Plastering Large areas - Technique

I think I bit off too much today and thought I could do a whole wall which was about 8'x16'. By the time I finished one mix and I'm no pro I had no time to go over the begining to flatten out the lines as it took too long to get the mix on. How do you pros manage big areas? Obviously small sections would be sensible but how to you blend in the finished plaster with the bare wall to take the new plaster?

What do you guys do in this situation, do you do say half a wall then go over to flatten and finish the rest of the wall off or do you finish the first part of the wall to the final wet/dry trowel and then do the other half from scratch too?

Any tips most appreciated.

Cheers

 

One word mate Experience, the more walls you do the faster you will become,don't forget a good coat of pva on old walls to kill suction.

 

I suppose that is a big factor but was wondering if there was some sort of knack to it rather than just finish as fast as you can

I've managed getting the first skim on pretty quickly its the second that seems to take time obviously with the additional steps.

 

Just plastered my first ceiling using stop bead to break the ceiling into two parts. Found this to work well. Skim upto stop bead (two coats) remove bead then do other half of ceiling on same day. Found this trick on this great website. Put some pics in album.

 

If mixing yourself, you’re going to be restricted on the max size of wall/ceiling you can tackle in one hit; this will relate to how much you can physically get up there in around 40 minutes or so in order to leave yourself enough time to level & finish off. If working alone, you should aim to mix what you need for both coats on the whole wall in one batch; if you have to stop to mix up another batch you'll loose valuable time, the first coat may have gone too far by the time you get back to it & you will start to run out of time. The more practice you get, the more little tricks you pick up & the quicker you will get but you also have to be careful to control the suction on high absorption backgrounds which will rob you of time.

With more practice, a wall of the size you quote (around 15 sq/m) is about average for a moderately sized lounge & should be easily manageable. Once you start to go over 20 sq/m, it’s going to get increasingly difficult & I think most except the young, very experienced & very fit are going to start to struggle if working alone, especially ceilings which can be even more of a challenge. Working above the standard height of around 2.4m will also slow you down & with really large areas the best thing is to get someone to mix for you so you can just keep on going; then your going to need real stamina!

The stop bead trick referred to by Raydar works well, I’ve posted it but others may have done so as well. I’ve used it on gable conservatory walls up to 4m high where it’s not just the physical size of the wall that robs you of time but jumping up & down on bloody steps/trestles as well.

 

there is no real answer, pvaing it thoroughly will give you more time, dont play around too much with it, bust your balls to get it on asap.

i just done a victorian terrace hall, stairs and landing.

hall was about 7mtr long then the stairs, and then double the length of hallway on the landing.

i had three bandstand trestles with 5 meter scaffolding planks on the landing to reach the 12ft high ceilings.

that was a b*stard off a job, i have never sweat my ass off as much and very nearly lost the wall at one point, i had an apprentice with me, mixing, and cleaning as there would be no way of hitting that on my own.

practice, practice, practice.

 

Excellent cheers chaps for the top tips, will take them on board!

 

good thread guys!

I work on my own at the moment and have tackled a ceiling of about 13-14 sq. metres and walls of around 15 sq. metres and that's kinda my limit at the moment but i'm a newbie really so hope to get better/quicker with lots more practice.

i'm interested by the stopbead trick as this would seem to take away any worries of getting a wall or ceiling too big but have a question, is the join liable to be considerably weaker than if done in one hit?

 

not got a clue trowelmonkey, never used em as no need, any ceiling of massive proportions that i cant manage myself i call a mate who is also a sread to work on em rather this than kill yourself rushin.

 

I not used it that often, only on a few jobs where I feel I may get stuffed but I’ve never had any problems with cracking & very little if any remedial filling on the “join” afterwards. Bear in mind it’s only intended as a means of progressing across a large area that may otherwise be impossible on your own, in the same session. Take the bead down just as the plaster’s gone off & work the new mix away from the edge to the next bead or the corner. Fix the bead so you plaster up to the edge not over the mesh & bury it as someone once did!

By far the best option if you are fortunate to be able to muster up someone to help!

 

thanks Richard, good to know it's tried and tested, will keep that up my sleeve now if i come up against something enormous, means i won't need to lose any sleep over it.

still finding my feet in my area and work alone at the moment, can see that it would benefit me to find an ally to team up with from time to time.

 

as with everything in the trade trowelmonkey, the more you get involved in it the more people of different trades you meet, you get to know them and eventually a few become mates aswell.

it helps enormously to bounce ideas off them and their experiences helps you to overcome problems you will face.

christ nows i've needed a few in my time, frantic phone call to plumbers with "sh*t i've hit a gas pipe" or the like.

 

Or even, "Gas,, i've hit a sh*t pipe".

Roughcaster.