Hi all. Didn't know whether to post this here or in the DIY section. Very new to lime plastering so be kind ! A little background to what I'm doing first. We have a fairly old Georgian property (semi derelict !) and currently I am renovating two attic rooms. The intention is simply to get them clean and tidy to use as storage. We had to have the building re-roofed a short while ago which included having new dorma windows fitted. The walls are part brick and part lathe where the sloped roof joins the walls.
I am keen on keeping as much of the original plasterwork as possible and dispite the roofing company telling me I would have to pull down all the sagging ceilings I have managed to lift and reattach them, there's cracks everywhere but that's part of the charm ! Unfortunately the gable end walls have a wrought iron tie bars running through them which are plastered over and due to corrosion has blown all the plaster so I decided to board the gable ends with wood wool board, I have also used wood wool to board the inside of the dormas and as in-fills over the oak wall plate between the wall and sloped ceiling. I decided for ease of use to buy in bagged pre-mixed glass fibre haired coarse mix to use as a base coat and bagged fine-stuff as a finishing coat.
Now this is where we get to the novice inexperienced part ! Now obviously, no amount of reading books, internet research is ever going to be substitute for years of training and experience but I initially knocked up the haired coarse mix in a standard cement mixer before doing the final mix in the attic with a paddle mixer. It worked ok, I got it on the walls etc and it has stayed put. The finishing coat however has been an issue. I knocked it up basically the same way but the results I got were that the water added to the mix just seemed to 'drop out' rather than mix in resulting in an experience akin to plastering with wet sand and a couple of weeks later I basically removed it like dry sand ! I was concerned that perhaps it had 'gone off' before use as it has been stored (in sealed bags) for a while but I contacted the manufacturer who said it should store indefinately and was likely a result of knocking it up in a regular cement mixer.
So, what is the best way to knock up relatively dry pre-mixed plaster before use ?
My apologies for the rather long first post !
I am keen on keeping as much of the original plasterwork as possible and dispite the roofing company telling me I would have to pull down all the sagging ceilings I have managed to lift and reattach them, there's cracks everywhere but that's part of the charm ! Unfortunately the gable end walls have a wrought iron tie bars running through them which are plastered over and due to corrosion has blown all the plaster so I decided to board the gable ends with wood wool board, I have also used wood wool to board the inside of the dormas and as in-fills over the oak wall plate between the wall and sloped ceiling. I decided for ease of use to buy in bagged pre-mixed glass fibre haired coarse mix to use as a base coat and bagged fine-stuff as a finishing coat.
Now this is where we get to the novice inexperienced part ! Now obviously, no amount of reading books, internet research is ever going to be substitute for years of training and experience but I initially knocked up the haired coarse mix in a standard cement mixer before doing the final mix in the attic with a paddle mixer. It worked ok, I got it on the walls etc and it has stayed put. The finishing coat however has been an issue. I knocked it up basically the same way but the results I got were that the water added to the mix just seemed to 'drop out' rather than mix in resulting in an experience akin to plastering with wet sand and a couple of weeks later I basically removed it like dry sand ! I was concerned that perhaps it had 'gone off' before use as it has been stored (in sealed bags) for a while but I contacted the manufacturer who said it should store indefinately and was likely a result of knocking it up in a regular cement mixer.
So, what is the best way to knock up relatively dry pre-mixed plaster before use ?
My apologies for the rather long first post !