Tips for complete novice

[JoinerMike]

Hi all
Was hoping for some good advise off all you plastering experts. I am a joiner and recently had a go at plastering a wall, which was pretty good. even shocked myself. But was wondering if you girls/guys could give me more help to make me better. The steps i did was as follows:-
sorry don't know tech terms used
1.) put on first cost from top left to bottom right
2.) Run over with dry trowel
3.) Put on 2nd slightly thinner coat
4.) Run over with dry trowel
5.) Run over with slightly wet brushed trowel.
I had 2 problems that i noticed. First was I didn't seem to get chance for a brew lol cos I am a bit slow putting coats on at the moment and second was when i was spreading coats on I found it hard to spread near even on first arch movement. What angle should i have the trowel. I had edge about 10mm from the wall but had to go over several times to get it even. Should I start with 10mm from wall then go flatter as less plaster is on trowel when i do my arch movements?
Do plasterboards need pva on before skimming? If so what part water/pva?
Would love to continue practicing with your good advise
Any help and advise would be highly appreciated.

 

[noseall]

you seem to have board skimming sussed!

no pva though.

the angle of the trowel will depend upon how you want to lay off the material from the trowel to the wall. or, if you are flattening or doing some serious dry troweling.

a plasterboard has very predictable low to moderate suction. the angle of the trowel will be fairly constant, when laying material onto the boards.

the angle of the trowel will differ greatly when troweling up and will depend upon how much pressure you wish to apply.

any shallow angle is difficult to maintain and requires the greatest skill. the trowel can actually stick to the surface, particularly a new one and result in the plasterer pulling skim off the wall due to the suction.

 

[JoinerMike]

Thank you noseall for you very quick reply.
So when putting on my 1st coat for example and i have a good size of plaster on my trowel i should keep my trowel at the same angle for the whole arch movement? How far should i have trowel edge from the wall? the closest to the wall the more skill required?
Should i have an acute trowel angle when troweling up? Is toweling the step i do when the trowel is dry?
What angle should i have when polishing? (If thats what its called when trowel is wet)
Thank you again for your help. I havent't been so keen to learn anything since i found out its possible to hold up a bank ;+)

 

[noseall]

the trowel angle is not deliberate but a feel thing.

as is the amount of pressure you apply.

both of the above will depend upon the condition of the surface being plastered and the condition of the skim itself.

the firmer the skim the more the pressure.

 

[roughcaster]

How to use a trowel,and the angle of a trowel whether it be for the application of the plaster, or in the finishing/troweling process, is very difficult to put into words. There is no specific angle. You will just get to know "what angle" as you get to know the job. Take for example something as simple as spreading butter with a knife across a slice of bread, that will involve changing the angle of the knife blade as you spread with it, it's the same with a trowel............ Think of a wall as being like a big slice of bread. (wholemeal) ....... Anyway,the nearer you are to the top of the arm stretch, the more shallow the angle, and as noseall said, the trowel angle at the top of the stretch is not far off being "flat" and can stick to the wall and take the plaster off. It's all about trial and error, doing small easy to do areas first, and gaining experience. I still get the odd occasion where the trowel sticks flat, but I don't pull it towards me, I slide it up the wall a bit, and ease it off. Good luck to you anyway. It's good to see a joiner repent and do something useful for a change.

Roughcaster.

 

[marshman]

buttering bread, good comparison there roughie, and how to get out of the odd stick, glad I'm not the only one who still get the odd stick
in a tight spot.

 

[noseall]

the old "stick and pull" bah and tosh!

it also results in 'scarring' and can be a right nuisance.

the trick is to try and re-apply the 'aged' bit of skim that is stuck to the trowel.

 

[roughcaster]

Exactly, if you fill up the scar with cream, you'll see it for ever more, as you say try to get some of the original, one hour old'ish plaster and make good with that.

Roughcaster.

 

[joe-90]

An hour old? Now I know you can't plaster. You will never get 1 hour old plaster to stick to your trowel never mind put it back on the wall. It's laughable.

 

[roughcaster]

If you can't make good a scar/blemish with multi finish one hour into it's life Joe, that's your problem, I can, others would probably agree i'm sure. You certainly can't spread with it, but it is far from set (solid) overall. Setting time for multi finish, one and a half hours,,, approx, unless of course you know different???

Roughcaster.

 

[noseall]

An hour old? Now I know you can't plaster. You will never get 1 hour old plaster to stick to your trowel never mind put it back on the wall. It's laughable.

joe, there is such a gulf of knowledge between yourself and roughcaster that this is the only thing laughable.

you have no idea whatsoever laddie.

 

[joe-90]

An hour old? Now I know you can't plaster. You will never get 1 hour old plaster to stick to your trowel never mind put it back on the wall. It's laughable.

joe, there is such a gulf of knowledge between yourself and roughcaster that this is the only thing laughable.

you have no idea whatsoever laddie.

I agree - there is a HUGE gap. He knows absolutely nothing.

Maybe our resident structural engineer and resident surveyor would like to comment on work done for them that used 1 hour old plaster to patch a wall. For heaven's sake - it's solid. You can't reconstitute plaster. What kind of chancer are you? Worra Plonka!!

 

[joe-90]

If you can't make good a scar/blemish with multi finish one hour into it's life Joe, that's your problem, I can, others would probably agree i'm sure. You certainly can't spread with it, but it is far from set (solid) overall. Setting time for multi finish, one and a half hours,,, approx, unless of course you know different???

Roughcaster.

It doesn't reconstitute after an hour - cowboy.

 

[noseall]

fill ya boots joe.

 

[joe-90]

How touching. Noseall showing us his family album.

While you are there - you explain how you can pull plaster off the wall by getting your trowel stuck (even competent DIYers don't get their trowel stuck) after the plaster has been on the wall an hour - and then you can stick it back on again? For Heaven's sake.