plastering courses? worth it?

retrocircles

i live in a 3 bed house, where some walls in all 3 bedrooms need plastering, artex bathroom needs doing, same with kitchen, whole living room & am eventually planning to turn garage into room so would need that too.

i imagine that would cost an absolute fortune... though i've seen plastering courses costing from £300-£500. i'm thinking of sending hubby on one to make him learn the skills & do all the work!

has anyone done a course like this? do you learn the skills needed in such a short time (the courses are 3 & 4 days long)? or are they a waste of money?

darkcloudi

I did a plastering course about 2 years ago as I just bought a place and thought about doing a lot of the DIY myself. Depending on who the instructor is it can be a good course, the courses do describe techniques on how to plaster and I did do a small room myself and did a good job, although it does take years to be a professional plaster.

The ceilings I would let the pro's do it as that is hard work.

27col

Learning any skill has got to be a good thing. However, just going on a course will not necessarily make your hubby a good plasterer. You say you are going to send your hubby on a course, I hope that he has some input to this decision. If he is only a reluctant DIYer then it could all end in disaster and rows all round. Does he have a previous interest in DIY, if not, then I would not bother.
As a lifetime DIYer I have often wished that I could plaster, but having seen professionals at work, it looks like a hard way to earn a living.
I would imagine that it is quite difficult teach yourself. But if you can get taught the basic techniques, then that would be a good start towards being able to make a presentable job yourself.
I did a 2 day brick laying course and was surprised how much I learned. I subsequently built a double garage and made a quite respectable job of it. If I say so myself.

McAzrael

How much can your husband earn in four days doing whatever it is that he is good at? Add in the £300 - £500 and you might just find that you are a fair way to paying for a plasterer.

retrocircles

27col wrote: »

You say you are going to send your hubby on a course, I hope that he has some input to this decision. If he is only a reluctant DIYer then it could all end in disaster and rows all round. Does he have a previous interest in DIY, if not, then I would not bother.

lol - yes hubby is very interested! we're quite young & he's very keen to learn new skills. he always eagerly takes notes/lends a hand when my grandad does odd jobs around the house so he can do them again in the future.

we just wanted to know whether we'd be throwing money away on a course if it wasn't worth it.

congrats on your wonderful garage! the man who owned our house before us was an avid carpenter, hence we have a wooden porch, conservatory and windows!

27col

Thanks for your compliment. If hubby is keen then go ahead. The only thing I would say, is that over the years, I have found that you can often pick up knowledge of a new trade, but by the time you have become fairly competent and confident, you have finished the job and might not have to use the same skills again for years. When you have to climb up the learning curve all over again.