ARRGHHH AIR TEST!! DONT GET ME STARTED ON THIS ONE!!! Jus been workin on a job,about 50 apartments,i was doin dab an skim.ok,when dabbin,IMO and that of alot of others,i find it imperative to use plasterboard pads to rest my boards on,JUST THE ONE,this allows me to move the board around without it bein tight between floor and ceiling,also gives me a consistant base for me to accurately mark out sockets etc it makes dabbin sooo much easier......if theres a gap at the top due to a bad cut,jus block it out wit drywall.
Opposed to no pads,which can f*ck you up by A.struggling to get a nice snug fit between floor an ceiling consistantly because the floor boards fitted poorly by the joiner, leave gaps between the block wall big enough for your board to fall down (regardless that your dabs will bring it past the gap,you need to see it fits 1st before you dab)
B.when you use pads,if the boards a bit big,you can jus rasp the bottom of the board where the pad lies and try again,which is quicker than rapsing the whole length of the bottom,which still might not work if its a concrete floor thats all bumpy etc
ANYWAYS,this d*ck 'ed agent wanted the bottoms blockin out (wit drywall or whatever) for air testing SH*TE.but A.the boarders boards werent tight to the floor and f*cking B.it was solid dabs,picture frame dabs around every wall!!!! aslong as you picture frame your walls correctly,USE PADS (try to use just one) then tell the agent to go ahead an air test your work,then tell him to shove his air testing right up his f*ckin arse!!!!! ;D