ripples on my newly plastered walls!

I thought the plasterer did a great job after he plastered my one side of my hallway wall/stair wall up to the landing.

When it dried I felt the odd bump. But after the first mist coat and second coat I noticed 'ripples' in areas that do show up when you walk in the house.
I was expecting a completely even flat surface that you would find with a drywall wall.
Is it impossible to achieve a completely flat wall when plasterering or did I unfortunatly pick the wrong plasterer?

So, what now? Line the wall with 1400 grade lining paper? Will that solve my problem? Some say I am a perfectionist. I would say I like the job to be done right. This is getting to me big time. Is there an emulsion paint thick enough to eventually cover these ripples?

Answers asap before I tear the walls down and replace with new drywall!

Are the ripples quite close together, and 5-6 at a time? They could be 'tramlines' caused by the trowel skipping along the plaster
Or are they more likel rolling country side, and the surface is just not flat?

Smileysmile said:

I thought the plasterer did a great job after he plastered my one side of my hallway wall/stair wall up to the landing. When it dried I felt the odd bump. But after the first mist coat and second coat I noticed 'ripples' in areas that do show up when you walk in the house.

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Hallways & side lit areas next to windows are quiet sensitive & extra care is always needed; likewise if wall lights, particularly up lighters, are to be used it can also be an extra challenge for a plasterer; mist coating will only highlight this. You shouldn’t really be able to feel any bumps (unless you have really sensitive hands!) & ripples are usually a sign that something hasn’t gone quiet right. Not always a sign of a rubbish plasterer or bad trowelling technique; it can happen even to the best & for a number of reasons on old walls, it’s what you do to rectify it that counts

Smileysmile said:

I was expecting a completely even flat surface that you would find with a drywall wall.
Is it impossible to achieve a completely flat wall when plasterering or did I unfortunatly pick the wrong plasterer?

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It should be even & flat but it would be some plasterer indeed that would get it as perfectly flat as a raw drywall board; put a long straight edge on even the best of plastered walls & you will still see small undulations but they should never be visible under normal circumstances. Without seeing it, it’s difficult to say if you picked the wrong guy (may be worth posting some pics.); you do say yourself that your rather fussy; but then so am I!

Smileysmile said:

So, what now? Line the wall with 1400 grade lining paper? Will that solve my problem? Some say I am a perfectionist. I would say I like the job to be done right. This is getting to me big time. Is there an emulsion paint thick enough to eventually cover these ripples?

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I don’t see how sticking lining paper onto a newly plastered wall could possibly improve it, I dare say it has its uses but not in this context; personally, I hate the stuff! Gobbing thick coats of emulsion on it won’t help either & don’t even think about using one of the “bodgers” “Smooth coat” products. Best solution would be to call the plasterer back & see what he says; local filling with Easyfill & sanding will work but it should not be necessary & is less than ideal; if it’s really bad, re-skimming is probably quicker & easier.

Smileysmile said:

Answers asap before I tear the walls down and replace with new drywall!

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Are the current walls dry lined? Seems like a lot of unnecessary trouble & I see no reason why what you’ve got now can’t be rectified. Will you be plastering the new drywall? Unplastered tape & filled drywall boards have no place in a domestic situation IMO & I bet you will still see the joins; unless you’re going to stick lining paper on it

The latter Morrik. Rolling countryside I would say.

Like bumps underneath the topcoat. More noticeable below half way down the wall. I am not sure what to do now. Some people would live with it. It is a freshly painted wall (magnolia trade dulux vinyl matt) that as you have described.

I want to be able to walk into the hallway and down the stairs without seeing this. A perfectly uniformed flat even wall freshly painted like a new build house. This house was built in 2001 anf the previous occupants had ripped out the dado rail and did not smooth out the plastered holes to the level of the drywall. Painted over it leaving bumps which wound me up. I had it replastered and now I have this problem. I am not doing anything to this wall until I have a solution.

watch this space. I will try and get a pic taken... off to work now.

I don't want to call plasterer back. But maybe a very fine skim will be best by another plasterer? Too much will go to far up to the edge of the skirtingboard.
The rest of the house is plasterboard like a newbuild.

I am not happy with my bedroom walls which I painted. They to had dado rails along the wall and they did the same thing. I tried to build the imprtefections with emulison which resulted in a gratey/honeycomb look and feel because I applied the coats to thick plus at an angle quite patchy.

Because the lighting is different in this room it doesn't bother me much. My last house 2 yrs ago was a 4 bed detatched and I did a good job of painting every room with no problems like I am having with this sucker!!

I think you need something in your life to REALLY fret about.

Seriously, it is unfortunate that you have ripples.

As Richard C has said, some trowel marks can go un-noticed by the spread until it is too late, i.e. only noticeable when the mist coat is applied.

This is not to say that, if your concerns are stated before hand and a decent spread hears what you are saying, then the correct result can be achieved.

I once worked within a gang of spreads that were involved in "plumb & dot plastering". It is a highly paid highly skilled form of float and set plastering that ensures a plumb and flat wall. Even at this level blemishes could be found but waves were virtually un-noticeable.

But, bear in mind humans ain't machines. If you are seeking perfection, forget it!

Thank you noseall

They AREN'T trowel marks. What is a trowel mark anyway?

To me they are bumps. They are noticeable. Maybe if I take a photo you can see.

Smileysmile said:

Thank you noseall

They AREN'T trowel marks. What is a trowel mark anyway?

To me they are bumps. They are noticeable. Maybe if I take a photo you can see.

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Trowel marks are exactly what it says, marks caused by the edge of the trowel. Even the best can get the odd one or two on an off day but a wall covered in them is due to either very poor technique or just plain clumsiness & lack of attention; from what you’ve said, it doesn’t sound like that’s the problem. Ripples/waves can occur when plastering dissimilar backgrounds on old & previously patched walls if you’re not careful as the plaster sets at different rates but with “Barratt” dry lined & plastered walls, I wouldn’t expect any problems as the face should be reasonably flat unless the original plasterer was pants as well. Let’s have some pics. so we can see how bad it is.

The way to avoid these bumps is to use a darby or a straight edge. A finishing trowel will simply follow the undulations of the wall. Did you point out you want the wall perfectly flat? If not - you probably got what you paid for. When I want a perfectly flat wall I start with a darby then an 18 inch trowel and then final finish with a finishing trowel - but it takes twice as long so costs twice as much.

Hi all,

a darby or straight edge on finish? how does that work?

i've only ever used a straight edge when floating and setting and only on the float coat, theory being your skim will only be as good/flat as the undercoat, not that this applies to the original query in this thread.

anyone ever used a sponge float? would that help in the same way rubbing down render with a plastic float would when skimming?

Smilie, as everyone says, imperfection is to be expected, ONLY way you'll get true flat is to paint the boards without skim, having them taped and jointed, some pics would be great, hopefully we can help you with a solution then.

You seem reluctant to get original plasterer back in and happy to pay for another to re-skim, why is this?