Plaster and Best Before Dates?

[marshman]

Richard, its good for dubbing out catnic lintels or over concrete ones, put a shovel full of render on your spot board, smooth it down flattish
with a dish in it, put in some water then a big double hand full of finish, knead it in using your trowel, add water as needed, it will set in 30 minutes
or more or less, just depends how much finish you add.

 

[AndrewSchofield]

Hi Richard, as i'm sure you know i'm no plasterer I know multifinish isn't intended for this purpose but i just thought seein as i've got a couple of bags that are past their useful life i wondered if i could use them for this.

Its a rough limestone wall and the mortar is a bit hit & miss (its over 100 years old) so there is a bit of draft blowing through the wall (its not an external wall!!!) when its very windy. I was planning to either dot and dab it or use bonding but as i'm not bothered about the final finish i wondered if i could use multi on its own or mixed with sand and cement just to render the wall, stop the wind and prevent the sharp limestone in the wall ripping the bags of SWMBO's 'stuff' when she fills the loft space with all those things that may come in one day?

Its really just a case of using it up instead of having to get rid of it, expecially with these new landfill regs - but equally i don't want it to drop off the wall again as soon as it goes off.

Roy C - so what ratio of Mulit/Cement/Sand do you recommend?

 

[roy c]

I wouldn,t recommend it out side but if you are happy to use it for your own ends then I cant say dont. Knock your mix up at 5-1 (sand cement) then like marshman said put a couple of shovel fulls on a board and mix your multi in with it and add wateer till you get a nice consistance. And see how long it takes to go off when you are working with it. The more you put in the quicker it will set. By the way it makes a nice mix
Now I didn't tell you to do this .Ok?

 

[marshman]

By the way it makes a nice mix

aye, just nice for pricking up a reed ceiling.

 

[roy c]

Lets not give too much away now marshy,,

 

[marshman]

aw, I was going to go on with split chestnut riven laths ceilings.

 

[roughcaster]

Roy,,,, Marshy,,,, do you remember "haired browning" plaster,,,,BC,,,, Before Carlite,, ,,,, just before. It came in a 1cwt bags, (50kg in todays money),,, and i'm sure it was mixed with plastering sand, in a mixer, (for floating). I don't know the exact mix, but i think it would have been around a 4 to 1, sand/browning,,, probably lime added too. It used to set up after a short while, so it had to go on the wall pretty quick, plus the mixer had to be cleaned out continuously, but it was a good, quick setting floating plaster, for a thick coat build up. It may have been a bit before your time, but still worth asking............... When you come to think of it, no bags of plaster, or cement had a use by date on years ago,, we used it without any problems,,,, we're far too informed and cautious nowadays, whether it plaster or food,,,, that's why there is so much waste/thrown away. It makes me wonder how we've all survived.


Roughcaster.

 

[AndrewSchofield]

I wouldn,t recommend it out side but if you are happy to use it for your own ends then I cant say dont. Knock your mix up at 5-1 (sand cement) then like marshman said put a couple of shovel fulls on a board and mix your multi in with it and add wateer till you get a nice consistance. And see how long it takes to go off when you are working with it. The more you put in the quicker it will set. By the way it makes a nice mix
Now I didn't tell you to do this .Ok?

Cheers Roy. Its on an internal wall, not outside so i reckon its worth a go. In any case, the area i'm doing is relatively small so if the worse happens and it drops off it wont be the end of the world to have to re-do it. Will let you know how i go on with it!

Cheers once again.

 

[AndrewSchofield]

Would it be worthwhile PVA-ing or wetting the stone wall before i apply the render?

 

[roy c]

Get yourself a garden sprayer and give the wall a good spraying to kill the dust and kill the suction . If the wall is quite irregular and some deep joints, put the muck on your hawk and dig your trowel into it and "flick" it
on the wall. Go all over the wall like this and then go back over it and trowel over it, you can let this "pick up" then scratch it then you can trowel another coat on it to fill it out. You can scratch this as well and let it go off and next day put another coat on it and get it out to a fair line and float it or sponge it or both, have a play around and see how you get on. Dont be tempted to keep trowelling it put it on and leave it... This is just a rough guide to get you used to using your hawk and trowel...Good Luck.

 

[marshman]

RC, I've never seen that haired browning, and everything was cwt bags when I started, I'm not that cautious,
I'll very often clear the fridge of the past their best dates, if it looks and smell ok then don't throw it away,
I can't remember the last time I had a upset stomach (apart from beer),
all these germ spray t.v adds ( 99.9) I think will / are doing more harm than good, the sterile world they think is so good
will come back and bite them in the ar5e.

AndrewSchofield, Sorry to of got off topic on your post,
I'm in total agreement with Roy C but I would add that if you go back to the wall for another coat the next day then I would
give it a light mist spray of water just to damp the surface before you apply another coat,
I've never gone over a mix like this the next day but I can't help thinking that it will be quite dry and have a high suction.
back to roy c or RC on this.

Oh and wear trousers that are long enough to cover the tops of your boots.

 

[roy c]

R.C.
I too cant remember the haired browning but I have a heard of browning being mixed with sand @ 3-1(sand , browning) ratio for some back-grounds and one browning to one and a half sand for other backgrounds. but never tried it....I still never look at the dates on the bags of plaster until anything strange happens....I agree with people being over cautious and must admit that with my digestive system I have to be a bit careful..,,
Quote,from marshman....
I would
give it a light mist spray of water just to damp the surface before you apply another coat,
I've never gone over a mix like this the next day but I can't help thinking that it will be quite dry and have a high suction.
I would tend to think that it would have high suction aswell.

 

[AndrewSchofield]

RC, I've never seen that haired browning, and everything was cwt bags when I started, I'm not that cautious,
I'll very often clear the fridge of the past their best dates, if it looks and smell ok then don't throw it away,
I can't remember the last time I had a upset stomach (apart from beer),
all these germ spray t.v adds ( 99.9) I think will / are doing more harm than good, the sterile world they think is so good
will come back and bite them in the a**e.

AndrewSchofield, Sorry to of got off topic on your post,

Don't worry - fill your boots - Most of what you lot are talking about could be written in French for what i understand but you never know - i might learn something! I agree with you on the BBDs in the fridge, i eat stuff until it looks inedible irrespective of what it says on the packet, then if it looks dodgy - i give it the dog. I don't think I (or the dog for that matter) have ever had food poisoning - its a risk i'm happy to take. Heard on the news yesterday that there is an increase in people with allergies and multiple allergies - some experts think we are now 'too clean and sterile' and this could be causing it.

Back on topic - thanks everyone for the advice - should finally get round to doing the walls this weekend if all goes to plan so i'll let you know how i go on!

 

[Paul5483]

Hi i have some plaster and its 12 days out of date with a little hole in the bag would it still be ok too use

 

[darrington]

Not a problem at all. As long as it's been kept in a dry condition, and not been kept in a damp place, (shed, garage etc), it'll be ok.