
get a good finish that it looks (IME)
--
Chris French, Leeds

I too embarked on my first plastering project this week using the wickes
guide.
Definitely practices, on plasterboard first! A couple of sheets both sides.

Having spoken to a few people and done a few test runs, I found doing it in
two finishing coats with the later in a more diluted mixture (so you can
only just make peaks in the mix) applied about 30-45 mins after the first
gave me the best finish.
Also, I ditched the Wickes universal finishing plaster for standard
finishing plaster. I find it easier to smooth out after the initial
application.

Make sure you get a good level/flat surface to apply it too using bonding
plaster first.

And some form of electric mixer is well worth while. Mixing be hand can get
very tiresome and frustrasting when you still have lumps in there. The
attachments you can get for a drill work well but prepare for the mess! In
fact prepare for mess full stop. I'm still getting plaster dust on
everything I touch a week later!

But I'm still wondering how a hawk should be used - I gave up with it...

"Mark" wrote in message
...
Ric typed:


snip
Any tips/help/advice muchly appreciated but I fear that in the end it
will come down to weather or not I am any good at it! We will find
out in good time I am sure!

Thanks,
Ric.

A few practical bits........
2Lt water makes about 4Lt by volume of plaster, which is sufficient to
skim
coat, an 8x4-sheet plasterboard so if your chimney has a fire surround,
thats about the same size.
Mixing more then 4Lt by hand is hard work trying to get the lumps out, I
sometimes use an elec kitchen whisk on *SLOW* speed for small jobs.
Get a straightedge and concentrate on getting it level, surface
imperfections
can sorted once the plaster has set, waviness cant.
Make sure you put covering down on the floors were you are working and
don't
reuse any plaster that ends up there.(as it will).... :-)

--
mark

In article ,
"Wisefrog" writes:
I too embarked on my first plastering project this week using the wickes
guide.
Definitely practices, on plasterboard first! A couple of sheets both sides.

Having spoken to a few people and done a few test runs, I found doing it in
two finishing coats with the later in a more diluted mixture (so you can
only just make peaks in the mix) applied about 30-45 mins after the first
gave me the best finish.

It should be runy enough so it easily runs off the trowel if
you hold it vertical. Scratch coat is thicker -- it should stay on
a vertical trowel unless you give it a slight vertical jolt to
make it slide off.

Also, I ditched the Wickes universal finishing plaster for standard
finishing plaster. I find it easier to smooth out after the initial
application.

Make sure you get a good level/flat surface to apply it too using bonding
plaster first.

And some form of electric mixer is well worth while. Mixing be hand can get
very tiresome and frustrasting when you still have lumps in there. The
attachments you can get for a drill work well but prepare for the mess! In
fact prepare for mess full stop. I'm still getting plaster dust on
everything I touch a week later!

Also watch the drill temperature -- it's easy to burn out a
cheap drill with a plaster mixer. Torque is quite high, but
speed to too low to adequately cool the drill. It kind of
relies on rest periods whilst you are plastering before you
mix up the next load to cool down.

But I'm still wondering how a hawk should be used - I gave up with it...

It's used to transfer plaster from your board to the trowel, and to
size and shape the plaster on the trowel. I'd love to explain, but
my descriptive powers aren't up to it. Actually, I couldn't do it even
having read how to and looked at the pictures -- it only worked for me
once someone had actually shown me how to use it and then it was easy.

I've seen someone plastering (not a professional plaster) by using
the trowel to directly scrape the plaster from the mixing bucket.
If you can do this with finish coat, it's far too thick (I didn't
see the end-result in this case).

--
Andrew Gabriel

Well, I did it and its not too bad - I probably would have been better
practicing but I did the two sides first to get me going. I think I have a
bit of a nack for it and I'm sure I would get better with practice! I even
got cocky and did the wall next to the chimney breast as well as it was a
bit dodgy. I will certainly attempt it again as I continue to decorate the
house!

I just wanted to say thanks as well for all the advice as it helped a lot -
not just the responses to my post but the tips I got by googling this group.

Cheers,
Ric.