Drylining / plastering advice please

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I should say right away I am a bit of a perfectionist and am often disappointed when I get a 'professional' involved.

My extension project is preceeding well. My mate Jamie and I did the foundation and floor. They are close to perfect. I employed a first class bricklayer to construct the shell / roof and was very pleased with his work.

Having completed 80% of the first fix the dryliner / plaster arrived to fix the ceiling before I completed the partition walls and associated first fix. I was a little disurbed when I lightly tapped one of the plasterboard sheets when working in the loft and saw it decend to the floor. The reason was self evident. The dry lining screws had been fired 1/2 to 2/3 of the way though the 12.5mm plasterboard, crushing the edge of the sheets. I remedied this by replacing the sheet, adding another 300 dry lining screws to the rest of the ceiling at the correct depth and said nothing.

Phase Two - While I was on hols and paid by the inlaws

Most of the walls are now drylined and ready to plaster. Apparently he had to use more adhesive than he expected (over twice as much as he asked for) to get the sheets to stick to the Thermalite blocks. There is a 15 - 20mm gap between the blocks and the plasterboard with all kinds of knock on effects! The door casements are now too narrow and will need replacing. The 1700mm finished gap I had carefully documented and communicated for the bath is 1685mm without the skim. The plasterboard is already flush with the edge of the window boards. In addition, some of the edges are mis aligned and the cut outs for the electrical sockets / light switches are rough or broken or oversize.

In fairness the one bit of ceiling he has plastered looks good. I figure he is a good plasterer. Where do I go from here? Does the above sound normal at this stage?

Phase Three?

Option 1: Put in an extra couple of weekends to replace the door casements and window boards. Rebuild the box at the end of the bath to allow 1700mm and smile at him again.

Option 2: Express my concerns and disappointment and see what he says. Could result in him telling me to sod off? (Several of my friends have suffered this from tempremental 'professionals' with plenty of work)

Option 3: Cut and run before I waste more money. I am worried nobody will want to pick up the job half way through.
 
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timber suppliers have started making deeper and broader window boards and door casings, specifically to overcome dabbing problems that you have highlighted.

did the dabbing have to overcome any pipe drops or wiring drops that weren't chased into the wall?

i, as a general builder undertake all the trades when building extensions, so i'm always in sympathy with the next bloke to come and do his bit. so if i'm building a roof carcass, i make sure there are enough "lathe catchers" in the valleys for the roof tiler 'cause i will be tiling it. or if i'm dabbing a wall, i will take greater care , 'cause i'm the bloke who will be skimming it.

i have had to remove a door casing and replace with a broader one, simply because the plumber has put a pipe drop on the same wall and has subsequently made the wall thicker.

the old 225mm window boards are no where near deep enough to cope with the new "part L" wall thickness regulations.
 
I’ve recently dry lined the new front wall of an existing extension, it’s also Thermalite blocks but I have nothing like the sort of gap behind the boards that your talking about; I made sure I got the blockwork nice & flat & the boards have sucked in to end up almost flush with the wall behind, which is surely how it should be! Why on earth did he use such large gobs of adhesive?

I too have been disappointed with the standard of some of the work done by others on the extensive property renovation I am undertaking which is why I now do everything I possibly can myself! It’s taking much longer but I’m saving a fortune, the work is 1st class & I am now quiet a competent plasterer! But I do think this is something you either have an affinity for or not, it’s certainly one of the most difficult things I’ve had to learn.
 
I had 3 dry liner / plasterers round before chosing one, mostly on the basis of availability (I guess the best are taking bookings for next summer!) I discussed my door frame concerns with each of them and they assured me they could wack the boards close to the wall.

I cut the all the microbore and even the 10mm cable into the blocks.

Having asked me to get 8 bags of adhesive he has already had to get another £70 worth and still needs more ... so it isn't panning out the way he thought! (I calculated the plasterboard and look like I will be one sheet over in a total of 55)

I guess your advise is .... option 1. Change the door casements and windowboards and smile?
 
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from what you are saying the spreads have no excuse, unless the walls were out of plumb?
 
Why didn't you contemplate going the old route and rendering the walls with good old fashioned browning or bonding ? you wouldn't have had any problems then.

I think all this dry lining lark is just a cheap, quick way of bodging what was once a job done by a pure trades man..

A friend of mine has recently had an extension built and he had exactly the same problem with the walls you have, thicker than the casings.

As for me , well i rendered all the walls with browning in my extension and all the casings are spot on. The walls don't sound hollow when you tap them and when you come to hang a plasma or picture, you don't have any problems...

Edit,

Noseall, I certainly am not saying you arent a trades man :D
 
diyisfree said:
Why didn't you contemplate going the old route and rendering the walls with good old fashioned browning or bonding ? you wouldn't have had any problems then.

As for me , well i rendered all the walls with browning in my extension and all the casings are spot on. The walls don't sound hollow when you tap them and when you come to hang a plasma or picture, you don't have any problems...

Well said that man. It seems that's how everyone wants to do it this way now; I had a serious row with the company that built my extension, porch & conservatory when I said I would not accept dry lining but wanted a proper plastering job done; which they did in the end!

I admit that I have succumbed on one large wall I have had to replace in an old extension. I was going to render but after a lot of deliberation, came to the conclusion it would be quicker & a lot less challenging for me as an amateur working on his own!
 
diyisfree said:
As for me , well i rendered all the walls with browning in my extension and all the casings are spot on. The walls don't sound hollow when you tap them and when you come to hang a plasma or picture, you don't have any problems...

Edit,

Noseall, I certainly am not saying you arent a trades man :D

i agree entirely.
i was taught to float 'n set back in the early eighties, and people still prefer us to plaster this way. i find it astonishing that modern "plasterers" don't have a bath or a darby on their vans.
 
noseall said:
I find it astonishing that modern "plasterers" don't have a bath or a darby on their vans.

Think the bath is probably obvious but what's a darby?
 

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