Quality of plastering workmanship advice?

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Hello,

Earlier this week I had a new plasterboard ceiling plastered, it was on a low ceiling. That I had already prepped, taped and jointed, sanded and cleaned down. I had laid down a dust sheet and made everything as easy as I possibly could for the tradesmen, hoping it would result in a better quality job.

The tradesmen arrived on time and was friendly, however he seemed a bit rushed and quite messy.

For the next couple of hours I let him get on with plastering the ceiling as I know someone watching over your shoulder all the time can be offputting.

He let me know once he was done and I pointed out a couple of imperfections to him, that he said was just a bit of dried plaster, I was like ok no worries I can sand that out.

Later that evening I thought I would have a propper good look at the ceiling and I now think it looks really crap. I have circled near enough 100 imperfections and today after it has dried out a bit, I noticed the whole ceiling is really bumpy.

I used a torch to look for imperfections as on a sunny day they really show since the ceiling is quite low, which was something I made clear to him.

I have sent him a video of the ceiling pointing out the problems but have not received any reply yet. This was 3 days ago. So before I take it further I thought I would see if I can get some second opinions.

Please see some attached pictures of before he arrived vs after.

Any appropriate feedback is appreciated. Thanks
 

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You'd have got a better finish just painting the tape and fill!

Have you paid him?
 
Wow, that's shockingly bad. Where did you find the plasterer? If he hasn't replied after 3 days I'd assume he won't at all.

Truly a terrible job.
 
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Wow, that's shockingly bad. Where did you find the plasterer? If he hasn't replied after 3 days I'd assume he won't at all.

Truly a terrible job.
Thanks for your reply, I actually found him on my builder and he had 100% good reviews! I am going to send him more pictures and see if he replies then. I don't even know if I want him come back and try to repair it as I am not sure if he is capable, judging from the current state of his workmanship.
 
and he had 100% good reviews!
All posted by his mates, who are all similar grade bodgers but also have glowing reviews because they post reviews for each other

I've started to ask if I can go look at a job a trade is currently doing before deciding whether I want them to trainwreck my place! Either that or I take the time to supervise so I can get any carp put right before they cover it up :)
 
All posted by his mates, who are all similar grade bodgers but also have glowing reviews because they post reviews for each other

I've started to ask if I can go look at a job a trade is currently doing before deciding whether I want them to trainwreck my place! Either that or I take the time to supervise so I can get any carp put right before they cover it up :)
Yeah as things currently stand, it seems like that could be the case. Think in the future I might do that, as right now I am left with an absolute shambles of a ceiling and have just created a tonne of work for myself to rectify as not sure if he will. Might just rip it out, replace plasterboard and tidily tape and join. That would at least be a 100x better than this.
 
Get a proper plasterer in and ask whether it is possible to make good with a reskim, can't see why not as thats whats happens on walls. Important thing is getting a proper plasterer to do the work
 
Thanks for your reply, that would be the easier option although more costly. The only thing is they would probably need a bonding coat since the ceiling is that bumpy and wavy, and as the ceiling is already quite low, I really dont want to lose anymore head height. Although I guess that is something I could discuss with the plasterer
 
I did a better job of that on our daughter's bedroom ceiling, and I'm no plasterer. I originally intended to Artex the ceiling, but whilst putting on the first coat I decided not to bother with a texture, but to use the Artex as a plaster instead. The result wasn't professional and needed a good sanding down before I reckoned it was acceptable, but I'm sure it was better than the above. Certainly puts a big question mark about those so called "recommended trader" sites.
 
I did a better job of that on our daughter's bedroom ceiling, and I'm no plasterer. I originally intended to Artex the ceiling, but whilst putting on the first coat I decided not to bother with a texture, but to use the Artex as a plaster instead. The result wasn't professional and needed a good sanding down before I reckoned it was acceptable, but I'm sure it was better than the above. Certainly puts a big question mark about those so called "recommended trader" sites.
Thanks for your reply. Yeah it doesn't take much to beat the state of this ceiling! Similarly to you I would have given plastering a go if I new it was going to look like this. I tried sanding his work down but it is proving really hard to do as its gone pretty hard, even with an electric wall sander. As someone previously said on this thread, a lot of the positive reviews on his account might have been from his friends. I got a response from him today and he is trying to put it down to the plasterboard itself, which is almost embarressing, since it was brand new and in perfect condition... anything but accepting liability. Like you say definitely puts a big question mark around sites like that, think the best thing to do is get a recommendation from someone in real life who you know
 
Like you say definitely puts a big question mark around sites like that, think the best thing to do is get a recommendation from someone in real life who you know

So many come on here, questioning the quality and correctness of work done by people found on such sites as those. The problem with those sites is that the site owners themselves wouldn't know or care whether the person they are advertising is a proper tradesman, or just someone claiming to know what they are doing. The site owners don't care, they make their percentage either way. Best thing is to avoid such sites completely.
 
So many come on here, questioning the quality and correctness of work done by people found on such sites as those. The problem with those sites is that the site owners themselves wouldn't know or care whether the person they are advertising is a proper tradesman, or just someone claiming to know what they are doing. The site owners don't care, they make their percentage either way. Best thing is to avoid such sites completely.
Thanks for your reply. Yeah after this recent experience I think you are completely right
 

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