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I use polythene dust sheets from Wickes (£10.00 for 10) or Screwfix (£1.99 for 2) and put them down first with a fabric dust sheet over the top. I use twill dust sheets, old bed sheets...you name it. It takes about 20 - 30 mins to set up depending on the room but you save time later as you...

The false floor could hide a multitude of things. If you keep some lime down there as well, the corpses won't smell and the cops won't suspect a thing..... :o

All materials on the job? £150 - £160 would suit me mate. Sweet. Carlsberg don't dish out plastering jobs....but if they did.... 8)

If its just the one wall wickes do a bonding agent (Wickes Bonding Agent its called, strangely enough ;D) for about £12. Cheaper option and does the same as thistle bond-it.

I went to Wickes this morning and all the staff were completely mystified when I demanded a 18" stainless steel trowel at a drastically knocked-down price! I stood my ground and spoke to the manager(ess) who said there was no such sale. I managed to find the trowel I was after (the only...

It's easy enough to join without leaving a trace really. At the worst a bit of rubbing down prior to painting. I've never had any problems....never even had to sand down to be honest. Just use plenty of water where the two sets meet. No disrespect intended Pug but I'm reluctant to share anything...

The Magnet in my manor (Dudley, not the East End :)) has multi and bonding and a load of other stuff. The beads are 90p plus vat. The PVA is £4.99 plus vat and decent stuff from bondit. Multi is £3.40 plus vat. The prices aren't fixed and you can pay more in one Magnet store than you would in...

Not tiles that are literally falling off the walls mate and that's no exaggeration. I would like to see anyone try to skim these walls....besides, what would be the point? The guy was planning to re-tile some of the walls that he was asking me to skim. The bathroom wasn't very big to start with...

It's a joke sometimes to be fair. Had a so-called 'skimming only' job to price on a bathroom. When I got there the room was completely tiled with many of them literally falling off the wall. I asked them when it would be ready to skim (i.e. tiles removed and walls boarded) and the guy said can't...

I alway use a very small amount of water when flattening off. Particulary at the corners to stop it dragging. I use a spray bottle at this stage rather than a brush. I don't really get any problems with fat as the plaster is only starting to firm up and not actually setting. For me, the key to...

Never mind 'why'. The question should be does it affect suction and could we start selling it? :o ;D

Just make sure the WBA is completly dry before skimming (i always put it on the day before). Then make sure you leave the second coat of skim a bit longer than usual before trowelling up. Should reduce the chance of getting those bubbles. Like you say, it gives you more time to work with it...

....or just PVA your eyeballs before every ceiling job :o

I can't be doing with goggles mate so take the eyeball challenge on a daily basis.... I've had multi drop in 'em a few times but never bonding. It's amazing how many near misses I have without really thinking about it. More often than not the multi just misses my eye and ends up on the old...

Got to agree with you there mate. Times are hard indeed, but there are easier ways to earn £8.00 per hour than plastering. It's hard work and a skilled trade to boot. Anyone who's half decent deserves more than that  >:( I'm not exactly inundated with work at the moment but have more than...

If you are going along the bonding route mate, just let the multi go off a bit more than usual before you start trowelling up your second coat. This tends to stop the bubbles. They are a pain in the ass and get worse the more you tr to trowel them out :)

12mm proud is a fair amount around a doorway, but it ain't the end of the world for a good chippy. Just make sure you keep the skim as tight as you can by the edges so the 12mm doesn't turn into 20mm! Personally I wouldn't use a stop bead just in case the edges need chipping away to accomodate...

Me too....crap ain't it? ;D

Likewise generally Nicksey, rarely do a set in under 3 hours but always do big sets. I have been known to put on two coats from the same mix if it's just a small area left at the end of the day....I'm not proud of it :-[ ;D

Depends how bad it is mate. I ain't ever found the need to be honest. If I was you I'd just fill the bead with first coat and then go along it rather than trowelling up to the edge which can give you that crap curve where the plaster gathers. Hope this makes sense.... :)

Doesn't really make any difference mate if it's ok when painted. Try to cut down the amount of water you use when wet trowelling (I use fine spray bottle) as this is the main reason you get different shades. Always looks better when it's been left for a week or so and is completely dry. I...

These bubbles are sometimes caused by trowelling up too early mate, especially on bonding etc....

Even if it was feasible in this case, still a lot more work than a couple of angle beads and a bit of bonding ;)

Err....no! ;D ;)

Getting the mesh bead on first mate will give you something to work to and if the bead is set right you'll know you're working to a squared corner from the get go. Always easier to work to something in my experience ;) Same thing really :)

http://www.diy.com/diy/jsp/bq/nav/nav.jsp?isSearch=true&fh_search=angle+beads&selected=products Have a look at the above page. You can see the difference in the angle beads, even more so when you see them up close! The lengths are 2.4m or 3m usually. It's the expamet Maxicon I was thinking of...

Have you thought about using the rendering mesh bead instead of the skim bead? The wings are wider and can be filled in with bonding then skimmed over. If the fireplace is rounded at the moment then this will give you a better chance of squareing off. The plaster will adhere to the bead itself...

