help arcitrave and skirtings and door frame newbie

[pritsuk2002]

hi this is my first post also the first time im doing any diy in my life. i have just got some new skirts and archtraves for the upstairs of the house. i have a few questions. they are not mdf so i beleve i need to put knotting solution on the knots wait to dry the prime entire architrave or skirt when dry apply the finish coat. the skirt and trave are not fixed on the walls yet they are roughly cut to size but need mitring and fixing. my question is do i need to put the knotting solution, primer or paint on the side that im not gonna see?? also i have just had the horrible job done from a plasterer (cowboy). basically we asked him to remove the archives on all upstairs doors because we wanted new ones as the old ones didnt match the look me and my partner are going for. however when skimming he has skimmed onto the door frame ( all i can see is the inside of the frame . am i right in saying this is definatly wrong as the architrave sits slight bit behind the door frame therefore there shouldnt be no plaster on the frame at all. what can i do. tbh me and my partner wish we never meet this guy as hes crap any help would be great as due to his long job it has already taken us 8 weeks. we cant wait to see him gone once hes sanded and filled his imperfections

 

[Richard C]

hi this is my first post also the first time im doing any diy in my life.
i have just got some new skirts and archtraves for the upstairs of the house. i have a few questions. they are not mdf so i beleve i need to put knotting solution on the knots wait to dry the prime entire architrave or skirt when dry apply the finish coat. the skirt and trave are not fixed on the walls yet they are roughly cut to size but need mitring and fixing.

When fitting new skirting & architrave, it’s far easier & quicker to knot, prime & apply the 1st finishing coat before fixing, the final top coat can then be applied to finish off. Although I use nails on architrave, in most cases I fix the skirting using a trade grab adhesive rather than nails (saves all that filling). If the skirting is one of the double profile ones, make sure you advise the carpet fitter as these will have no support at the back of the bottom edge; a careless whack from a knee kicker can sometimes pull it off the wall!

my question is do i need to put the knotting solution, primer or paint on the side that im not gonna see??

Not necessary.

also i have just had the horrible job done from a plasterer (cowboy). basically we asked him to remove the archives on all upstairs doors because we wanted new ones as the old ones didnt match the look me and my partner are going for. however when skimming he has skimmed onto the door frame ( all i can see is the inside of the frame . am i right in saying this is definatly wrong as the architrave sits slight bit behind the door frame therefore there shouldnt be no plaster on the frame at all.

He should have feathered the plaster up to the edge of the door lining. I always run a sharp scraper down between the edge of the lining & the wall & remove any plaster from the timber as I go before it fully sets but sometimes it’s inevitable this will leave the surrounding wall a little proud. The architrave will cover the discrepancy & its unlikely anyone would ever notice once caulk is applied & its finish painted. Plaster doesn’t stick to wood at all well & it will, in all probability, crack & fall off as you attempt to fit the architrave (if your using nails); the big danger now it’s dry is that it will take lumps of the plaster skim with it as it cracks away from the wood. Even if it doesn’t fall off now, it’s more than likely to do so in the future as it continues to dry out & it gets the inevitable knocks.

Personally, I would insist he sorts it out now so he can make good any damage if the skim cracks away.

what can i do. tbh me and my partner wish we never meet this guy as hes crap any help would be great as due to his long job it has already taken us 8 weeks. we cant wait to see him gone once hes sanded and filled his imperfections

Difficult to condemn anothers work without seeing it but filling & sanding is definitely not a good sign; how long has he been plastering, did he come recommended? Even the best spreads will leave the odd trowel mark on an off day but were talking one or two per room if any at all & were talking small blemishes here which would not normally visible until after the mist coat is applied. Don’t know how big your house is or how much remedial & prep work he’s had to do but he should easily be able to do a basic prep & skim on 4 walls per day even working on his own; are you paying a price for the job or a daily rate? It’s what it looks like when he’s finished that really matters I suppose as long as you end up with a good job & are not paying for the privilege if he’s still learning.

 

[pritsuk2002]

its a friends dad i work with her. basically hes an amature he has flushed plaster to the level of the top pvc frames that goes around the inside double glasing window also there any many imperfections ie corners not straight lumpy where it goes to skirts he gone over. i will have to take pics and post. hes ment to be one of the jack of all trades. but i think hes the joker in discuise. basically arrangement was

1.plaster a box room celing it had textured celing i think he put pva on then skimmed it will this be ok?.

2. plaster the main bedroom celing it had thin sheets of wood nialed into the celing which were painted again he pvaed it and skimmed again is this ok?.

3 plaster the hallway and 2 walls in another bedroom. he did change the old wooden corners for metal ones in a few areas which i suppose was good of him.

