Tiger stripes!

[trowelmonkey1]

Well after posting ages ago about mixing times and saying i've never suffered from tiger stripes, i seem to now be consistently getting them if thats what they are

so i'm just over mixing then you think? i'm only mixing as long as it needs to be smooth but maybe on too high a speed? is the air in it causing it to set all stripy?

i know my work will look ok once painted but the lumpy way in which it sets and trowels up aggravates me.

thx chaps.

 

[Micilin]

I think it comes in the batch sometimes, and cold damp weather doesn't help -but it's been milder lately.

BG have told me it's over mixing it, undermixing it, hardness of the water (kid you not) I've been told by a rep that he could send it off to the lab to test, "but it always comes back as ok" !! They say they can't guarantee how it's been stored once it leaves their depot etc etc

It's probably a combination of things, but if you are doing the same as always, probably the batch. Does it seem greasier than normal?

If you think you are over mixing, try mixing a half or a bucket with a plunger and see.

 

[Richard C]

Well that’s the way of it ; as I said only recently, just when you think your really starting to understand & got most of it sussed, something comes along & bites you on the arse just to remind you whose boss!

If your doing renovation work, a quilt patchwork of repairs & an uneven background which your attempting to “iron out” can give you hell as it invariably all starts to go off at different rates, despite your best prep efforts to control it! You may have just been unlucky with local conditions, product or ambient conditions but consider what you’ve done differently recently by way of “improvement” & more than one change; trying to improve can have an uncanny knack of achieving the opposite effect . The age old adage comes into play “if it ain’t broke don’t try & fix it"; or as in the case of one regular contributor here, “fix it till it is”.

Could be anything m8 but if your running a paddle in an electric drill, you need to select the slowest gearbox speed & then some.

 

[stevethespreader]

tiger stripes appear when you havent troweled the first coat flat when you lay on the second coat and trowel up the uneveness of the first coat shows through or grins through creating tiger stripes, i remember u saying monkey that you dont put your first coat on that flat to start with it may be happening where you havent troweled it that flat i remember us talking about it on uk s get the first coat flatter

 

[Richard C]

tiger stripes appear when you havent troweled the first coat flat when you lay on the second coat and trowel up the uneveness of the first coat shows through or grins through creating tiger stripes

Varying suction or plaster depth fits the bill; could this be a consequence of you switching from one coat to two on certain backgrounds; I seem to remember you saying you didn’t start out a 2 coater.

 

[Micilin]

I had a spell in winter 2008 where three pallets of multi on boards (i prefer board finish) tiger striped like billyo.

I tried everything - let first coat go off a bit more, a bit less. I floated the first coat with poly and sponge float. I floated second coat before trowelling. I mixed it myself (I can mix two bags and have everythingwashed out in 5 mins) to make sure not overmixed. I mixed with plunger. I flattened first coat and second coat with 18" spatch.

Jaysus - in the end, after all the bolii1x with BG rep, could only put it down to the stuff itself.

The cold weather does not help.
Too much mixing does not help, too much water does not help but some times you get dodgy stuff.

Not much good for a living room, but in the case above the builder knew we (me, improver, lad) were half decent , as we were skimming 2-300m2 a day, all good before and after that batch but honestly that three pallets made me cry.

 

[stevethespreader]

I had a spell in winter 2008 where three pallets of multi on boards (i prefer board finish) tiger striped like billyo.

I tried everything - let first coat go off a bit more, a bit less. I floated the first coat with poly and sponge float. I floated second coat before trowelling. I mixed it myself (I can mix two bags and have everythingwashed out in 5 mins) to make sure not overmixed. I mixed with plunger. I flattened first coat and second coat with 18" spatch.

Jaysus - in the end, after all the bolii1x with BG rep, could only put it down to the stuff itself.

The cold weather does not help.
Too much mixing does not help, too much water does not help but some times you get dodgy stuff.

Not much good for a living room, but in the case above the builder knew we (me, improver, lad) were half decent , as we were skimming 2-300m2 a day, all good before and after that batch but honestly that three pallets made me cry.

after the first pallet i would have been tempted to take the other 2 pallets back and yes some times you get dodgy stuff where it goes off to quick ect but i love skimming in cold weather the colder the better for me

 

[trowelmonkey1]

great replies guys! THANKS.

i've had the same thing happen now on both overskims and on plasterboard.

Rich, this has only been happening recently, switched to a 2 mix system a while back so can safely rule that out... i think! was only feeling quite confident the other week and like you say, this came and bit me on the ar*e.

Mic, can't remember now where i've gotten all my muck from of late but certainly the last few bags have come from the same place and the keep it in a cold lock-up, thought this was ideal storage? as good as it would be to know that it was the muck and not me causing this, i kinda wish it was something i was doing, at least then i could fix it, getting bad gear i can't do much about, and yes it does seem greasy!! good description actually, been searching for a word to describe it.