Just make sure the plasterboard is definitely ok if there was a leak. If it's caused the artex to come down then it coud've damaged the boards as well. I would use bonding if you have to, rather than hardwall to fill out with :)

13 x 12 = 156 8 x 4 = 32 156 divided by 32 = 4.875 (say 5 boards for the sake of argument 'cos they ain't gonna sell you 3/4 of a board  ;)) Gonna take about 5 boards mate but if you haven't done much boarding it's better to add a bit on for wastage (about 10 % is the usual)....or in other...

I'll second that! :)

Sounds like the PVA was too wet mate. As for the hairline cracks, it's sometimes impossible to cover them all without taping the entire wall. The small hairline cracks shouldn't come back through the new plaster. Just make sure the old plaster is sound and you scrim the bigger cracks. Adding...

I always offer to take off the skirt and architrave but never offer to put it back on. Be interested to know what everyone else does. Most of the jobs I do the customer is having new stuff on anyway. Same with radiators, I'll take them off at a push but leave them off so they can paint the wall...

There I am, minding my own business, content in the knowledge I may have invented a new word and someone comes along and piddles on my creative bonfire. I refuse to use the word now anyway on principle. In future I'll be waiting for the PVA to 'tackistrate' fully before I skim a wall. How'd you...

Not that I know of.....but if you invent one, remember your old muckers on this site when the ££££ starts rolling in ;D Waiting for PVA etc to dry / tackify is the bain of my life >:( I don't think 'tackify' is actually a word....but it should be ;D

Re: UPDATE: how to tell if a job is bad Good for you mate....no excuse for this standard of work at that price. When I started out I skimmed a friends lounge and just charged him materials only as I was looking for as much practise as possible. The job I did was near perfect compared to this...

Hoover? You're spoiling 'em mate. You'll be telling us next you wipe the skim off the skirting board and window frames next ;) ;D

If the artex ain't as deep as the Grand Canyon I'd just scrape it back a bit, coat with WBA and then skim it. If it's gonna take 2 days with the prep and waiting for WBA to dry etc then charge for 2 days. Just explain to the customer the pros of what your doing. I haven't seen the job but from...

Cheers lads.... not sure the builder is well known as he's from out of the area but I've come across the architect a few times myself and he's pretty pally with the building inspectors apparently. I'll tell 'em not to count their chickens yet but should be ok :)

I recently boarded and skimmed the the loft space of an extension (bungalow). The builder had been asked by the building inspectors on their previous visit to put in a universal beam to prevent the roof (pitch) spreading. This had been done and the roof was insulated with 270mm of rockwool. I...

One of the best things I've seen in ages. Made me feel good about my own standard of work! The moral of the story was that builders of any nationality can turn out to be cowboys. That said, if your gonna pay someone to ruin your house....might as well make it a British builder  ;D The Polish...

The only problems I've had with PVA over the years is plaster dragging across the wall 'cos the second coat still ain't gone tacky and I got too impatient. That's my own fault I know, but I haven't had ANY problems using 1 coat of PVA. As for pulling in too quick, I still find myself waiting...

I wouldn't go down the wellie route mate. Apart from looking like an extra on Emmerdale, they just ain't practical when getting on and off your hop-up etc. Drop a bit of gear inside them by mistake and you might have to have them surgically removed once it's set  :o ;D

I've stopped putting 2 coats of PVA on most re-skims etc as too time consuming waiting for second coat to go tacky. I use one coat of around 3:1 and slosh it on. I tend to PVA whatever needs skimming before I get anything else out the van (apart from dust sheets  ;)). Once I've put the beads on...

I always just take an educated guess mate. There is a mathematical way of working it out (cue Big Segs) but then plastering ain't always an exact science and it depends how thick the mix is etc. One thing for sure, always mix more than you need.....if you mix too little you're up a creek with no...

The guy who taught me the fine art of plastering would always run the corner of his trowel along the bead after applying the first coat. Just a slight touch inside the tip of the bead so the second coat wouldn't gather or sit proud of the edge. 'Nickin' the bead he called it. I'll do the same...

Should be fine mate, no shelf-life on PVA as far as I'm aware. Just give the tub a good shake as the PVA will have sunk to the bottom of the tub. I always mix my PVA in a big trade paint tub...cleaned of course. My other half is a caterer and she brought home an massive empty tub of mayonnaise...

:-[.....have you been spying on me?

If you're new to plastering mate then it's gonna be hard to patch an area without it sticking out like a sore thumb. Better to talk customer into having the whole ceiling skimmed if it ain't the size of a football pitch  ;) If you do end up patching it, make sure you feather (fade) the skim at...

I always use S & C mate and never had any complaints. Patched in an old doorway not long back and all the walls were tyrolened. Self praise is no recommendation but you couldn't tell where the doorway had been once it had been painted :) Never used tyrolene and don't plan to in the near future ;D

Glad it turned out ok mate, I would have had to keep a low profile if it had gone tits up  ;D I've used it on loads of (very) dodgy backgrounds and regularly use it on areas that haven't had the wallpaper stripped properly etc. It's never let me down once. I wouldn't hesitate to use it on old...