Is this a bad plastering job? (pics)..

[FiscoKing]

Hello,

I got some plasterers in to do a skim job over some old plaster in a bedroom. They used multifinish.

The old wall had a skim already on it, but when I removed the existing fitted furniture, which had been glued to the wall (WTF?) it took the top skim of plaster with it. So the plasterers I got in said they would PVA the wall and re-skim.

I took a look at the job they had done and there were some imperfections, but they told me I would not see it once the wall had dried and it was painted.

Well the wall dried, and I could still see the imperfections, so I sanded down what I could see was proud and used polyfilla on what was recessed (usually over the plasterboard nails) and then primed and painted in a light colour.

Since going to the light paint colour, the downlighters (GU10 - 50w) that are nearest the wall pick out every (and I mean every) imperfection in the skim job.

Can anyone tell me if this plastering job is substandard, average or good (see pics).

In daylight, you can't tell there is anyting wrong with the wall. It's only at night when I fire up the downlighters that the wall looks streaky.

http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h316/goodproducts101/IMG_0424.jpg
http://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h316/goodproducts101/IMG_0420.jpg

As an aside, can you tell me what has gone wrong here (has the plaster slid down the wall, mixture too weak, or just bad polishing etc..) and what can I do to check the work of the plasterer the next time I get someone in? It's hard to see imperfectoins like this when the plaster is still wet and dark brown...)

Thanks,

[EDIT]

Also, what can I do to correct this? More sandpaper? What grades? I'm a bit apprehensive about going down the sandpaper route. It's very easy with 80 or 120 grade to wreck a wall (been there before...).

 

[brist]

Hard to see but not shocking ,could be a bit of over trowling to early.

 

[FredFlintstone]

As Brist says, it's difficult to see.

However, one thing I would say is that it's very rare for a plasterer to leave an absolutely perfect finish. Generally there will always be blemishes here and there.

Unless your plasterer is totally crap a freshly plastered wall will always look fantastic before it's painted. Nothing shows up imperfections like a good coat of paint, especially a satin paint so quite why your plasterer stated it would look better is beyond me.

Best thing to do next time is to give the wall a mist coat (up to half water and half paint) and then when dry shine a strong light along the wall. Look down the wall for blemishes and fill with a fine surface filler (a jointing compound is ideal) and sand lightly with a very fine paper when dry. Then mist the patches and then two coat emulsion as usual.

Maybe get a different plasterer next time and see if you're happier with the results. Hey, maybe you should give Joe-90 a call. He seems to know what he's talking about. Maybe he can get a blemish free perfect finish with his one coat technique!

Regards

Fred

 

[Richard C]

I assume that’s 2 different pictures/areas; it’s difficult to see what went wrong there but does the rest of it look OK? Are the areas with the bumps where the furniture was glued to the wall & the original finish came away? If so it, they may have tried to fill & skim in one hit & that can lead to the imperfections showing through the finish as the thicker layers won’t go off at the same rate.

Everyone has occasions when things don’t go quiet right & were not entirely happy with the results but it’s a bit naughty of them to say it will ‘go away’ when painted; it’s only ever going to look worse, especially when you shine a light at it from an angle! If it’s only local & the rest is good, what they should have done for the sake of their reputation was offered to come back & rectify it or knocked 30 quid off your bill & let you do it.

I don’t like using sanders but this may be the easiest option in your case & I’ve got an old ½ sheet orbital sander I use with 120 grit wet & dry on such ocasions. Filling hollows can be a bit trickier & I will always try to sand down & blend in (within reason) rather than build up as you can have all sorts of problems trying to hide join; also, if you’ve already painted over the wall, Polyfiller over paint tends to bubble at the edges!

 

[Ratter]

I've found the best tool for flattening lumps is a scraper with a silicon carbide blade - a sort of modern version of a Skarsten scraper. Used carefully this will remove imperfections. It also makes a lot less mess than an electric sander because the dust mostly falls down

If you are left with any small depressions, Polyskim is better than ordinary filler and easy to sand - I use a 99p hand sanding rubber block. It's wise to PVA it before painting because it is very absorbent.

You'll gather I'm not a pro plasterer but I am good at sorting out other people's bodges.

Good luck

 

[FredFlintstone]

It's wise to PVA it before painting because it is very absorbent.Good luck

Nooooooooooooooooo! Don't PVA it! Water down the first coat of paint - half paint half water. If you PVA it you'll get adhesion problems and the paint won't take to the plaster very well. After this first coat you can paint with two coats of emulsion as usual.

Regards

Fred

 

[Richard C]

No that’s not good; you should never PVA bare plaster unless re-plastering, just use watered down the emulsion & give it one or two wash coats before applying the finish colour coats; I always use budget white emulsion for the initial coats which seems to do the job well.

