DIY plastering
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A 4 day course should teach you about different materials available, when & where to use them, how they behave & familiarisation with the tools you use; it should also give you a basic understanding of technique. Weather or not you’ll be good enough to attempt & get good results on real plastering after 4 days rather depends on your natural ability & how quickly that ability progresses; best to start in areas that are mostly hidden & progress from there.
In my experience, it’s either something you can do or you can’t; some are born naturals but others will never be any good no matter how many years of practice they have. I’m self taught around 4 years now & my work is as good as any you'll see but I can turn my hand to anything.
IMHO, it’s got to be one of the most difficult trades of all to master; mostly skill but sometimes akin to witchcraft & black art! It takes years of practice to perfect the skill & you probably never stop learning.
There are several on here who’ve been on these short courses & have given good reports but of course we wouldn’t get posts for the ones that are rubbish anyway; you can only try, if you fancy it have a go!
In my experience, it’s either something you can do or you can’t; some are born naturals but others will never be any good no matter how many years of practice they have. I’m self taught around 4 years now & my work is as good as any you'll see but I can turn my hand to anything.
IMHO, it’s got to be one of the most difficult trades of all to master; mostly skill but sometimes akin to witchcraft & black art! It takes years of practice to perfect the skill & you probably never stop learning.
There are several on here who’ve been on these short courses & have given good reports but of course we wouldn’t get posts for the ones that are rubbish anyway; you can only try, if you fancy it have a go!
i think Richard highlighted a very important issue when he mentioned natural ability.
there are some tradesmen that can simply watch another tradesman working and begin to pick up the skills visually. he can then apply the skills to the task in hand.
i learned rudimentary plastering skills from an old brickie, but honed my skills when working with a 2 & 1 plastering gang.
the techniques, the way they trowelled the final coat, timing, gauges, plaster consistency.
fill yer boots lad.
there are some tradesmen that can simply watch another tradesman working and begin to pick up the skills visually. he can then apply the skills to the task in hand.
i learned rudimentary plastering skills from an old brickie, but honed my skills when working with a 2 & 1 plastering gang.
the techniques, the way they trowelled the final coat, timing, gauges, plaster consistency.
fill yer boots lad.
out of interest how much is the course?
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i went on a 4 day course and to be honest, it did learn me a little bit and as richard c said, it teaches you a bit about the materials and lets you have a go on the tools but not enough to come out and plaster your own house, unless you are a natural and pick it up easily but there are a lot of other factors to consider when plastering ie the surface, the temperature, etc. i am quite good at diy and can turn my hand to anything but do not think i could have come out of that course and made a perfect job of any walls or ceilings in my house. i help my brother in law who is a plasterer and learned more from him and doing the job with him than any of those courses will ever teach.
ste1406, does that mean your brother in law, let you plaster a customers house! the only way to learn is by doing the job! training courses can be superb, but you need to research what you will be doing on the course as they vary so much from place to place, if you come out of a training centre after a week and cannot plaster your own house, they either the course was crap, or you are not cut out to be in the trade!
I`m not saying courses make you a plasterer, only time will do this but you can acheive good results in a short period of time with the right training.
I`m not saying courses make you a plasterer, only time will do this but you can acheive good results in a short period of time with the right training.
no i didn't plaster a customers house, i started out labouring for him, then went on a 4 day course about 2 years ago and then i got better as we did jobs together but what i'm saying is, if things start to go wrong you have an experienced person there to help you as you go without struggling on your own and then you learn from that. i'm quite good at plastering now and would now have the confidence to plaster on my own without making a mess of it whilst getting a brilliant finish, you wouldn't get that just coming out of a 4 day course no matter what anyone says.
Plastile said,
Wow!!!!That is such a big bold statement.What are we talking about here?..If you have, say a lounge 26'x16', or even half that size, and you have just completed a "4 or 5 day" plastering course, are you telling me/us that you are competent enough to plaster the ceiling and walls in a room that size???? and to what standard??? and what do you mean when you say PLASTERING?... skimming maybe??.... and what if all the walls of that room/house, were built of concrete blocks or breeze blocks, and they all had to be "plastered", (float and set) with a 10-15mm backing coat, to be screeded off with a straight edge, darbied, and scratch floated (deviled) over, ready for finishing,,,plus plastering the ceiling. Could you do both examples after a 4 day plastering course?? In my opinion,,,, swearing on my grandchildren's lives, after plastering for 40 years +... (and still getting my trowel "stuck flat" on the odd occasion) ....... Plastile... Never!!
Roughcaster.
