Plastering/Making good

[Dazza1976]

Hi all,

My plastering skills leave a lot to be desired, can you give me any hints or tips on the best way to do it mainly for replastering over chases or around back boxes.

Do you do it in 2 stages with undercoat plaster then finishing plaster, or can you get a good result just doing it all in one. Which type of plaster and trowel do you find best aswell ??

I thought about enrolling on a plastering course, but dont really want to fork out at the moment as im trying to get money together for 17th edition and 2391.

Any advice will be much appreciated.

 

[Graeme Harrold]

Not ideal, but I make my apologies up front - "Im an electrician, not a plasterer", I will however fill chases mostly with bond as I can fill thicker with a faster "hard time". 9 times out of 10 this is fine as they will either finish themselves or have plastering works to complete after Ive been in.

 

[DiscoDave]

I try to steer clear, get a plaster to give you a price for making good, and then put it as a seperat item on your quote.

Failing that one coat is not bad but takes a while to dry, or decorators filler (sorry) if the chases are not massive! that's the type you mix from powder in a green bag that i can't remember the name of right now!

 

[Spudnik]

Normally if its the odd job, then most people are happy to fill and paint.

However, most of the time, im not the only one on site, and so the spreads do it.

Result

 

[Jay Sparks]

I used to be a plasterer. The best trowels are "Marshall town" but these will set you back £40+, so just for the odd chase any diy one will do. Your best off using British gypsum plarster if you can but try to get a one coat plarster as you can apply it upto 20mm thick. Just remember to use some pva glue mixed with water and brush it on the chase before you plarster it, this gets rid of most of the loose bits and helps the plarster bond. When the plaster has nearly set, you should spash it with water and with a clean trowel just smooth it out for a good finish. You may need to give it a sand after its completely dry but the customer can do that.

Hope this helps abit.

 

[miner69er]

most of the time i'm on my own and customer wants it making good so i use B&Q ready to use plaster in a 6kg tub it doesn't do a bad job, i fill the chase first using a 4 inch scraper then once filled go over with a plasterers float. 9 times out of ten it's good enough to be painted without any other sanding work. however the downside is the plaster needs about 2 days to fully harden if it's around 20mm thick so it depends if your in a rush. for a very deep chase it's worth mixing base plaster then finishing with finish plaster afterwards as the cost would be too great using pre-made. hope that helps