Plaster coving DIY?

devotee

Hi, hope someone here can help!
Looking into putting plaster coving in my Victorian conversion and getting quotes for supply and fit an about £500.
Fit is the major expense so I was wondering if it's possible to DIY?
I'm looking into something that is suitable for the property style so the very simple one won't do. Is it a very difficult and skilled job?
Thanks

Browntoa

i've done decorative Plaster coving , this sort of stuff



took my time and it came out well, it came with preformed corners which helped

Leif

I am a DIY novice, and I found putting up ordinary plaster coving in 3 rooms to be fairly easy. However, decorative coving might be harder as you probably have to be more careful when cutting mitres. Most of my joints were good, but sometimes a corner required filling with coving cement followed by a wipe with a damp sponge to fill the gap. That would be harder to do with ornate coving. That said, the problem I had was walls that were wonky, and corners that were askew. There are special mitre boxes which allow you to measure the angle, and then cut, rather than assume 90 degrees. I think Magic Mitre is one. It should be doable. In any case, coving is not expensive. You could buy a length, then practice doing an internal mitre with two short pieces, and if the two bits mate well (just hold them in place, no need to cement them), then you are good to go. If not, try again, or give up!

Leif

I have just realised that if you have a pattern, then you probably need to cut to get the pattern to match. That makes it a bit harder I guess.

devotee

Thanks! I might just order some and ask a mate to help me. I just don't get why should installation cost more than £350! And that's just for one room!
Yes I'm looking into more ornate Victorian ones that project more on the ceiling.

Browntoa

wickes used to do some, I used the coving adhesive to fill any gaps and where needed I shaped it wth a plastic spatula to repair the pattern;)

devotee

I'll check wickes, b&q don't have it. Might just order online or eBay

jcb208

Not sure if you mean the plaster coving with the backing paper you get from DIY sheds or proper plaster coving,If the later It is not that easy to get a perfect finish as it will usually come in small lengths and fixed with adhesive and screws and is made good with casting plaster which is quite an art.The paper backed stuff is quite easy but choice is limited

Leif

devotee wrote: »

Thanks! I might just order some and ask a mate to help me. I just don't get why should installation cost more than £350! And that's just for one room!
Yes I'm looking into more ornate Victorian ones that project more on the ceiling.

jcb208 might be right, but if not, then £350 is a lot. I was quoted about £200 per room, and it took me half a day per room. However, I used Gyproc coving adhesive, mixing it up for each 3m section, and cleaning the bowl after. If you use ready mixed squirty tubey stuff, it will be much quicker, but more costly, although I am not sure how good it is, and it might not support some/all plaster coving.

devotee

Oh I don't know! It comes in 3m lengths and they are made by smaller plaster merchants.

SailorSam

When i was fitting plaster coving by myself one of the problems i had was, 'cos of the weight of it and that it took a while to stick to the wall/ceiling it kept falling off. To get around this a nailed a serious of small nails half way into the wall at say about 12" intervals, and a distance from the ceiling the same as your coving, usually 4"/5". When you put your coving into place these small nails then act like brackets to stop it falling until the adhesive is set. Once you have the coving up you need to put more small nails in but this time into the ceiling and hard up to the top edge of the coving, again this stops the coving tipping off.
The next day pull your nails out and probably the holes will be so small you'll not see them after you've painted.