Wow!!!!That is such a big bold statement.What are we talking about here?..If you have, say a lounge 26'x16', or even half that size, and you have just completed a "4 or 5 day" plastering course, are you telling me/us that you are competent enough to plaster the ceiling and walls in a room that size???? and to what standard??? and what do you mean when you say PLASTERING?... skimming maybe??.... and what if all the walls of that room/house, were built of concrete blocks or breeze blocks, and they all had to be "plastered", (float and set) with a 10-15mm backing coat, to be screeded off with a straight edge, darbied, and scratch floated (deviled) over, ready for finishing,,,plus plastering the ceiling. Could you do both examples after a 4 day plastering course?? In my opinion,,,, swearing on my grandchildren's lives, after plastering for 40 years +... (and still getting my trowel "stuck flat" on the odd occasion)
....... Plastile... Never!!Roughcaster.
Hi
Roughcaster is spot on (once again). I have been plastering just over 3 years and I still have loads to learn.
I am sorry but no way would you be able to plaster to a good standard in a week! There is so much more to it than skimming plasterboard that is already plumb.
Although, I am not knocking those courses. Everyone needs a starting point.
Good luck
Roughcaster is spot on (once again). I have been plastering just over 3 years and I still have loads to learn.
I am sorry but no way would you be able to plaster to a good standard in a week! There is so much more to it than skimming plasterboard that is already plumb.
Although, I am not knocking those courses. Everyone needs a starting point.
Good luck
Hi Guys,
Not getting into a slagging match, i am merely answering the original question, which was just walls in his own house, so the answer is still YES!
i am proof that these courses do teach the nessaserry, as i attended a course over 4 years ago for 1 week, and was taught how to float using sand/cement / bonding and hardwall all walls were way out of plumb, ruling off with or without beads, suctions and loads more, and i did replaster (skim) some walls in my house to a good standard straight after the course, but i could have floated as well, i`m not saying it was the nuts but good enough to leave, i have been plastering ever since.
We all keep learning !!
Not getting into a slagging match, i am merely answering the original question, which was just walls in his own house, so the answer is still YES!
i am proof that these courses do teach the nessaserry, as i attended a course over 4 years ago for 1 week, and was taught how to float using sand/cement / bonding and hardwall all walls were way out of plumb, ruling off with or without beads, suctions and loads more, and i did replaster (skim) some walls in my house to a good standard straight after the course, but i could have floated as well, i`m not saying it was the nuts but good enough to leave, i have been plastering ever since.
We all keep learning !!
I am no plasterer, but apart from the knowledge, you have to acquire the physical skill, and I don't see how this can come without practice. I can only do chases and patches, not a whole wall (I am naturally clumsy and not dextrous).
Perhaps you can build a block shed, and render the outside/plaster the inside? that will have plenty of corners...
BTW plaster that you spoil and have to hack off is good for the garden if you have a heavy clay soil, it lightens the texture (not a lot of people know that)
Perhaps you can build a block shed, and render the outside/plaster the inside? that will have plenty of corners...
BTW plaster that you spoil and have to hack off is good for the garden if you have a heavy clay soil, it lightens the texture (not a lot of people know that)
First and foremost, when you see joins over board it's mainly because of the thickness of the plaster that has been put on.. Ones brain tells people to knock up loosely , a. It dries quicker b. You need a nice round firm 1st coat whci as your plastering will pick up any floors with the substrate.
As for learning plastering, I learnt at Goldtrowel 3 yrs ago, have been awarded my nvq l2, I don't know it all but I sure know who delivers what and How. We never stop learning have just completed 300m of Krend on site, and am rammed solid until Jan 09. Usually people tend to be a bit negative about courses, because of sometimes envy or they ain't got a foggy of what certain centres do.
As for learning plastering, I learnt at Goldtrowel 3 yrs ago, have been awarded my nvq l2, I don't know it all but I sure know who delivers what and How. We never stop learning have just completed 300m of Krend on site, and am rammed solid until Jan 09. Usually people tend to be a bit negative about courses, because of sometimes envy or they ain't got a foggy of what certain centres do.
Many a good tune played on an old fiddle,,,,,,,your only as old as you feel,,,,,,, etc etc, but yep, it's true Marshy. Plastering is a trade that keeps you fit and also you're using most parts of your body, arms ,shoulders, the back, hands to grip, etc, so it keeps the joints on the move. Plastering has moved on since the sixties, and maybe not all for the better. There would have been some shoddy work around then too, but you didn't see as much. I see some finished walls nowadays, both taped and plastered that you wouldn't have in an old shed. A lot of the questions on here are proof of that. Some of the old plasterers that I worked with, in the days when patching holes in the brick/block walls where radiator pipes and toilet waste pipes etc were fitted through the walls, was a full time job, and they made sure that each patch that you filled in was ruled off and made to be as near as near perfect as possible, and that was only patching.... You weren't allowed to take any plaster from the spot board until the labourer had loaded the board, otherwise you had a guager full of plaster thrown across the back of your hand,,,, There's still some good, skillful, knowledgeable,plasterers out there today though,,,,, but ahh, the good old days, carrying hundredweight bags of cement, hundredweight bags of Carlite, bricks in a hod , unloading lorries of bricks, cement etc by hand.
Roughcaster.
Roughcaster.
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