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Wow, that was quick! OK plasterboard it is - thanks for the help, great forum.

I am having a ceiling skimmed next week, my plumber has just run a new gas pipe along one side of the room where the wall meets the ceiling. I am intending to get this boxed in and to ask the plasterer to skim it as well as the ceiling. Is skimming the boxing a good idea? If so, what material...

OK many thanks, will give the tiler the go-ahead to start on Monday. Will use BAL tanking kit for the bath area and a proper tile primer (not PVA!).

First of all, thanks for the advice on getting my bathroom skimmed before tiling, not just repairing with bonding - I now have a very nice skimmed bathroom. How long should i leave it to dry before tiling? It will have had 3 weeks on Thursday. The plasterer advised not putting a fan heater...

Responding to some replies: I am not trying to get work done on the cheap or not appreciating a job well done by someone with a professional approach. I am very happy to pay the going rate in exchange for a quality job and have done so.

Yes, I am happy with the quality of the work (the guy has 20 years of experience) and £260 seems to me an ok price for having the bathroom done. Maybe £160 for the kitchen was a bit cheap, since it included materials. I am trying to learn how to judge if i am being quote a fair price, and...

I need more work done, and want to understand more about how things are priced. i could get a number of quotes, but this would waste people's time.

Yes I paid the guy. i did get him to quote, but I needed the work done quickly so accepted the quote even though I didn't understand why one job cost £100 more.

Recently hired a plaster to do two jobs (now done) and am scratching my head about the pricing of them. First was skimming the walls (lid already done) in a stripped out extension. 1 wall 3m x 2 m. Another 2m x2m. The rest: beams and window reveals. Ie not a huge area, but fiddly. Took him...

A customer's perspective: I started looking in yellow pages, but found that useless. Then I started googling, but found it brought up too many traders who weren't local. Then I looked at find a trader type sites but most of them I didn't like because they wanted me to pay something although I...

House is a 1960s townhouse and the paper stripped fairly easily with a steamer.

[/URL] Third bedroom d by texasrigged, on Flickr[/IMG] [/URL] Landing a by texasrigged, on Flickr[/IMG] [/URL] Second bedroom e by texasrigged, on Flickr[/IMG] [I MG] Master bedroom d by texasrigged, on Flickr[/IMG] [/URL] Masterbedroom b by texasrigged, on Flickr[/IMG] [/URL] Second...

Ok here is another go at posting photos. If it works I will post more.

Photos Here are some photos of the walls. You can see that I have had a go at filling some walls - it took me ages and was not a roaring success, maybe because I have never done it before.

Thanks for pushing the point about it being the tiler's call - I hadn't really thought that through properly before, but it now makes sense to me. So skimming it is.

Just had a quote for decorating some rooms: prepping and painting with 3 coats of trade emulsion. Small bedroom (3mx2.5m) £300; medium size bedroom (4x3) £320; dining room (4.5mx3.0m) £430. Guy says he can get a high quality smooth finish by filling and rubbing down, similar finish to...

Update: plasterer says it is pointless to skim and that he can get the undercoat perfectly flat for tiling. Tiler says: make sure the walls are straight and level (no bumps) not just bonded. Previous advice on this thread has been get it skimmed - is this because only skimming will give a...

Great thank you very much - some extremely clear advice.

I have asked a plasterer to quote on re-plastering a bathroom (existing plaster is damaged in some places when old tiles removed). He suggests just putting on a bonding coat, not skimming. Is this ok? Also, he suggests using PVA before tiling, but I have read that is a no no, since it creates...

Just been reading up on tiling. Apparently waterproof grout just means that it it can withstand water, not that it won't let water through. So for a bathroom wet area, tilers recommend tanking or tiling onto a waterproof backing board. Also, I can't work out why some people say that you need...

Clouseau!

So tanking or using aquaboard or similar is a waste of time and money? Just repair where blown, then skim and tile?

So if I am a southerner it's a hawk and if I'm a northerner it's a handboard? What if I'm Welsh? Yes, I will be getting a few quotes and will take the opportunity to ask for advice. However I will need to make a decision on what basis people should provide their quotes - tricky if people...

Sadly I can't see how to change my username except by starting again from scratch. I have no practical experience of plastering and limited DIY experience. I have inherited my dad`s house and am hiring in tradesmen to renovate it (rather than hiring a builder to oversee it) for rental. I...

Hmmmm. Was not aware of the DC Comics character until just now - perhaps I could have chosen a better name!

Hi all, I have just spent the last day or so trying to learn some basics about plastering. Am now possibly more confused than before I started. Might be interesting for you to be reminded (by the stupid questions I am going to ask) about how little the general public knows about plastering!