Plaster coving.

[Agile]

I am going to get a builder to remove a chimney breast 1.66 m wide. Yes, sorry I am getting lazy.

He has offered to also plaster the exposed wall.

I am always worried about plastering as I have seen so much second class work.

But plastering across a smaller width is not a terribly difficult task.

Two questions, is it fine to add the basecoat and a finishing coat both at the same time so the job is completed on one visit?

Next question, there is a plaster coving, about 140 mm deep and 110 high. Not terribly complicated, but with a major curve and 2/3 smaller ones. My expectation is that remaking that to match would be something of a specialist job that would need a plasterer who does that often.

Would I be better letting the builder just plaster the flat area but leaving the coving for someone else?

How much would a specialist charge for remaking the missing length in situ?

Are there any other possibilities such as firms who make up coving off site for me to fit?

Tony

 

[clive12345]

Hello,
When the chimney breast is removed , the plastering on the two walls remaining might not bear much relationship to each other . One wall might be tight where it joined the breast , the other heavy . This would
not matter too much normally , but with cornice work , the ceiling and wall lines have to be about right .
When the breast is out use a long straight edge
to see which way the walls and ceiling go . They might dip in or out sharply either side .
The person putting up the cornice should decide how good the wall and ceiling lines need to be . If the builder does the plastering , just by working off the old edges , it might not be correct ,(even though he does a good job) .
If you look for "fibrous plastering" there is a small chance that your cornice
is available ready made .
You could try to take down the existing cornice and re-use it . This would
be by far the cheapest option , if its possible .

 

[Dextraneous]

Hi Tony. My sister's neighbour (in Chiswick) specialises in ornate coving. Pm me if you want me to get his number to speak to him.