Anyone good at plastering?

[brightspark]

4ctually when the plasters going off u can buy a proper coarse sponge that is fixed to a plastic float and u rub the surface marks in plaster flat then float it over smooth spraying with a bit of water and clean the fat off . the sponges are made by refina and are 15 quid . I use marshatown and tyzac floats I rubbed them up on my belt sander to wear them in before use . the best ones now are the stainless steel ones made by supaflex for 40 quid eachhttp://www.refina.co.uk/acatalog/16--Long-Sponge-Float---Medium.html?gclid=CPySn_OLrNMCFVAo0wod9BAObA and http://www.refina.co.uk/acatalog/RF...-Trowel.html?gclid=CMXxnLSMrNMCFQq3Gwod8FQOAg

 

[Keith 66]

When i built our extension 10 years ago i watched the plasterer hard at it & he was damn good. Big old ceiling & he dropped just the one little splash on the floor. 6 months later i had finished the last small room off & thought "I can do that". And so mix the plaster load it on the hawk & up onto the hop up, Big cow pat slides over my shoulder onto the floor with a mighty splat. By the time i finished that ceiling i looked like i had been dipped in it & half of it must have been on the floor. Came out reasonably ok though!
Just had a conservatory done & had the same plasterer back to price it up, his spotty apprentice turned up to do the job now a hulking great bloke of 27, did as good a job as last time.

 

[pedrobedro]

I use a buildbase trowel that the window fitters left behind and it was well worn in, makes a lovely job but I still have A Tyzack trowel. I wet down with a plant sprayer and trowel over before it goes off completely.

 

[Peloquin]

Bah!, only just seen this. I'm a plasterer of 30 years.
Sorry.
Well done for having a go. People think"it's an art".
It's easy. Practic. That's all it is.

What did you do over the bare wood?
The idea of the pva is to seal the existing wall so you paint a watered down mix onto the wall making sure you cover it all. They this pull in (dry) totally then before you start you put a slightly thicker mix over it. This mix should stay tacky for a while. That's when you skim over it.

 

[waddycall]

What did you do over the bare wood?

In the end I screwed a piece of plasterboard to it and filled around the edge with undercoat plaster. I put some pva round the edges next day.

 

[Peloquin]

That's the right way to do it.
Plastering on bare wood is a big no no.
Sometimes takes a couple of years but always cracks, sometimes falls off.