Tips on plastering please?

Question

Does anyone have any tips for plastering... mainly getting a smooth professional finish!!

Ok, hubby stripped some wall paper in our daughters room an half the wall fell down! He has been to get plaster boards, which i assume he will stick to the bits of remaining wood and then whack the gooey stuff all over.... really not my department but thanks for the tips!

Answer 1

assuming hubby has now fixed plaserboard to wall and he has used galvanised nails ..you have bought a bag of BOARD FINISH plaster ...if you have put the board up in more than one peice then you must scrim the joints to prevent cracking....wet the area around where you intend to plaster ..if you dont it will dry first and then you will have a thick edge...but dont wet the area to be plastered at all ..mix plaster in bucket ..only put in under a half bucket of water or you will have too much in bucket when you have put in the powder ..mix very wellscraping sides of bucket as it tends to stick to sides ..double cream is about right but give it a real good mix to erase lumps ..witha hawk and trowel lay on first coat ...leave for ten minutes ..dont worry what others say as modern plasters are very stable and plastering is very easy these days ..then apply the top coat .this is some times called the laying down coat ..keep wetting the edges of existing plaster ..when you have seen the wet sheen going off then give it a trowel over paying a lot of attention to the edges ..DO NOTUSE WATER AT THIS STAGE on the new plaster ..and do not overtrowel ...both are common mistakes and will make the plaster bubble ..give it another twowel after about 20 mins ..less time if you have a draught as wind will make it go off quicker .keep wetting edges as when you are finished there should not be any lips .when it has picked up enough not to leave trowel marks .then is the time to flick a LITTLE water and trowel it ..then leave it ..then same again ..it will take more than an hour ..maybe hour and half ..if any body says less then they dont know how to plaster .and i have been doing for forty years .. just be confident and you will enjoy it

Answer 2

The only answers here worth listening to are the ones recommending professional help. I can plaster even though it is not my trade, you have to be shown, and some people can do it but in my opinion, most cannot. The walls have to be prepared, IE pva adhesive to stop the old plaster taking the water out of the new stuff, the mixing is best done with a whisk attached to a drill, don't over mix or it will go off quickly, the water and the bucket must be clean, and cleaned thoroughly after every mix, so must the tools, remnants of old mix will send your next mix off in seconds, spread the plaster from top left, across the top of the wall to the right then work down from left to right (if right handed), usually two stages, top half then bottom half, get the plaster on (needs to be on in approx 15 Min's, then go back to the beginning and smooth out, continue until smooth, then go over again, splash water on with a brush or spray water on before putting the clean trowel back onto the wall, pay attention to corners, the trowel should be used at a slight angle or it will stick to the plaster and pull it back off, as it is going off, water is the key to a polished finish. Good luck, but if this is your first attempt, i would say you will require a lot of sandpaper later or you are an exceptionally quick learner, that is of course if you don't give up and call a pro!

Answer 3

This all depends on if it's a whole wall, or repairing a hole. Try this simple, cost effective way.... apply your mixture (not to wet or dry & MUST NOT HAVE ANY LUMPS... at all)... for a hole apply your plaster so it protrudes a little from the wall surface , an when it starts to set use a level piece of wood 2"x1",a little longer than the hole & from the bottom in a left to right motion work your way up, this will remove the excess plaster an leave it level with the original surface, when dry, use the smooth side of a piece of concrete brick and rub in a circular motion... this should get you what you desire...
Hope this helped.

Answer 4

All of the above but you have not said the area you want to plaster, the background that you are plastering onto, so it is difficult to give advice other than general technique which has already been given

Answer 5

Good for you! People waste thousands of pounds paying workmen for jobs that they can do themselves - plastering is the one that most people can do - but really don't enjoy... Be patient with it and keep spraying with water as you go along (not so that it looks like you've had a flood in the room above - just use common sense!!) Have a cloth on standby and wipe any little blobs off your skirting boards as you are going along. Best of luck!

Answer 6

are you trying to plaster the entire wall like over lath? or are you just trying to finish drywall? either way it takes alot of experience to get any good at it. however if you are going to attempt it yourself start in a closet or some place not many people will see this way if you stink at it you can quit and call some one to do the high visability areas

Answer 7

Mix plaster to a consistency of double cream,No lumps,Apply with float,Clean float and wait until plaster starts to sweat IE when you touch it you just leave a very small indentation,Wet float and trowel out marks,Leave a bit longer until plaster is firming up,then with a large brush flick water Onto plaster and trowel hard,Water trowel water trowel,Perfection.

Answer 8

Just tape and blend the joints, use a bag of multi-finish, with some PVA glue added to the cold water, don't knock up too much at once, start at the top of the wall and work along, right to left if right handed, and after it has dried, give two coats of smooth masonry paint as a base for whatever you want to paint it with.

Answer 9

The best way to get a smooth finish is to have at least 5 years experience in the job.

Answer 10

Mix it well!

I mean really well - use a potato masher for a few hours if needs be.

Then start from the bottom and work up in smooth 'lump free' strokes.