More plastering woes

[Shanagarry]

Hi all

I'm new to the forum, in search of some opinions on a plastering job I've had done recently.

To give some background, we hired a builder to remove a wall and make good, as well as some additional tasks. In terms of plastering, this involved making good some areas where e.g. the old door frame was or the pipes were chased, skimming the rest of the wall, and plastering a new plasterboard dropped ceiling.

One area of the skim is crazed and a little bit has already fallen off, so clearly I'm not happy with that.

My queries relate to the rest of the work. There are visible sweeping trowel marks on the wall, some of which are rough to the touch. On the ceiling there are small ridges where it looks like he didn't fully spread all the plaster. In other sections the bits that have been filled are obvious. They're a bit difficult to photograph, but hopefully you can see what I'm talking about and give me your opinion as this is my first house, and my first building experience.

There are other issues too, so I've already sent him a high level formal email of complaint. I mentioned our unhappiness with the finish of the plaster without going into detail, expecting to get into discussion from there. However, without asking what the issue is, he's offered to send someone to sand. Ignoring the fact that won't fix the cracking issue, everything I'm reading suggests that a good plaster job shouldn't ever need more than a cursory sand. What are your views on that?

 

[chappers]

some of that looks like it is coming away, hard to see how bad the rest is, but yes a decent job shouldn't need filling (maybe the occasional nick)and just a light sand to help the paint key, shouldn't actually need flattening out

 

[terryplumb]

pics are not as good as being there to see for oneself ,but they do show enough to know its not brilliant by any stretch. top notch plasterers can command top prices ,if you have gone for the cheapest quote ,as many do when getting building works done ,you have to ask yourselves why are they cheap .

 

[Shanagarry]

Thanks for your replies.

In terms of remedies, what would you recommend? I assume the part that's falling off will need to be taken off and completely redone? What's the best way to fix the rough areas? Another finishing layer?

 

[zenonithus]

Did he apply 50/50 pva glue/water on the wall before skimming? The cracked/blown area looks like none was applied or not enough was applied therefor the wall underneath sucked up all the moisture and it is coming loose. If just one area is popping off you need to pull off as much that will easily pull off and apply the pva and can just re-skim those areas without having to do the whole wall. If he didn't apply PVA to any of the wall before plastering than that is not good and I would recommend taking the lot off as it will loosen and crack over time. Is this plastered over a painted wall? If so the paint might be loose on the wall and also could cause the plaster to come loose.

 

[chappers]

if it is tight to the wall then sanding and filling is the answer. Plaster isn't the easiest thing to sand. If it is really bad then it could be skimmed over again but preferably by someone else.

 

[Shanagarry]

I'm not sure if he used PVA, possibly not. It doesn't seem to be due to loose paint anyway, that's not coming off with the plaster.

I haven't paid for this yet, so I have some leverage. The issue is that I've no faith in them being able to sort it out, and they were also incredibly messy.

 

[zenonithus]

Definitely should have brushed on the 50/50 PVA first otherwise plaster will blow and crack off like in your image.