Not tried Polyskim though, might give it a go..

 

[Ratter]

I was actually suggesting PVA over the Polyskim which is very absorbent stuff and drags the paint off the roller otherwise but thinned down emulsion may well be better.

 

[joe-90]

Sorry folks but that isn't pro plastering. I hope they were cheap!

A properly skimmed wall (two coats) should be perfect - absolutely perfect.

 

[FiscoKing]

Thanks for the replies folks.

I guess anything done by hand is going to have imperfections in it sooner or later. I have to say, I've seen better skim jobs on new builds than what I've been left with.


The plaster job cost me £1100 for 3 days of work with two people plastering. They did a whole room 5 x 4m including putting up a new ceiling and plastering it (I pulled the old artex one down for them). They supplied the plasterboard and plaster.

If you've not seen his work, you can only take a plasterer at his word before the job starts.

Some large monet reproductions heading for the end wall me thinks...

 

[FredFlintstone]

The plaster job cost me £1100 for 3 days of work with two people plastering. They did a whole room 5 x 4m including putting up a new ceiling and plastering it (I pulled the old artex one down for them). They supplied the plasterboard and plaster

JESUS!!!

I'm guessing standard ceiling height of 2.4m or is it an older property?

If only 2.4m high then that's only six bags of multi finish and seven or eight boards for the ceiling. Oh and a litre of PVA and few strips of scrim. That's £60 - £65 materials, the rest labour!

I've just quoted that for a whole house (well OK, six rooms albeit all of them smaller than your room) although he doesn't want the ceilings doing. How on earth did it take two of them three days? Starting at 9 and finishing at 1 or two?

I think I'm under pricing and working longer hours than I should. I suppose it's supply and demand though. Those guys can probably afford to turn down work or lose jobs. Right now, while I'm building business, I can't.

Regards

Fred

 

[FiscoKing]

I paid that because I wanted a good job, and I didn't want to wait months for it either. The guys started within two weeks.

One day to put up the plasterboard ceiling and the other two days to skim the lot. They went through nearly 9 bags of 25KG multifinish.

I was in the room with them shifting door casings and electrical sockets the whole time, they started at 8 and finished at 5. There were very few breaks.

These guys were contract plasterers, doing shop fitting and banks (so they said). This type of work does pay better than your yellow pages stuff if you can get it.

There is so much work about at the moment, that if you want someone within weeks rather than months, then you just have to pay more than the next guy
Beating tradesman down on price just does not work (IMHO). You either get a rushed job, or they place you so far into the future you find someone else in the mean time.

As I said, you can only take a plasterer at his word if you have not seen his work. Coming back the title of this post, I take it at this price, I should have got a near perfect finish?

If this is the general opinion (for the price I paid) then I will ask the guys back to see what they can do. Pigs might fly, but if they do not come back, then I will give the rest of the house work to someone else.

Thanks.

 

[Richard C]

If this is the general opinion (for the price I paid) then I will ask the guys back to see what they can do. Pigs might fly, but if they do not come back, then I will give the rest of the house work to someone else.

That's a big price & you should have got perfection for that sort of money; I would most definitely try & get them back in & I would up my previous reference to a discount from 30 quid to more like 300 quid!

 

[FredFlintstone]

I paid that because I wanted a good job, and I didn't want to wait months for it either. The guys started within two weeks

Don't get me wrong Fisco - I'm not having a go at you for paying that price - you pay what you gotta pay at the end of the day. I'm jut amazed that people have the cheek to charge such prices. Even when I get to the stage where I can afford to lose jobs I don't think I'll ever over price work - I'll always try to charge a fair price which in my opinion is enough to pay the bills, save for quieter months and to cover holidays and sickness.

I work alone and if it was me doing the work I reckon I could probably have done it in three days on my own. Ceiling up and skimmed one day, back the next and skim two opposite walls, back for a final day to skim the other two opposite walls and clear up.

Of course, I haven't seen the site so I could be wrong because there could be factors invilved which complicate the job but if it's a reasonably standard setup then I see no reason why it should take me longer. The first ay would be the longest.

I would definately get them back and tell them you're not happy. Like you say, pigs might fly but then you've got the rest of the house to do so they'll lose out on that work.

Regards

Fred

 

[diyisfree]

Have to agree with everyone else on this one. that is an awful lot of money for one room.

I plastered an extension last week (single storey) consisted of a living room 10' x 16' and a utility room 8' x 8' square. boarded the ceilings and bonded the walls NOT bloody dry lining, except the old exterior wall which is now inside. I rendered that with sand & cement (was dashed) .

That was 3 days work i charged £980 inc materials. Maybe im too cheap also. Then again, i live in sunny Lancashire poor end of the country.