How good should our new walls be?

[roughcaster]

I do live on the Moray Firth (Lossiemouth) young Roy, but the whale was not stranded near us, although my wife was on the beach the other day.

Roughcaster.

 

[roy c]

Thanks for the "young" sir It has now become as clear as mud

 

[Richard C]

In a conny there are only usually 4 skim beads involved they are a pound each and matching them up on a 3 foot section is embarising, i ve never seen it in my life, ive matched them up (2.4 TO 2.4) in the past, but this is penny pinching and bad. Like i said in a previous post this guy is not capable of putting it right, It is easier to do it the first time round, a lot harder to put right.

Perhaps he got the off cuts out of a local skip or had them left over from the cons up the road! Unless length dictates or your stuck for it, joining skim beads has got to be the ultimate penny pinch & speaks volumes.

 

[roy c]

Sometimes Richard when you are workin' out in the "sticks", and you have to join beads because it is not cost effective to get to a suppliers it has to be done . And I think anyone who is training to be a plasterer or has learned his trade should make sure he can fit two pieces of bead together so it is not obvious to the customer or anyone else. Because one day there will become a situation where you will have to do it..

 

[jbonding]

I will guarantee he bought 3 10foot beads and stretched them, lol
You can get caught out but rare, very rare. like i said 4 beads max in a conny and it is possible to line them up but not in this case.

 

[Nixdorfer]

I was having second thoughts about letting him near it again this morning and was thinking of ringing to tell him not to bother. But he turned up unannounced and started while I was out walking the dog.

I worked late tonight so it was too dark to check his handywork when I got in as we've still no electrics yet.

From the bit I can see he's replaced both beads and skimmed the whole conservatory. The small wall where it stuck out badly seems a lot better but don't think he's replaced any of the boards. Around the switches seems a lot flatter at first glance. Early days and will know more in the morning.
I couldn't stay to see what he actually did or used. He was there from 9am till about 1.30ish, is that enough time to fill and rectify the faults properly then skim it all?

Away for a week from tomorrow so may not have access but will post an update before I go.

Cheers guys

 

[Nixdorfer]

Had a look this morning and on the surface it doesn't look too bad, god knows how much stuff he's slapped on there to achieve it though.

One thing I've noticed which could be a problem is he's skimmed right to the concrete floor now, there was a board thickness gap before. I assume the damp could start creeping up the walls as the concrete isn't even dried out yet.

I can't tell how he's pulled that small wall straight, it look acceptable but the window board now only overhangs about half of the rest of the room. Its similar on the other side of the door, maybe he did both sides. Has he skimmed it that thick, but knowing his handywork he's probably stuck board on board

Away for most of the week now so will see how it dries out, probably come back to piles of plaster where its all fell off

Cheers

EDIT: The cheeky sod has been using my spirit level to screed the walls flat. Its still covered in plaster

 

[Richard C]

Sometimes Richard when you are workin' out in the "sticks", and you have to join beads because it is not cost effective to get to a suppliers it has to be done . And I think anyone who is training to be a plasterer or has learned his trade should make sure he can fit two pieces of bead together so it is not obvious to the customer or anyone else. Because one day there will become a situation where you will have to do it..

I fully agree; I have & do join on occasion if I'm stuck or have somehow managed to get the numbers wrong but I would never do it just to use up odd lengths or unless I had to; I’ve nearly always got a few spare angle & stop beads in the back of the truck anyway.

 

[noseall]

joining beads is pants, unless the span deems it necessary.

those images speak volumes.

but then again we all could sit in our armchairs picking faults.

maybe the plasterer was a child or only being paid peanuts.

ho hum.

 

[Nixdorfer]

It been drying while I've been away & we can see the result better now

Its better in a lot of places but still far from perfect, one wall is now so thick the window board only has a 5mm overhang at one end, the other end is 17mm. But on the other walls its upto 33mm. He swapped those joined beads in the end.

There's also a big hollow in the same wall now that wasn't there before.

The walls are still off plumb by quite bit in places and looking down from the window boards the walls still aren't straight. I think its going to look odd by the time we've put nice straight tiles next to it. Especially as we aren't having skirting boards.

A few of you thought he didn't have the skill to sort it and although he's had a good go at it you were right. That one wall is so far out now the only option would be to strip it back as he's got nowhere to go with it.

I don't want him to do any more on it as he clearly doesn't have what it takes. I'll have a word with the boss but will probably get a few quotes from other plasterers to sort it properly.

EDIT: Originally he left a gap at the bottom which he said was to stop damp. This time he's plastered right to the floor filling the gap. The floor is concrete. Is this going to be a problem?