Can anyone recommend plastering course?

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I'd like to get a plastering qualification and the relevant skills to be a plasterer as i work as a plumber and am finding more and more occasions when i need to plaster walls in particular when removing tiles which previous installers have cut corners in applying.

Can someone recommend a good course to do where they teach you well? I dont want any old cheap course to get a certificate, i want to gain the proper skills.

I'm based in Coventry.
 
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If you are in the building trade and have watched plasterer's at work, then why not set up a practice area at home and work away at it. Build a framing and use both sides of the board, practice render with 1:3 lime sand mix. College courses will req. time and expense for an NVQ.
 
for what you need you would be better off getting a plasterer to spend a few hours with you and then it's down to practice.
It can seem daunting at first as its not like electrics or carpentry where you can take your time and reasearch as you go along, but it has it's own time, you just need to practice and then suddenly it just clicks into place.
I used to to be crap at it until about 3 years ago and then I needed a wall at the back of mygarage doing so I gave it a go as it didn't really matter what it looked like and on that occaision it just clicked and now I as a chippy by trade can achieve a proffesional finish and have even done work for my mate who is a plasterer by trade.
 
I learned by asking and watching on site.
 
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Same as Joe, i just watched people on jobs, asked questions and then just did it (only skimming mind) If you have been watching people then just give it a go, it wont cost much and you have nothing to loose!!
 
Can someone recommend a good course to do where they teach you well? I dont want any old cheap course to get a certificate, i want to gain the proper skills.

I'm based in Coventry.

You make a fair point about tuition quality.... I have just changed colleges and the difference in teaching, management, facilities, and materials is absolutely staggering.
 
I'd like to get a plastering qualification and the relevant skills to be a plasterer as i work as a plumber and am finding more and more occasions when i need to plaster walls in particular when removing tiles which previous installers have cut corners in applying.
I don’t know the extent of work you undertake in bathroom/kitchen refurbishments or if it’s something you’re thinking of branching into, as I did from plastering. Being self taught, I’ve never been on an accredited course so I don’t know if they cover this sort of stuff but you need understand the compatibility of the materials themselves in order to avoid potential disasters. Plaster or conventional sand/cement render are not the best materials to use when patching up/leveling previously tiled walls & filling holes prior to re-tilling. These are just a few little snippets that can catch out the unwary;
• Re-plastering prior to tiling reduces the maximum tile weight (32 down to 20 kg/sqm) & with the tendency towards large format tiles, you can create problems either for yourself (if you tile) or the tiller; for the same reason it’s best to tile straight onto PB or a sound render base.
• Plaster/conventional screed will need to be left to dry thoroughly before tiling can start, a rapidest render (rather expensive though) or cement based tile adhesive can be tiled over almost immediately; it’s all that’s needed to level a tile base.
• Bonding & most base plasters are not suitable as a tile base so don’t use that for filling/leveling.
• Cement based tile adhesive (used for large format tiles) will react with Gypsum plaster & must be primed before tiling.
 
richard can you please tell me this (sorry to the op to ask an irrellevant question) i knew the weight limits for 12.5 mm board per square meter but can you tell me the weight limit for 9mm borad, i priced up a job the other day and not only was the whole house done in 9mm board but the bathroom and kitchen were too (nice) to top it off the wall was absolutaly sopping wet and he wanted me to skim it so he could tile it, i said no and pointed out the weight limits and so forth and i said to s&c it and i aint herd from him since :rolleyes:
thanks sorry again to hijack the post
JRP
 
BG determines the limiting factor for maximum tile weights by;
• the adhesion strength of the paper lining when tiling over bare boards &
• the adhesion strength of finishing plaster over the paper lining

They make no distinction between board thicknesses as far as I can see, just recommend increasing the amount of support; but the minimum recommended thickness they recommend over studding is 12.5mm. So I guess the adhesion strength would be the same as long as the thinner board was adequately supported although I personally wouldn’t like to put it to the test with weights exceeding 20 kg/msq.

I only ever use 12.5mm boards & have used 15mm on a couple of occasions. Only time I’ve ever used 9.5mm was to double up over a stud wall after I made the stupid mistake of using standard Wall board (instead of Soundblock or Wallboard 10) on one side of a new partition between loo & adjacent bedroom; I found out the Regs the hard way :rolleyes: ! The thinner 9.5mm board was traditionally used on ceilings but I think it’s largely becoming redundant. Even BG now recommend 12.5mm & make no real recommendations for using the thinner board; the cost difference is minimal & far outweighed by the advantages of the thicker board.
 
Don't suppose you'll ever learn the trade properly until you do jobs..Courses just give you a basic framework to work with...

My gripe is that some courses with "accredited status" are not not up to scratch.
 

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