Learning to plaster

[dcawkwell]

Hi group,

I've been thinking of doing one of these many courses "learn to plaster in 4 days".

What are peoples thoughts? Is it possible to learn plastering to a basic standard to skim walls and the like in 4 days and a bit of extra practice?

 

[stevethespreader]

What are peoples thoughts? Is it possible to learn plastering to a basic standard to skim walls and the like in 4 days and a bit of extra practice?

yes it is possible to learn to skim a wall in 4 days i remember someone put his son with me to learn a thing or 2 after a few days he was skimming 30m2 walls but he was a natural some people takes longer than others to get the hang of it also you learn quicker out onsite, but there is so much more to learn about skimming that you wont learn in 4 days, what else do the course offer other than skimming? because to become a plasterer takes years not months or weeks "or days in your case" i have literally heard of a story where someone had taken a weekend course and after the weekend he had his name on the side of van and was advertising in the paper and he was leaving a lot of shoddy work behind him, im afraid that after just 4 days you wont know very much at all in my oppinion, and the people who run the course will be that much richer.

 

[Richard C]

Many opinions & lots of threads on this one, here is some light reading for you;
//search.diynot.com/forum_sear...&since=any&forum_id=0&hasimage=0&topiclimit=0
I’m self taught over 7 years now but there are a couple of regulars on the forum who started out with a training course; don’t expect too much after just 4 days but it will/should teach you the basics. IMO it’s one of the most difficult trades to master, 90% is down to skill & knowledge, 10% pure witchcraft & I can do practically anything. How successful you will be & how you progress depends if you have a natural affinity for it; some can pick up a trowel & progress very quickly, others will plug away at it for donkeys years & still be NFG. It also depends what you want from it & the type of work you want to do, there is an awful lot more to plastering than skimming nice flat plasterboard.

 

[tim00]

Hi mate, and good on you for self-starting and attempting to presumably better yourself. But, as the good advice above says, you wont learn much in 4 days. Why not spend a few quid on some powder, and a few bags of sand and lime for lime render. Rig up some studding and P/B and skim away. Build a brick or block panel(or find a sacrificial space) and practice rendering/floating with an easily knocked off mix.

When you get confident then add a few int.and extn. corners.

Keep coming back here and to similar sites and ask all the Q's that will come up - this is a DIY forum so dont be put off by whacko's and braindeads. There are some spreads on here of obvious excellent experience and generous heart.
When you've got a grounding, if you feel the need, then you can go on one of these courses knowing what you need to know and the Q's to ask.

 

[NickB_99]

What are peoples thoughts? Is it possible to learn plastering to a basic standard to skim walls and the like in 4 days and a bit of extra practice?

I think the 4d course will give you exactly that - a BASIC standard.
I did one of the 4d courses and I think benefited from it. They are all different though, so shop around.
The one I did was a series of techniques taught in a plaster 'bay' - basically an L shaped stud wall section and a ceiling section above the L. It had a little window in the long side with mini-reveals.
In that bay we touched on: fitting plasterboard onto the studs, scrimming them and skimming walls & ceiling. Dryline over part of it leaving a gap in the middle about 2' square, which we then filled with Bonding next day and re-skimmed the wall. Did some blending in with multi-finish where we re-skimmed the wall except for 1' gap at one end. etc. etc.
Looking back, it got me used to the basics, but no way made me proficient.
for your bit of 'extra practice' -
Since then over 2years-ish, I've replastered most of the rooms in my house (with a lot of help of posted pics & advice from this forum) and only now think I'm achieving reasonable results. The early rooms I did I was pleased with at the time, but now look at them and cringe. I could do better now.

If you're keen, have a go. Really glad I did.
But don't expect professional results from the off. Start small and build up. Gradually you should improve.

The suggestion from some of guys here to offer some freetime for a bit of labouring to a local pro, would have probably helped a lot.
But with full time work and my weekends at a premium, not something I could commit to - but I suspect would have brought me on leaps & bounds.
Good luck!!!!!!!