plasterer damaged my window sill

Hello,

Short version -

Plaster damaged my window sill and made some mess, see pictures - what should i do?

Long version -

I have had a Plasterer working on a bedroom for me. He has done the ceiling and walls and I am happy with the quality of the work. He is due to return on Saturday (3 days from now) to fit some coving.

Unfortunately he has damaged a newly fitted MDF internal window board. It looks like he got water and muck on parts of it witch are swollen, and had somehow managed to take the surface off other parts. The whole thing just feels slimy at the moment.

I had put tape over the screw holes in the sill to stop them getting filled with crud. All the tape had gone when I returned. In the pictures you can see some clean patches where the tape was.

I have included a picture of the sill in the final stages of fitting for comparison.

It also looks like no floor coverings were used and every part of the floor boards is now covered in dusty muck.

I mentioned in a text message to him that I was concerned about the state of the window sill, and he replied saying he will give it a rub down for me.

TBH I can live with the messy floor but am worried the damage to the sill will show through after its painted. I plan to use dulax water gloss (because thats what i have).

Any advise is welcome, should I just try to fix it with a bit of sand and fill or would I be wasting my time and should just fit a new one?

Should I request a discount from the plasterer?

Thanks in advance.

Certainly looks battered. It may be redeemable with some careful filling. It looks as though that window board has been exposed to damp conditions for a long time and the wearing surface has become soft. It is difficult to protect a window board (other than actually painting them) because the plasterer needs to skim them in place. It looks to me like yours has been exposed to water and wear for an unreasonably long time.

We always dab a nice flat level plasterboard to the sill masonry then glue the WB to the plasterboard. We also round the return corners back to the wall. Replacing yours now will certainly result in damage to the plaster, but you may also end up ripping the bead off the corner.

It needs 2 pack filler and thorough sanding. I eouldnt say its too bad it looks like it got caught by the trowel.

Its best sanded with course grit wrapped or ideally glued to a hard block like a bit of plywood. -a hard block will sand level, a soft one will just follow the contours.

Its not easy to plaster around a window reveal without getting blobs on the W/B.

The window board is salvageable, but I'm shocked at the state of that floor.

As above. Did he knock up directly on the floorboards?

I'm yet to come across a plasterer who doesn't leave a mess, but the damage to the window board is unacceptable.

I've got a mate who is a plasterer. He's a messy bastard. When he's done my ceilings in the past, he's got plaster on the windows, walls, floor, kitchen worktops and cabinets. You name it, he's got plaster on it. When I pull him up and point out the blobs of plaster everywhere, he always says "You're a good mate so no charge for that!"

MOTMAN, just sent you a PM.

Andy

The MDF is salvageable.

As Notch7 says, glue some paper to a large flat block of wood. I'd go for 80 grit aluminium oxide paper and drop down to 150 grit paper (without the need for a block).

I would advise against using a waterbased primer, the MDF will swell more where it was previously swollen as compared with the rest of the board.

Years ago, my bread and butter was hand painting MDF wardrobes and bookcases. I used to use waterbased (Leyland) primer even though I knew it would raise the grain but I didn't mind given that I used to sand it pretty much back to the MDF so that I could see and then eliminate the horizontal lines that all sheets of MDF have. I had the advantage of having a Festool Rotex with a soft interface pad and dust extractor AND the two topcoats were oil based Dulux Trade eggshell.

Any waterbased paint used on virgin MDF will raise the fibres. Additionally you will have suction issues if you then decide to continue with waterbased top coats.

If you do decide to use oil based primer or undercoat, you will need to leave it for a couple of days before using the waterbased gloss otherwise you risk getting "fisheyes" in the finish

A big thanks for all the replies.

My initial thoughts were that the sill would not be salvageable, however following the advise I have been given hopefully it can be saved.

I still think he should have covered the sill, I think there was no need to get the entire sill covered with water and muck.

Now the sill has dried out you can see the whole surface has lifted. The marks where parts of the surface have been torn away look like he has pulled some lumps of muck off.

I now intend to leave the plasterer some 2 part filler (ronseal) and some sand paper and let him know I expect the damage made good.

Fingers crossed he will do a good enough job. If he does not repair it to a good enough standard I intend to withhold paying him until I get a quote to put the damage right. I would then short pay him by the value of getting the damage repaired.

I have some krylon spray paint, so I think I will try priming the board with that before proceeding with the gloss. I am begrudged to go buy some oil gloss just for the sill.

Regarding the floor, it appears no coverings were used. As I said before although annoying I can live with that.

Looking as the work on the walls and ceilings, I must say he has done a realy good job. This is the 6th freshly plastered room I have seen, from 4 different plasterers and I can honestly say its the best work I have seen, not one brush hair, snot or pit, it really looks perfect (and in case you are wondering I do get a bit OCD with my DIY and decorating). He seems like a nice guy too and the price was fair. So its just a real shame that I have this issue with the sill.

Thanks again for the replies. I will post another pic after he has repaired it.

HERTSDRAINAGE2010 said:

MOTMAN, just sent you a PM.

Andy

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Replied. Yes, they’re the ones.

mrmadmax said:

I still think he should have covered the sill

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I think you should have painted it soon after it was fitted.

mrmadmax said:

I now intend to leave the plasterer some 2 part filler (ronseal) and some sand paper and let him know I expect the damage made good.

Fingers crossed he will do a good enough job. If he does not repair it to a good enough standard I intend to withhold paying him until I get a quote to put the damage right. I would then short pay him by the value of getting the damage repaired.

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I know some really good plasterers, none of them can decorate though.

Ideally the MDF should have been painted before the walls were plastered.

The plasterer could have covered the sill with polythene stuck down with gaffer tape but you would have been left to cut through the tape once the plaster had dried. Invariably you end up being able to see the edge of the tape peeking out of the bottom of the plaster.

mrmadmax said:

I have some krylon spray paint, so I think I will try priming the board with that before proceeding with the gloss. I am begrudged to go buy some oil gloss just for the sill.

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Waterbased gloss will be fine. I recommended oil based primer (and preferably oil based undercoat as well).

If the plasterer's price really was fair, why not suggest that he provides the (oil based) paint and call it quits. The emphasis on oil based is so that you make sure he doesn't just pick up water based primer/undercoat.

mrmadmax said:

I intend to withhold paying him until I get a quote to put the damage right.

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Seems a bit over the top, its only a windowboard.......a bit of a moan would be enough

I hope you tell him how pleased you with the quality of the plastering.

A friend of mine came over and told me not to trust the plasterer to fix it. My friend has offered to fix it for me for free. He has some new fancy festool sanders and is looking for any excuse to use them.

On reflection, now its all dried out the damage relay is not that bad. there are a few spots that need a bit of filler, and a lick with a sander should see it good. When I first saw it and it was wet, swollen and slimy, I was not sure it could be saved.

"I hope you tell him how pleased you with the quality of the plastering. "

And yes I have told him how pleased I am with the quality of the work. I told him the work was so good that I have forgiven him for the board and mess on the floor.

And tbh, I would use him again. I would probably provide my own floor coverings and cover any window boards.

Thanks again to everyone who replied, and for the tips on how to fix the board.