rough surface between picture rail and ceiling..

[peggy17]

I have recently purchased a 1930s property which has the picture rails still on the wall. I have had the ceiling overboarded and skimmed and the walls skimmed from the picture rail down to the skirting board.

The plasterer refused to skim above the picture rail up to the ceiling as said it was to difficult to get a trowel to work the plaster in this area.

He suggested I fill any holes and sand it then paint. Because his put joint tape on the ceiling for the skim, I have exposed tape on the wall, as well as some rough surface where he had put some plaster in a hole and a couple of cracks.

Can anybody recommend what's the best way to get a smoothish surface to paint over?

I have added a picture showing this small area. I have two rooms like this and 7 areas of picture rail to tidy up.

 

[misterhelpful]

It is a narrow area, and would be difficult to trowel with a standard trowel, but decent plasterers can usually get a good finish with smaller trowels. I suspect it was just likely to be too time consuming, so that's why he refused.

You could use some easifill to level the area yourself. Use it with a suitably sized taping knife/jointing knife and you should get a pretty flat surface. The beauty of easifill is that it is so easy to sand if you do get some imperfections. I would suggest using easifill 90 which gives you 90 minutes to work with it rather than the faster setting versions such as 45 or 20.

Dust off the finished surface and apply a mist coat of emulsion, just like with the bare plaster.

 

[geraldthehamster]

I have recently purchased a 1930s property which has the picture rails still on the wall. I have had the ceiling overboarded and skimmed and the walls skimmed from the picture rail down to the skirting board.

The plasterer refused to skim above the picture rail up to the ceiling as said it was to difficult to get a trowel to work the plaster in this area.

He suggested I fill any holes and sand it then paint. Because his put joint tape on the ceiling for the skim, I have exposed tape on the wall, as well as some rough surface where he had put some plaster in a hole and a couple of cracks.

Can anybody recommend what's the best way to get a smoothish surface to paint over?

I have added a picture showing this small area. I have two rooms like this and 7 areas of picture rail to tidy up.

I'd be tempted to get a plasterer more confident in his abilities to come and finish the job. Did you discuss with the first plasterer what the work would entail, before you engaged him, and paid him?

Cheers
Richard

 

[sparkwright]

As said, get another plasterer.

Have experienced this before with some plasterers, who can't be bothered with the detail.

Yet there's others who just get on with it without any bother at all.

A lot of plasterers do seem to worry about time, and getting things done in one whole day, etc.

Come to think of it, I think a whole topic could be created on the ways of the bolshy plasterer. Why is everything such a problem with them all the time?

But hopefully someone can recommend you a good plasterer.

 

[sparkwright]

Just seen your picture.

It is quite narrow, isn't it!

But as said before, a decent plasterer with a smaller trowel should be able to do this.

Your plasterer could have even have had a go with Easifill, just to get it reasonable.

But often that's how it goes with plasterers.

 

[footprints]

Just fill as best you can sand and run a strip of lining paper along perfect finish!