Plastering Courses

Floopy2009

Hi there,

Just purchasing a house and it needs some plastering works, skimming mostly. To save some of the cost i was going to tackle some of the plastering myself which was straight forward and leave ceiling works etc to the professionals.

I was considering doing a 3 day hands on skimming course. Question is are they worth dong it  or shall i save the money for the professionals ?

Thanks

stuart45

It could worth doing, depending on how practical you are. If you can pick up the basics, it could save you some cash. 

35har1old

Floopy2009 said:

Hi there,

Just purchasing a house and it needs some plastering works, skimming mostly. To save some of the cost i was going to tackle some of the plastering myself which was straight forward and leave ceiling works etc to the professionals.

I was considering doing a 3 day hands on skimming course. Question is are they worth dong it  or shall i save the money for the professionals ?

Thanks

It's one trade that you have really only the one chance to get it right and a lot of time to live with the disaster.
Plus how likely are you get a professional to do the ceilings only
The tools required for job minimum £30

FreeBear

35har1old said: The tools required for job minimum £30

That is £30 minimum each !

I did a short course a while back with the local adult education dept (free). Gave me enough confidence to tackle skimming the hallway (walls and ceiling) before moving on to a bedroom. Whilst the finish in the bedroom is not perfect, it is a lot better than the stairwell/landing where I'd paid a "professional" to do it.

For starters, you'd want the following -

Spray bottle - Free if you recycle one from the kitchen, or <£10 from a gardening shop

Measuring jugs - Filtch them from the kitchen or grab a couple from Poundland

Hawk - £10-20

Buckets ranging from 10l up to 40/50l - £5-10 each

Bucket trowel - £6

Paddle mixer - £30-100 depending on where you buy

Trowels - One for slapping plaster on the walls, another for finishing - £20-£60 each

Sponge float - £10-15

Speedskim - £50-60

The Speedskim, whilst not essential, is well worth having if you are doing big areas. It was a game changer when I picked one up. Slap the plaster on the wall, flatten off with a Speedskim, wait, and then hit it with the finishing trowel.

Then there are the consumables. SBR to paint on the walls to control suction (PVA is falling out of favour with a lot of plasterers). Scrim tape to cover cracks & joins. Extra Time to slow down the set of plaster (handy if you are doing a big wall). Corner beads - Use the plastic ones, not the galvanized ones. Easier on the trowels, and they don't rust.

Oh, and don't forget to invest in some decent drop sheets. Plastering is a very messy job, and you'll get loads on the floor.

If you are taking down ceilings, you'll need to invest in some props and a cordless screwdriver. A scaffold tower is also invaluable, particularly with high ceilings.

Floopy2009

FreeBear said:

35har1old said: The tools required for job minimum £30

That is £30 minimum each !

I did a short course a while back with the local adult education dept (free). Gave me enough confidence to tackle skimming the hallway (walls and ceiling) before moving on to a bedroom. Whilst the finish in the bedroom is not perfect, it is a lot better than the stairwell/landing where I'd paid a "professional" to do it.

For starters, you'd want the following -

Spray bottle - Free if you recycle one from the kitchen, or <£10 from a gardening shop

Measuring jugs - Filtch them from the kitchen or grab a couple from Poundland

Hawk - £10-20

Buckets ranging from 10l up to 40/50l - £5-10 each

Bucket trowel - £6

Paddle mixer - £30-100 depending on where you buy

Trowels - One for slapping plaster on the walls, another for finishing - £20-£60 each

Sponge float - £10-15

Speedskim - £50-60

The Speedskim, whilst not essential, is well worth having if you are doing big areas. It was a game changer when I picked one up. Slap the plaster on the wall, flatten off with a Speedskim, wait, and then hit it with the finishing trowel.

Then there are the consumables. SBR to paint on the walls to control suction (PVA is falling out of favour with a lot of plasterers). Scrim tape to cover cracks & joins. Extra Time to slow down the set of plaster (handy if you are doing a big wall). Corner beads - Use the plastic ones, not the galvanized ones. Easier on the trowels, and they don't rust.

Oh, and don't forget to invest in some decent drop sheets. Plastering is a very messy job, and you'll get loads on the floor.

If you are taking down ceilings, you'll need to invest in some props and a cordless screwdriver. A scaffold tower is also invaluable, particularly with high ceilings.

Yeah I have seen the speed skim it's a must have.

Well this is it when you put the course cost in and all the materials mention you could get a room skimmed lol. 

Or I could do the course and well and truly mess up a wall after then pay for someone to sort it out after. Money down the drain.

ThisIsWeird

It's obviously a bit of a gamble, but as said above, I guess it comes down to how handsie you are.
And, if the finish just isn't quite good enough, you can sort it using a sanding pad and pole.
I wouldn't like to skim in our current warm spell, tho'.

rob7475

Before starting a course, I'd recommend just having a go. There's lots of free videos showing you the basics. 

Buy some sheets of plasterboard, fix them to the wall and practise. The tools available now make skimming much easier than it used to be

ThisIsWeird

My first attempt at plastering was on an extended 3-storey Victorian terrace, all walls and ceilings.
I didn't even have a paddle mixer, so used a stick.
Not surprisingly, I had severe tennis elbow towards the end. 
The finish was not good enough to paint, sometimes very clearly so, and a lot of sanding was required. This was a long time ago - well over 30 years - and the house has just been sold; if I say so, still looking perfectly fine
Clearly hand-mixing was just stupid, but I also wish I'd first had some proper guidance on how to actually skim - I wonder what difference it could have made? (No YouTube in those days...)
I'd say, good hands-on guidance will be unbeatable, so would encourage you to take the course.

Once you've done the job, sell off all your gear to the next sucker.

stuart45

When you learn a practical skill, it's better to be shown the correct method to begin with, as that way you are less likely to develop the wrong way.
You also need to practice what you've learnt. Golf coaches used to say it was easier to teach someone who'd never played before.
Nowadays there are some really easy to use fillers that will help to improve any rough areas of plaster.

FreeBear

ThisIsWeird said: And, if the finish just isn't quite good enough, you can sort it using a sanding pad and pole.
I wouldn't like to skim in our current warm spell, tho'.

One does not sand gypsum plasters. It sets very hard and is a pig to sand if you have any big snots to get rid of.

If you want a wall that can be sanded, use Fill & Finish or one of the other drywall muds. Just wear a really good dust mask and seal off the room before sanding.

If you use Multifinish and have a few spots that need "fixing", slap a bit of Fill & Finish (or EasyFill) on, and sand that back.

On the subject of youtube vids, the ones from Blaine Gray are worth watching -> https://plasteringforbeginners.co.uk/

ThisIsWeird

Whatever the hell it was I used, it got bludy sanded.

The sanding removed the high points, ridges, lumps... :-(