Box screed sand and cement - internal

[stevethespreader]

Sorry god i thought iwas replying to ed "edit" @EdTurtle

 

[Deleted member 292770]

Sorry god i thought iwas replying to ed "edit" @EdTurtle

It’s all good ! Your trowels look neat. You still selling them? You could have patented it and made a fortune.

 

[stevethespreader]

It’s all good ! Your trowels look neat. You still selling them? You could have patented it and made a fortune.

Thanks i still have a few that i made in the attic along with a huge box of blades making the handles was the hardest as i tried to get plastic handles from china but they was messing me around so i made a profile of the origonal handle and started making my own handles out of wood it would take me about half hour to an hour to cut shape and sand a handle i haven't sold any for a few years, sometimes i would sell them to other spreads onsite after showing them a demonstration i run out of origonal trowels and when retired through ill health i thought i would make them to keep busy and earn a penny or 2 but stopped doing it now but they are good as they are flexible and they leave a finish on plaster that has not set and you can still leave a fingerprint in

 

[EdTurtle]

All good information thanks. A little overwhelming though! I'll have a slower read through everything and digest. Trouble i find is theres lots of different ways and opinions, and i'm not a pro - just diy - so it gets expensive to try out all the different stuff! I keep trying to go out with a plasterer, but no one is interested round here, and i havent got time at the moment to go and stay away for a week and do a course.

Thanks again, i'll probably be back with more questions!

 

[stevethespreader]

All good information thanks. A little overwhelming though! I'll have a slower read through everything and digest. Trouble i find is theres lots of different ways and opinions, and i'm not a pro - just diy - so it gets expensive to try out all the different stuff! I keep trying to go out with a plasterer, but no one is interested round here, and i havent got time at the moment to go and stay away for a week and do a course.

Thanks again, i'll probably be back with more questions!

I wouldent recommend one of my trowels for a beginner because you have to catch the wall just right with it , but its a different story with the refina plazi they are the easiest trowel to use and get a good finish with it, there was a young lad on a site once who couldent plaster for toffee he even went home crying when a chippie said something to him but he had the balls to come back the next day, we had a good foreman and he let him spend a day with me using the plaziflex after that he ordered 2 plaziflex a big one and a small one and managed to keep his job till the end of the job, to give you an idea how bad he was we came to the end of the job i had a few days extra work putting all his work right that they had missed in one of the buildings nice lad he was and a true story

 

[EdTurtle]

There is so much information out there too isnt there. I think a lot of it must be personal preference as well. Spoke to someone the other day he said he only uses a 12inch aluminium trowel, I've never even heard of an ali trowel!

Also, above someone said not to use a trowel for s&c once its bedded/worn in, how many walls does it take to bed in? If your doing loads and loads of s&c then do you need to keep buying new trowels once bedded in, or just use it only for s&c?

One more question (two actually). Is a feather edge supposed to be sharp, or slightly rounded? To be used for s&c float coat. And can you recommend any to buy, or to avoid?
Thanks again

 

[stevethespreader]

There is so much information out there too isnt there. I think a lot of it must be personal preference as well. Spoke to someone the other day he said he only uses a 12inch aluminium trowel, I've never even heard of an ali trowel!

Also, above someone said not to use a trowel for s&c once its bedded/worn in, how many walls does it take to bed in? If your doing loads and loads of s&c then do you need to keep buying new trowels once bedded in, or just use it only for s&c?

One more question (two actually). Is a feather edge supposed to be sharp, or slightly rounded? To be used for s&c float coat. And can you recommend any to buy, or to avoid?
Thanks again

for the amount of plastering you will be doing i would stick with the the 1 trowel and only get another when its truly worn in, as for the ali trowel i can honestly say ive never seen or heard of one, wicks used to do a nice cheap feather edge i think it was only £11 when i bought one from there, ive bought a couple from there actually not sure what size you want? But i bought one about 15 years ago with my friend and we cut it in half and had half each so it was under £6 for a small feather edge which i left on a job in bournmouth anyway the size of the job will determine what size you will want and they are not sharp

 

[EdTurtle]

Thanks, think i've decided to stick with the one i have, i'll use the plastic one for putting the s&c on.

I've got to block up a doorway, so actually a 2 foot one would be good? I am also in the future going to be doing the garage with s&c and the stairwell/landing. Guess i'd be comfortable with a 4 foot one for those jobs, but would i see a benefit in a 6 foot one - in terms of ease of use rather than speeding things up?

The draper f/e i've had a look at definitley has a sharp edge, not rounded at all... would you steer clear of this, and try and find a rounded one?

Thanks again

 

[stevethespreader]

Thanks, think i've decided to stick with the one i have, i'll use the plastic one for putting the s&c on.

