Plastering

[MassiveJim]

I'm a plasterer and you either have the knack or you don't. A good finish is only possible with good preparation and patience. I went to sort out a guys attempt at plastering over his artex ceiling, he had left all the stipples on which were 10mm long and he was trying to put the plaster on 10mm thick
Another person had knocked the stipples off but had not PVA'd the ceiling and it dried out on him, cracked and all fell off.
I find it therapeutic. Customers always watch with amazement as you trowel off a massive wall. Some customers ask to have a go and some of them can do it (a bit) and others can't get the plaster off the hawk onto the trowel.
Have a go, watch some youtube videos. If you mess it up you can always get someone to sort it

Can I ask you a couple of questions ?

I recently had a loft plastered, and some of the surfaces have "cellulite", in your opinion should I have called the plasterer back to sort them ? I didn't really realise how bad it was until I had painted, and then some of the walls have ended up concave, so there is a 3 -4mm difference in the gap in the middle of a short piece of skirting.

Also, when you skim in to existing plaster should it be a perfectly smooth blend in or should some degree of sanding be expected ?

 

[Simps]

Sorry for the late reply. Didn't notice the little alert thingy top right.
Cellulite kind of finish can be caused by plaster that is out of date (old bags) so when your flattening it off you end up dragging it as its going off in different stages on the wall. It could also be a temperature issue. It also depends on the backing, if they have gone on bonding it can sometimes also leave bubbles that take ages to trowel out.
Either way they could have got it smooth but probably couldn't be bothered to wait for it to go off enough the get it smooth or they could have put another coat over it to get it smooth. You can have the cellulite look that is totally smooth.

If they have not got it flat where the skirting goes then again they have dragged it off or did no spend enough time along the bottom. The bottom is quite hard to get right as most will trowel up and down and not bother going left and right which would flatten it correctly. 3-4mm is a bit rough really. When we put the skirting on our walls there is somtimes 1-2mm undulations at the most which you just fill with decorators cork.

Sanding. Depends. But not normally. If it's prepped properly then you will have a nice edge to skim in to. Any plaster you get on the existing plaster is scrapped off with the trowel and then you use your brush with clean water so it is perfectly clean.

 

[MassiveJim]

Sorry for the late reply. Didn't notice the little alert thingy top right.
Cellulite kind of finish can be caused by plaster that is out of date (old bags) so when your flattening it off you end up dragging it as its going off in different stages on the wall. It could also be a temperature issue. It also depends on the backing, if they have gone on bonding it can sometimes also leave bubbles that take ages to trowel out.
Either way they could have got it smooth but probably couldn't be bothered to wait for it to go off enough the get it smooth or they could have put another coat over it to get it smooth. You can have the cellulite look that is totally smooth.

If they have not got it flat where the skirting goes then again they have dragged it off or did no spend enough time along the bottom. The bottom is quite hard to get right as most will trowel up and down and not bother going left and right which would flatten it correctly. 3-4mm is a bit rough really. When we put the skirting on our walls there is somtimes 1-2mm undulations at the most which you just fill with decorators cork.

Sanding. Depends. But not normally. If it's prepped properly then you will have a nice edge to skim in to. Any plaster you get on the existing plaster is scrapped off with the trowel and then you use your brush with clean water so it is perfectly clean.

thanks for that, looks like he aint the best plasterer then, been doing it ovr 20 years running his own business though???
Oh and all the plaster was fresh bags afaik.