4 make cuboards and change a few traves and skirt and fix a few back on. hes romoved them all but not fixed any back on and no cuboards are being made he has taken so long all this was for £500 plus materials

he has only done the plastering which is crap we have given him 150 for labour and we paid for the materials but we were thinking of trying to get the 150 labour back as jobs is rubbish also we only picked him as the whole job not just plastering. wud i be wrong in trying to get the money back?

also the method he has used when skimming (pvaing) the surface is this right or is it going to cause any problems

thanks for all your help

 

[pritsuk2002]

we had a plasterer lined up who im sure would have done a better job he said 250 including matterials. this guy hasnt even done the full job (cuboards ) the work he has done is crap and bupy can i get the 150 i gave back. can i complain and who too??

 

[dextrous]

Personally I'm never too keen on plastering over old paintwork on ceilings, and definitely not on sheets of timber on timber. On walls, pva is acceptable if the existing covering is sound, and usually involves putting one coat on the day before, and two or more on immediately prior to plastering. If he couldn't manage to remove the existing surface, I would have screwed plasterboard over the whole surface and skimmed over this. As for skimming up to the level of the plastic trim, this sounds lazy and unecessary - removing them and taking it up to the frame would have been better, since the trim is only there fo make the window installer's life easy so they don't have to spend time plastering and messing up the existing decoration.

Scraping off plaster from doorframes is easy, but the new plaster level may force the architraves out in places, especially if it isn't perfectly flat - it which case you need to hold the architrave in place, mark the wall, scrape of the excess plaster to embed the trave in as necessary, and run caulk or filler down the edge.

Can't see you getting your cash back, except for incomplete work on the cupboards. A decent decorator should be able to make good any obvious blemishes in his handiwork, and if you're so unhappy with him, let him go ASAP

 

[Richard C]

1.plaster a box room celing it had textured celing i think he put pva on then skimmed it will this be ok?.

Textured ceilings can be successfully skimmed; I prefer to remove old Artex but if skimming over, I prime the day before with a strong PVA bonding coat (2/3:1) & allow to dry overnight; I then apply a flash coat of 4/5:1 PVA & skim when tacky. Some heavy textures will benefit from an initial coat of Bonding plaster before the skim but this is extra work.

2. plaster the main bedroom celing it had thin sheets of wood nialed into the celing which were painted again he pvaed it and skimmed again is this ok?.

Painted with what? Gloss/vinyl paint requires additional preparation but you should never plaster over wood; even though it may stick initially it will inevitably crack (usually in the winter) due to the natural expansion & contraction of the timber over the seasons.

3 plaster the hallway and 2 walls in another bedroom. he did change the old wooden corners for metal ones in a few areas which i suppose was good of him.

Not sure what you mean by old wooden corners; are you referring to corner skim beads? If so these would have to be replaced anyway.

4 make cuboards and change a few traves and skirt and fix a few back on. hes romoved them all but not fixed any back on and no cuboards are being made he has taken so long all this was for £500 plus materials

That’s not very much for plastering the top floor of a house let alone the extra walls & cupboards architrave etc; he’s obviously cheap but, usually, if you pay peanuts you get monkeys!

he has only done the plastering which is crap we have given him 150 for labour and we paid for the materials but we were thinking of trying to get the 150 labour back as jobs is rubbish also we only picked him as the whole job not just plastering. wud i be wrong in trying to get the money back?

To be honest, £150 wouldn’t even buy you a decent plasterer for a day & you would not get 2 rooms done properly for that let alone the rest of it. A decent plasterer working on his own will average one room per day depending on size & daily rates are anything from £160 - £220/day depending on location.

also the method he has used when skimming (pvaing) the surface is this right or is it going to cause any problems

PVA is known as the plasterer’s friend &, generally, it won’t cause any problems but some surfaces require additional preparation & weaker or stronger mix PVA prep.

 

[pritsuk2002]

the wooden corner i was refering to must me the skim beads yes. what shall i do with the master bedrrom celling as its been skimmed on the wood aldreay and dried and i mist coated it. im not sure what paint was on there prior skimming but it did have paper on but i took that off. is it definastly goona crack as im gonna put laminates dow and evrything so id rather get the prob sorted now

 

[dextrous]

Get a plasterer round and ask his advice on overboarding and skimming

 

[pritsuk2002]

pritsuk2002 wrote "my question is do i need to put the knotting solution, primer or paint on the side that im not gonna see??"

richard wrote "Not necessary. "

someone told be its best to prime both sides even the side your not gonna see as it helps prevent the wood from whatever happens to wood. is this right or not true? sorry i always like to understand what and why im doing things before i carry them out

 

[Zampa]

Unless the wood is gi ng to be exposed to moisture then theres no real need to prime both sides, you can if you like..it wont do any harm.

 

[pritsuk2002]

thanks

 

[Richard C]

thanks

Sorry I didn’t respond to your further questions, I’ve been on holiday ; I see others have stepped in to advise but post back if you need more guidance.