Uneven skimming

[bandit1200]

Hi, if a wall has been skimmed unevenly, and the surface undulates as you pass your hand over it, is there a method for sanding it flat easily? My plasterer is not scraping with a straight edge as i would have expected and some walls are getting this effect due i would think to the small nature of the trowel.

 

[madfunkymonkey]

if there that out change your trowel and re skim them . always best to have 2 or 3 trowels on the go I wear mine in constantly using them to lay on with the less worn in and Finnish with 1 that is, if its just nibbs a sanding pole and and a fine paper (id use a silicone type ) if not you will scar the wall and 1 problem will become 2

 

[joe-90]

Skim coats will always follow the contour of the wall. That's how it is possible to skim rounded corners etc.

The undercoat plaster is the one that is usually used to straighten the wall up with a double handed job called a Derby.

You can use it to apply the skim too if the surface isn't too undulating, then polish with the standard trowel.

I don't like your chance of sanding back uneven plaster. As the previous post says you'll end up with another problem.

joe

 

[bandit1200]

Thanks for replies. The rooms are done now, the surfaces are polished, but uneven. The board underneath is obviously flat, but the surface is uneven. Am I asking too much for it to feel flat like running your hand over the board? If not, should they be skimmed again by someone else on the walls that matter?

 

[jbonding]

it depends on what you paint it with, a silk paint will show it up like a dent in a car bonnet. ive seen bright emulsions hide the worste plastering ive seen and looked ok till the sun shone through.

 

[bandit1200]

I am thinking about using a lining paper, then a lightly embossed anaglypta to break up the surface. Hopefully this will hide the problem. It is just annoying that I now have to do repairs around sockets etc so that they sit properly as the plaster ramps up to them because the boards were fixed too deep. I will now insist on seeing previous work and recommendations before accepting a quote! I wish I had boarded it myself with taper edge and filled the joints, I just thought before that dabbing was more of an art than it actually is.