Getting Caught Out

[Mike2007]

I went on a plastering course after doing plastering at home, as you do. The course was great and the tutor load of laughs, the result being nice ceilings and walls!
Got back home and thought when my customer said they needed a wall plastered I would step in. Bathroom, vinyl paint top half, bare finishing plaster bottom half. PVA applied to all surfaces, of course bottom drank most. Dried off, happy this had stopped off the surface.
Made a nice mix for first wall.... went off like CRAZY. I was fighting with the stuff straight away, leaving a crap surface!! Second wall was not much better even with a sloppy mix.

Is there ANYTHING that can ****** plaster mix (Multi-Finish)??

 

[Richard C]

Is there ANYTHING that can ****** plaster mix (Multi-Finish)??

Don't think that's really the answer!
A wall in half vinyl emulsion half virgin plaster will have different cure rates so you need to be aware of & take account of this when you initially lay up. I always score the surface of viny but it shouldn’t create that much of a problem! If you’ve plastered before & BEEN ON A COURSE you must have some idea what your doing & how various surfaces affect working times; did you PVA a 2nd time just before laying on? If it went off so quick it caught you out perhaps the plaster was NFG, was it in date? Were your working tools clean? Maybe you just haven’t quiet got the hang of it yet!

 

[brist]

If it was a bathroom wall it must have been a smallish wall ,this should really be no problem at all so i sugest you need more practice .

 

[Mike2007]

To be honest I did not check the date on the bag which I picked up at B&Q, maybe that says it all??

 

[noseall]

agree with Richard, use fresh mud.

it helps to build up in layers too. subsequent layers hold off better, the more you put on. this is one of the reasons good spreads never one coat.

 

[Mike2007]

How many do it as a two man job, one mixing.

 

[brist]

Work alone but this limits me ,large walls not really a problem but large ceilings forget it.

 

[Mike2007]

What I can't really get over is how manic the job is. Plumbing is just steady away, but plastering a lot darting about observing whats doing on! Not giving up though until I have it completely cracked.

 

[noseall]

finished plastering is always done 'on the clock'.

the second you add water to the powder, the clock starts ticking.


i never plaster alone.

 

[joe-90]

You've got your PVA wrong. Fresh plaster will be workable for ages.

If it goes off - it's a PVA fault.

Never had a bad bag of plaster in 30 years.

 

[Richard C]

I always work alone & agree with brist that this will limit you; walls I’m OK with up to about 18sq/m but ceilings will drop that to 12 sq/m or even less before I start having problems!

 

[Nige F]

To be honest I did not check the date on the bag which I picked up at B&Q, maybe that says it all??

You did exactly what a young chap did when he plastered a small bedroom for me..about 2 years ago,.....and now he`s a damned good plasterer and buys from a Builders merchant only .....NEVER @ any of the sheds