I've got to block up a doorway, so actually a 2 foot one would be good? I am also in the future going to be doing the garage with s&c and the stairwell/landing. Guess i'd be comfortable with a 4 foot one for those jobs, but would i see a benefit in a 6 foot one - in terms of ease of use rather than speeding things up?

The draper f/e i've had a look at definitley has a sharp edge, not rounded at all... would you steer clear of this, and try and find a rounded one?

Thanks again

if your doing a doorway you want one that will span over the width so you can easily rule it off, not sure what you mean by sharp? They are not round they are pointed not sharp as in razor sharp

 

[EdTurtle]

Regarding the door, since that wall is going to be papered, and is currently all lining paper (except the door hole obviously). I was intening to strip back a small amount of the lining paper, only fill and skim the doorway, stopping the skim where the door hole finishes, then do a new bit of lining paper to join up to the old lining paper, before the finial wallpaper. This is because i can't be bothered to strip all the lining paper, and i dont want to skim the whole wall. So... if i block the door up with s&c flush, i guess i'd have to then blend in the multifinish right? I've never done that, but that would be harder than doing the s&c slightly lower than the old wall, then skimming it flush?

Sorry, thats a pretty longwinded way of saying it, but i think it makes sense?!

Regarding the f/e I've seen some in a shop that has a very slight rounded edge on the long end, and some that are sharp - not razor sharp like a trowel, but definitely sharper than the others. Have you got a picture of your f/e?

Thanks

 

[stevethespreader]

Regarding the door, since that wall is going to be papered, and is currently all lining paper (except the door hole obviously). I was intening to strip back a small amount of the lining paper, only fill and skim the doorway, stopping the skim where the door hole finishes, then do a new bit of lining paper to join up to the old lining paper, before the finial wallpaper. This is because i can't be bothered to strip all the lining paper, and i dont want to skim the whole wall. So... if i block the door up with s&c flush, i guess i'd have to then blend in the multifinish right? I've never done that, but that would be harder than doing the s&c slightly lower than the old wall, then skimming it flush?

Sorry, thats a pretty longwinded way of saying it, but i think it makes sense?!

Regarding the f/e I've seen some in a shop that has a very slight rounded edge on the long end, and some that are sharp - not razor sharp like a trowel, but definitely sharper than the others. Have you got a picture of your f/e?

Thanks

My feather edges look like this https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Aluminiu...2349624.m46890.l49286&mkrid=710-127635-2958-0 if your feathering your skim around the door frame go about 6-8 inches over then when you trowel up put more pressure on the side you want to taper let it pick up a bit more use a wet brush to thin it out a bit more repeat as many times as necessary

 

[EdTurtle]

You make it sound so easy.... Just to clarify though, s&c would be flush with the old wall?

Regarding the feather edge, this is a pic of one i found online https://www.plasterersforum.com/attachments/img_4520-jpg.17150/ showing the rounded top. The one i found in the shops were either like that one, or really sharp (not razor sharp). Would it be a problem if it was sharp, and ever so slightly dented? I appreciate they will wear out too, but i can get one already rounded off like the one in the pic, if its better - ie preworn? I'm probably overthinking all this... but thanks for your help

Thanks

 

[stevethespreader]

You make it sound so easy.... Just to clarify though, s&c would be flush with the old wall?

Regarding the feather edge, this is a pic of one i found online https://www.plasterersforum.com/attachments/img_4520-jpg.17150/ showing the rounded top. The one i found in the shops were either like that one, or really sharp (not razor sharp). Would it be a problem if it was sharp, and ever so slightly dented? I appreciate they will wear out too, but i can get one already rounded off like the one in the pic, if its better - ie preworn? I'm probably overthinking all this... but thanks for your help

Thanks

That will do ed it wont make much difference tbh as for the undercoat float it off and cut it back a mil or 2 to make room for the skim and less of an overspread you can leave it level but the overspead will be a bit larger and wont look as flat right its time you started this you have enough info now take some pics and show us of you doing it and the end result lol

 

[EdTurtle]

I know! I can't help it.... once i start i'm fine. Just waiting for the blocks to dry out a bit, they were soaked, been outside for years in the builders yard i reckon. Last question... how would you cut the render back a bit after? Especially if the f/e is wider than the door opening? I'm sorry if the questions seem silly/really obvious...

Thanks

 

[stevethespreader]

Let it firm up then cut it back slightly with the long edge of your trowel it dont have to be much heres something to look at this is a patch i done in my own house in about August i had a baxi heater taken out and central heating fitted so patched the hole you can see at the top where its dried out that is where the taper is and the dark is where the taper starts that is what you are aiming for