Plastering - How hard can it be.

FreeBear

Got some walls that have suffered from damp in the past and the lime plaster has turned to mush in a few spots. In addition, I don't think the plaster was ever smooth and level from when the house was built (1928).

I had booked a plaster to come in to fix the blown patches and skim the worst affected walls. Sat around all week waiting for the !!!!!! to turn up. After wasting valuable time with a "tradesman" not showing, I've decided to give it a go myself.

Seen a couple of YouTube videos of a guy using a paint roller to get the plaster on the wall and going over it with an overgrown squeegee. Makes it look like a piece of cake to get a decent finish quickly.

I'm off to get myself a roller & squeegee and having a go over the weekend.

stone7

Let us know how you get on.

Alter_ego

I shall watch this thread with interest!

Dan-Dan

They make it look easy....good luck!

Ozzuk

Plastering...easy to do (badly) and very hard to get right. I also will be interested to see how you get on - I've attempted smooth finish plastering and it was a nightmare. Getting someone in the difference was crazy, almost mirror finish.

Rough plastering - old world render for instance is easy enough.

Smiley_Dan

Not too hard... with 20 years experience ;-)

Dan-Dan

any chance of some before and afters Freebear ?! go on..be brave!

PasturesNew

Well, you can't make it worse and all that .....

For me, I'd think the issues would be: consistency, the "join" to the rest, whether the finish is like an old orange or glassy, making a pigging mess, not being able to reach some (that'd be the case for a whole wall as I'm short), getting the mix wrong and going to bed to hear a "THUD" in the night.

Kiran

It is all about practice and it depends on how big of an area needs doing. First time I picked up a hawk and trowel was about 15 years ago as an amateur, fast forward 15 years and I am still an amateur but it is certainly now acceptable. I don't mind learning by doing and making the odd mistake but be prepared to go wrong and keep going 'til you get it right. Plastering large areas is physically demanding.

bretts

I would really like to know how you get on as I genuinely would like to know being a new diyer myself, not that I am looking to do it at any time soon.

Just one suggestion once a builder friend gave me, get good quality tools coz they are expensive for a reason.

Grenage

I have no idea about this paint roller technique, but I did DIY a couple of small walls in the last house.

It wasn't that tricky to be honest, but the second wall was a lot better than the last - the first needed a bonding coat.