thanks for the sound advise guys, i have got the stilts coming tomorrow and have a hallway and landing plus a bedroom to do next month so i will practise with them then (plus walking around the house to get used to them). i work out of a bucket should i get a spot board woud that help me.
what is an average ceiling to plaster , the biggest i have done so far was 18ft by 12ft and i got that on ok but struggled to polish it because of the heat it was about 30 degrees in the room with no breeze at all and the plaster was going off very fast. practise makes perfect i guess and after all i am still learning but loving every minute of it. cheers
A board and stand will gain you a lot of time, especially on the stilts.
I don't really think there is much point worrying about what an 'average' plasterer will do - geting it right is more a priority. You managed a 20m2 ceiling in the heat, so you're not too bad!
Domestic vs site work are different , and conditions will vary too.
On site, 3 x 30m2 guages for a man on his own would be a benchmark for a day's work, I suppose. In a house with dustsheets, nowhere to wash out etc etc, you might do well to get 2 x 15 m2 done!
On the stilts - clean floor, NEVER walk backwards, lift the feet up a bit more than usual , put the leg strap on first, take it off last, check everything tight before each guage, have water buckets handy at good height.
A routine might be - mix, get up and put it on, flatten it, get down, mix and wash out, get up, lay it down, trowel up, get down.