plaster board to dry to skim

[vernerbongo2]

I've got a plasterer in at the minute and he has told me the plaster board on the ceilings are to dry to skim, making the plaster go off to quick to work with.(the skim finish is fresh enough)
He wants me to seal all the plaster board on the ceilings
Anyone ever heard of this problem, because I haven't!
If so what would you suggest

 

[roughcaster]

You haven't got a plasterer in at the moment, you've got someone who would like to be a plasterer. He has probably learnt to skim and is maybe capable of doing a job if everything is in his favour, but to say that the boards on the ceiling are too dry to skim making the plaster go off too quick, and he wants you to seal them all, sounds to me that he is making excuses. Sure there can be suction, but he should be able to cope with that if he's competent,and get out of the problem himself. God help him if he ever gets a job doing "real" float and set plastering, rendering, floor screeding etc etc, all part of a plasterers job, with no excuses and blaming the materials for his inability.

Roughcaster.

 

[Richard C]

Some surfaces do require sealing (PVA) before plastering but it’s not normally necessary on plasterboard if the boards have been fitted the correct way around. It means he’s possibly not as experienced or as quick as perhaps you thought; or maybe the plaster is not A1 due to bad storage. Don’t really understand why he’s asking you to do it though, most plasterers will do their own prep work as a matter of course so they know its right; & it takes only a few minutes. Is he asking you to seal it the night before or just before he starts?

Ceilings generally take longer & large ones can be a problem if you’re mixing your own, he obviously feels he needs more time. PVA will slow it down & won’t really do any harm; what’s important is he does a good job & the end result isn’t pants!

 

[jbonding]

both senarios are posible but if im paying for a plasterer i wouldnt expect to be pvaing boards, ive never mentioned to any of my customers either, unless i didnt know what i was talkin about

 

[staningrimsby]

I agree with all the above comments, i have never asked any of my customers to do anything like that before, sounds to me like you have a DIYer that wants to be able to plaster and when he has come to start he has realised the enormity of the task at hand.

Get rid and get somebody who knows whate there doing and that you have confidence in, bad plastering will stick out like a sore thumb.

 

[roy c]

never heard of anyone "PVAing" a plaster-board ceiling or askin' someone else to do it. Either ask him to see any of his work or **** him off.

 

[clout stench]

It 'MAY' just be that the plasterboard has been up for a long time and gathered dust from other building work in the property.

I once did a simple (or so I thought) skim job on a stud wall that was built well over 12 month's previous. It was like skimming untreated week old bonding and very nearly caught me out!!!

Turns out that the wall was built prior to other building work and over the period between that and me skimming it, it must have absorbed loads of dust etc!!!

Still, as everyone else says he sounds like a numpty, get someone else in!

 

[noseall]

as said above.

a plasterboard that has been up for a long time does absorb water more readily than a fresh one. this i know for a fact.

but, it is still not a problem for a proper spread.

 

[vernerbongo2]

The plasterer is doing a good enough job with the leveling and base coats and scratch coats outside.Their finish in a couple of rooms is A1.
The boards have been up a couple of months now and the house has a lot of air blowing through it, plus our weather here is warm and dry.
They did do a couple of ceilings and and said they were almost caught out.
I have worked on jobs in the last 20 years and have never seen any plasterer seal plaster board, thats why I was asking!
I did wonder how fresh the finish was though as I bought 15 bags at b&q just because it was a lot cheaper.
Thanks for all your views

 

[Richard C]

I did wonder how fresh the finish was though as I bought 15 bags at b&q just because it was a lot cheaper.

It’s usually pretty good; I get 90% of mine from one of their large Trade Centres & I've never had any problems with it. Because of the price, they tend to have high turnover & their Warehouse storage environment is certainly much better than most of the national BM's sheds! As long as your guys do a good job, it doesn’t really matter!