Steve, well remembered! however i do now lay on quick and go back and flatten it in pretty well now so that a really thin top coat can go over it, so it's not that.

on reflection here's a more detailed description if can get it across:

i'll lay on and flatten off the first coat, goes ok and no strips, lumps or bumps.

then when i top it i'll wait around for it to feel firm enough to flatten, thing is it seems wet in areas but has pulled in along the trowel lines so i get on it and can't quite flatten the trowel lines out completely these then become my stripes, but more like slight bumps now, the rest of the muck on there is too wet still and get trowel lines a plenty when i've flattened in so am ending up troweling once more than i would normally now.

end result is that i finish with a hard trowel which kinda takes the tops off the stripes leaving it pretty good, fine when it's painted i'm sure of that but then looks kinda unsightly, and the troweling up is just not nice.

 

[Micilin]

after the first pallet i would have been tempted to take the other 2 pallets back and yes some times you get dodgy stuff where it goes off to quick ect but i love skimming in cold weather the colder the better for me

Yes, in hindsight -but easier said than done . Once you have it for a day or so, how can you prove you haven't left it uncovered etc, and I don't usualy order just in time, but always like a pallet or two on site in so we don't get held up.

Why do you like the cold weather to work in? I'd prefer 3 guages a day in nice weather, job done home at 4, than 2 in colder weather but would agree don't like plastering in real heat.

 

[Therms]

What are 'tiger stripes'?

I've googled, but can't fond anything to show me.

 

[stevethespreader]

after the first pallet i would have been tempted to take the other 2 pallets back and yes some times you get dodgy stuff where it goes off to quick ect but i love skimming in cold weather the colder the better for me

Yes, in hindsight -but easier said than done . Once you have it for a day or so, how can you prove you haven't left it uncovered etc, and I don't usualy order just in time, but always like a pallet or two on site in so we don't get held up.

Why do you like the cold weather to work in? I'd prefer 3 guages a day in nice weather, job done home at 4, than 2 in colder weather but would agree don't like plastering in real heat.

i do site work i get bigger hits on in cold weather as for taking your finish back you dont have to prove anything with b&q just take it back with receipt tell them you have ordered 2 much

 

[stevethespreader]

great replies guys! THANKS.

i've had the same thing happen now on both overskims and on plasterboard.

Rich, this has only been happening recently, switched to a 2 mix system a while back so can safely rule that out... i think! was only feeling quite confident the other week and like you say, this came and bit me on the ar*e.

Mic, can't remember now where i've gotten all my muck from of late but certainly the last few bags have come from the same place and the keep it in a cold lock-up, thought this was ideal storage? as good as it would be to know that it was the muck and not me causing this, i kinda wish it was something i was doing, at least then i could fix it, getting bad gear i can't do much about, and yes it does seem greasy!! good description actually, been searching for a word to describe it.

Steve, well remembered! however i do now lay on quick and go back and flatten it in pretty well now so that a really thin top coat can go over it, so it's not that.

on reflection here's a more detailed description if can get it across:

i'll lay on and flatten off the first coat, goes ok and no strips, lumps or bumps.

then when i top it i'll wait around for it to feel firm enough to flatten, thing is it seems wet in areas but has pulled in along the trowel lines so i get on it and can't quite flatten the trowel lines out completely these then become my stripes, but more like slight bumps now, the rest of the muck on there is too wet still and get trowel lines a plenty when i've flattened in so am ending up troweling once more than i would normally now.

end result is that i finish with a hard trowel which kinda takes the tops off the stripes leaving it pretty good, fine when it's painted i'm sure of that but then looks kinda unsightly, and the troweling up is just not nice.

hi monkey if your waiting around for it to go firm and cant trowel the lines out you may be leaving it to long i trowel my work up imediatly as like by the time ive laid on 30m2 as soon as ive laid on the last bit its time to trowel up the first bit also it suggest to me that if your wall has firm parts and wet parts like you say it suggests that the walls are going off unevenly maybe background prep? "ie" pva in places no pva in other places?,actually i think that is whats happening your wet skim is going over the firm skim creating the tiger stripes immitating the tiger stripes you get when the first coat is not flattened out very well and grins through the second coat

 

[marshman]

I'm wondering if you are getting your top coat to wet and spread to thin,
I have my second coat hardly any wetter that my first.

 

[Micilin]

[.[/quote]i do site work i get bigger hits on in cold weather as for taking your finish back you dont have to prove anything with b&q just take it back with receipt tell them you have ordered 2 much[/quote]

I find them okay for that, I must say -probably the best about for that. Would they come out and exchange a couple of pallets if I asked them?

What kind of rate for skiiming on site are you getting on site round your way?

 

[stevethespreader]

3.50 a m2 at the mo i wouldent know about coming out and changing pallets if they dident I would take them back, myself ive never been in that situation the contractor supplies the plaster its already onsite, what price a m2 are you in your area and where are u based?