Plastering where I left off

[AdamW]

I started to plaster my bathroom ceiling yesterday, using Wickes (Knauf) one-coat plaster. In order to get a good finish I used 6mm plaster beads about 20cm apart, so I could just run the trowel along with relative ease.

Now, I used so much plaster to fill these gaps (well, half of it went on the floor!) I ran out, so had to stop. I was hoping to pick it up again tomorrow evening so thought I would ask for some tips.

1) Is it going to be a simple matter of just carrying on plastering (only some areas need a little bit more to fill small gaps) or will I need to wet down/pva the surrounding area?

2) Should I prepare the plasterboard in anyway? I found that the plaster wasn't as keen on staying on the plasterboard as I would have hoped.

3) What consistency should I aim for? Is more sloppy wetter plaster better for ceilings or is stiffer drier plaster? The sloppy stuff seems to stick better and work easier at first, but the stiffer stuff seems to keep it's shape better and is easier to work a bit later.

4) Why didn't my bloomin' plasterer show up on Saturday morning like he said he would? I have saved £100 but ceilings really are a lot harder than walls!!!

 

[mildmanneredjanitor]

One coat....

Ooooohhh, horrid stuff!

Why didn't you use finish??? Much easier to work with?

After a bit of self taught faffing about, I always use bonding coat for repair work and finish for... finishing!

 

[AdamW]

Well, I was going to get Thistle finishing plaster... that is what I have read recommended on many websites, that is what a plasterer I had before used, and it was also very cheap.

But then I saw the bag of Knauf one-coat and thought "ooooh, one coat"... you know, the Dulux syndrome. It had things written on it like "no slump", and "easy to use plaster system". I think my next bags will be thistle finish. Cheers for the advice.

 

[gandhi]

Hi, I have been a plasterer for many years and can tell you that by actually using the beads you made more work for yourself,because you finish surface will require a thick layer to cover beads.When plastering a ceiling which has only plasterboard you should use thistle plaster and it should be of cake mixture type consistency and spread thinly over board.

 

[AdamW]

I realised that after I had done a few bays. The wall I did "by eye" is fine. The ceiling I did with beads is pants. I invited a couple of plasterers in for a laugh and a quote yesterday, they are coming back on Friday morning with a bag of bonding and a bag of finish... I am glad that I thought the ceiling finish was pretty funny too as otherwise I might have been offended!

Boy am I rubbish at plastering ceilings!

 

[AdamW]

you should use thistle plaster and it should be of cake mixture type consistency and spread thinly over board.

You know what, I was in Wickes and they sell many different plasters. I saw the bag of Thistle, £3 something for 25kg. I thought "Hey, that is what my last plasterer used, and what I have read is good". Just about to stick a sack of it on the trolley when I saw "Knauf one-coat plaster". "Knauf" I thought, "they made the cement board I used in my bathroom and that was good, plus this is one-coat, sounds fantastic!"

So I bought a £6.50 25kg sack of the one-coat, thinking that might be good stuff. Oh no it isn't (for me anyway)

Oh, on another subject: I read a couple of years ago that "synthetic gypsum" is bad because it is slightly radioactive and has been linked to lung cancer in dry-liners in countries that use it. I thought that we wouldn't ever get any in this country as we have such massive gypsum deposits. However, the plasterboards I bought in Wickes were printed "synthetic gypsum".

Can anyone shed any light on this? Why do we have synthetic gypsum in the UK? Does anyone else have concerns on this?

 

[pipme]

Ain't many better hand craftsmen than good plasterers.
Who trains them now ... lots of hands on needed I reckon.

Back in the '60's I worked during hols on a 14 storey office block ... cleaning up the chasings etc with a Kango hammer (electric mini jack hammer). That is where I learned to tack polystyrene blocks to the shuttering, thus preforming electrical box cavities and chasings.

Two plasterers and one mate, ceilings and walls, so quick, hard work, they turned wavy concrete into very flat surfaces ... With excellent corners etc.

The Site Agent used a 6ft steel straight edge hither and thither on surfaces produced, checking gaps by eye ..... He also checked all brickwork perps for alignment using same straight edge ... The various Foremen were tremblingly present !!!
Woe betide a brickie using 'washing up liquid' as a plasticiser too !! Down the road on the spot !! ... Got a second chance at perps though, but no bonus (was more than flat pay then).

Sorry about that felt the need to say .... Interesting days !
P