Uneven Platerering work on walls in hall and lounge

[leenx]

Hi

Decided to take up the challenge of trying as best I can to 'smooth over' certain wall areas in my house. This must of happened when the previous owner lived here but some of the walls are uneven - in particular above the radiator area. I imagine that the plastering work that was carried out here has fallen apart / cracked from the heat. My question is as these areas are not that big is it something I can tackle on my own by say getting hold of some 'smooth over' product and at the same time fill in some other smallish uneven surfaces around the property. Or would I be wasting my time. The areas in question are around half a metre in length and quarter in height at most. I am or have been doing amateur rennovation in my property for the last two years so am better with my hands than I used to!
Look forward to hearing your advice.

 

[Steady]

Maybe find some other areas that need attention and get a plasterer in to do it properly. It will look cr*p otherwise. You probably want to save money but a patch repair in such a conspicuous place will always be obvious and never look as good as new plaster.
There are people on these forums who swear they can plaster professionally after a week's course. They are deluding themselves and they are only fit to plaster cupboards under the stairs. The art of plastering takes years of practice.

 

[leenx]

I see your point and I realise that plastering in itself is an art. A very long time ago I went on a brick laying course as part of my Greenkeeping college and found that a challenge in itself. I suppose my thought is I have in the past carried out similar kinda smoothing over and most recently smoothing over quite a few holes in the wall from where pictures usd to be held up and I've really not spotted them once sanded and painted. As I said these areas are not large by any means but I'm now dubious after your point about them being in conspicuous areas. As an impulsive kind of personality I was planning on doing it all this weekend and early next - getting a plasterer in between now and then seems very very unlikely

 

[Steady]

Well there's no harm in giving it a go I suppose and if you're not happy with the result THEN get it skimmed . What might happen though when you start chopping out the old plaster is the 'small area' suddenly becomes a lot bigger as it takes loads of the plaster around it with it.

 

[leenx]

Yep sounds familliar! Just thinking actually I can't remember now as it's been a hard day in the office but if the areas are lower than the rest of the levelled wall I could try the smoothing over but if the areas are higher and uneven I could try using the old electric sander to make level? Feasible? or would this spell more trouble?

 

[Steady]

Without seeing it it's hard to say but if there are just a few small high spots you could try sanding. If there are larger areas that are proud of the rest then you will have difficulty making it look neat,

 

[Ratter]

I am not a professional plasterer, just an enthusiastic amateur and I would agree that for a first class job you need a professional.

But having said that, I have taught myself to plaster over the years and you can achieve reasonable results on small areas and of course you can do it at your convenience.

My No1 tip would be if you try and plaster over lumps you will just end up with bigger lumps so you must dig out the high spots first then fill smooth.

I use a tungsten carbide scraper and it always looks worse before it looks better. Then fill any big holes with browning and skim with finishing plaster. If you are like me, then you won't get a perfect finish first time so a bit of Polyskim will be needed to finish off. Invest in a proper float - it makes a big difference.

In my experience, sanding makes a lot of mess and scraping is better. I got a nice scraper from B&Q with replaceable blades that last for ages. Cost about £15 but worth every penny.

Regarding plaster, it doesn't last more than a month or so because it draws water out of the air - buy fresh each time, it's cheap enough. If you just use polyskim or similar for large holes you will spend a lot of cash and spend ages waiting for it to dry.

Another useful tool I have is a piece of L shaped steel about a foot long and an inch or so wide which was part of a mounting kit for an oven or similar - it's brilliant for testing levelness and can be used as a scraper.

For finishing a rubber hand block sander is great.

PVA primer is a good idea before painting.

Good luck with your efforts

 

[leenx]

Ok guys many thanks for your help and advice. Gonna start tomorrow and invest in a quality scraper route! I'm out on Xmas do tonight so levelling tomorrow will be the last thing if you know what I mean!!

Many Thanks

 

[diyisfree]

Couldnt agree more.

If you have nevr done it before, dont try an area that you look at every day. Do as steady says and practice under the stairs,

Or better still, practice at the mother in laws house