Coving - plaster / polystyrene / other?

JustAnotherSaver

Nearly finished with the living room getting painted up & we'll be getting to the point of putting coving in place.

It's been that long since we took down the old stuff that i can't quite remember. I think it was polystyrene.

Just looking to see if there's a positive/negative to polystyrene over gyproc coving?

I know it may not be the fancy-nancy traditional stuff, but it looks white enough & nobody is going to be prodding & poking it.

As for fixing it - no nails / gripfill, that kind of thing?

Any tips - comment mistakes folk make when fitting & such? I know it should be just (i assume) glue up & stick on, but i have a tendency to mess things up, irrespective of how easy the task.

Silver-Surfer_2

You've painted and now you're considering coving?

Isn't the usual way to cove then decorate?

wrightk

JustAnotherSaver wrote: »

Nearly finished with the living room getting painted up & we'll be getting to the point of putting coving in place.

It's been that long since we took down the old stuff that i can't quite remember. I think it was polystyrene.

Just looking to see if there's a positive/negative to polystyrene over gyproc coving?

I know it may not be the fancy-nancy traditional stuff, but it looks white enough & nobody is going to be prodding & poking it.

As for fixing it - no nails / gripfill, that kind of thing?

Any tips - comment mistakes folk make when fitting & such? I know it should be just (i assume) glue up & stick on, but i have a tendency to mess things up, irrespective of how easy the task.

polystyrene is probably the easier to put up but looks the cheapest.

plaster coving is great but a bit of a pig to put up. You'll need some multipurpose coving adhesive, work on a piece at a time, making sure it sits flush,immediately nail or using small screws fix in several places, wipe off excess and leave for at least 24 hours (dont attempt to put it up without temporary support) .Once the adhesive has fully set remove nails/screws lightly sand, fill and paint

sidenote about decorating.. youll probably need to decorate again

JustAnotherSaver

Polystyrene may look the cheapest, but after being out today & taking a look at what was in the DIY store it looks fine enough. Even being the cheapest it still costs a bit.

wrightk wrote: »

sidenote about decorating.. youll probably need to decorate again

Interesting.

Why so?

Or are you just meaning that at some point in my lifetime i will likely need to decorate again & not that i'll need to some time soon?

In which case then yeah, i would've expected so

paulpud

Over the years I've put up a lot of gyproc plaster coving and used various cove adhesives but nowadays I use the cheap no more nails type grab you get from Toolstation or Screwfix as it's economical and quicker/easier to apply using a cartridge gun.

As the previous poster states, it does need temporary support for a few hours - I normally use panel pins and hammer them through the coving just in from the edges. Before decorating I then use a nail punch to hammer them just below the coving surface and put a spot of filler in the tiny hole left behind.

wrightk

JustAnotherSaver wrote: »

Polystyrene may look the cheapest, but after being out today & taking a look at what was in the DIY store it looks fine enough. Even being the cheapest it still costs a bit.



Interesting.

Why so?

Or are you just meaning that at some point in my lifetime i will likely need to decorate again & not that i'll need to some time soon?

In which case then yeah, i would've expected so

Because installing coving is 1) far messier than you think 2)you will need to paint the coving including the lip underneath and on top which unless you are a very experienced painter is easier to give the coving a good couple of coats then re-touch up the walls/cut in at the coving line

JustAnotherSaver

1) The coving is white anyway. Clearly my lack of knowledge is showing here but why would i then want/need to paint it white if it already is quite bright white?

2) Based on the answer to #1 there, wouldn't it just be far easier to paint the coving before it goes up on the wall?

3) Panel pins to fix in to place are mentioned. Does this also apply for lightweight polystyrene coving?

JustAnotherSaver

Silver-Surfer wrote: »

You've painted and now you're considering coving?

Isn't the usual way to cove then decorate?

I don't know. I guess it probably is since it's the opposite of how i've done it which is the usual case it seems.

The thought process was (rightly or wrongly ... obviously wrongly) that if the coving went up first (polystyrene probably) & i then painted, then i may end up getting paint on the coving, which is quite white as it is so wouldn't need painting. I'd have to cut in right up against the coving whereas cutting in against the ceiling i can afford to be a little off as the coving is going in there & will hide it.

Whereas if i put the coving up afterwards, the wall has already been painted & the coving just sticks in place. Provided i don't over do it on the no more nails & none squidges out & makes a mess, then everything is then done.


That was the thinking behind the decision making anyway.

wrightk

JustAnotherSaver wrote: »

1) The coving is white anyway. Clearly my lack of knowledge is showing here but why would i then want/need to paint it white if it already is quite bright white?

2) Based on the answer to #1 there, wouldn't it just be far easier to paint the coving before it goes up on the wall?

3) Panel pins to fix in to place are mentioned. Does this also apply for lightweight polystyrene coving?

1)depends what coving you get. plaster coving is not white ,polystyrene still needs painting, the finish will be horrible else.You will need far more coats with poly vs plaster

2)Can do, up to you, personally i fix it all first, remove any nails/screws when its dry, fill sand and paint in one go in situ

3)You only appreciate how rubbish coving adhesive is until you've used it. When set it holds really strong. Its the bit from applying to drying that is annoying especially as you dont want the coving dropping and then setting, so yes (but obviously not as much support as plaster)

If your dead set on poly coving like another poster suggested have a look at some grab adhesives. There are some really strong instant bond adhesives out there. Siroflex grip and grab is my favourite, stixall is another

JustAnotherSaver

Oh yeah i used that Stixall on another job. Good stuff.

Also found this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqqkx80WNb8 on dealing with coving (well, cornice, but same thing). The guy made it seem pretty straight forward.



Another alternative i guess will be to get out the yellow frog tape (since the green was lifting paint in small sections) & meticulously tape off walls/ceiling & get a perfect straight line.

That way i wont need to deal with coving.

Plus it'd be cheaper.

rosie383

http://www.screwfix.com/p/supercove-lightweight-coving-127mm-x-2m-pack-of-12/73243

We used this lightweight coving and it was a breeze to put up rather than the traditional heavier stuff but still looked as good. We have used polystyrene coving in the past and tbh it looks nowhere near as good.

As for the frog tape, I found that I still lost bits of paint. Taught myself how to cut in properly following advice given here, and haven't used any tape since.