First attempt

G

Glastoun

New Member
Okay, so first shot at plastering a wall this weekend - we're lining and painting it afterwards so wasn't too worried about a polished finish, just wanted it reasonably flat, but obviously want to get better at it if it's something I'll be doing again. :)

Not sure what you're able to tell from the photos, but they are the wall before starting, first coat, second coat, and partially dry after a day or so. Any obvious mistakes that you can spot?

There are some decent areas of smooth finish, some small patches of rough but still level finish, and other patches where there's obviously not enough plaster on the wall as there are dips and holes. At what point should I have made sure these were filled in and smooth, should it be when applying the second coat? I guess I thought 'that's good enough' a little too much.

My first mix was much too liquidy (should have stopped and added some more powder really), the second was much better in that it stayed on the trowel nicely but started to go off in the bucket before I finished off the wall - was that just a case of me working too slowly? I didn't time anything, but I doubt it was more than about 20 minutes. (then again it could have been an hour... :) )

And how to deal with small areas like around wall vents or above door frames - just use a smaller trowel?

I enjoyed working with the plaster, and once I'd got the hang of swiping my arm up smoothly it went on much better. I also read something about 'you're not really smoothing the plaster, you're pushing it from one part of the wall to another', and that made a lot of sense, and made me put more pressure on the wall which got better results, especially when smoothing off the drying second coat.
 

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Hard to judge the standard without a lick of paint on it, it's like posting a picture of a cake and asking how it tastes. Looks half decent though :RpS_thumbsup:
 
Glastoun said:
Okay, so first shot at plastering a wall this weekend - we're lining and painting it afterwards so wasn't too worried about a polished finish, just wanted it reasonably flat, but obviously want to get better at it if it's something I'll be doing again. :)

Not sure what you're able to tell from the photos, but they are the wall before starting, first coat, second coat, and partially dry after a day or so. Any obvious mistakes that you can spot?

There are some decent areas of smooth finish, some small patches of rough but still level finish, and other patches where there's obviously not enough plaster on the wall as there are dips and holes. At what point should I have made sure these were filled in and smooth, should it be when applying the second coat? I guess I thought 'that's good enough' a little too much.

My first mix was much too liquidy (should have stopped and added some more powder really), the second was much better in that it stayed on the trowel nicely but started to go off in the bucket before I finished off the wall - was that just a case of me working too slowly? I didn't time anything, but I doubt it was more than about 20 minutes. (then again it could have been an hour... :) )

And how to deal with small areas like around wall vents or above door frames - just use a smaller trowel?

I enjoyed working with the plaster, and once I'd got the hang of swiping my arm up smoothly it went on much better. I also read something about 'you're not really smoothing the plaster, you're pushing it from one part of the wall to another', and that made a lot of sense, and made me put more pressure on the wall which got better results, especially when smoothing off the drying second coat.
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Never heard that expression :RpS_confused:
 
Not gonna lie to you its crap! Theres scabs all over lines allover looks like its gone off too quick on you round ceiling line on cove rough not used a angle brush i guess but hey if its ya first attempt dont worry we were all gash at one point keep trying take your time:RpS_thumbup:
 
The trick is to get it on the wall quick , sounds like you messed around with it to much , just get it on then back over it all
 
Olican said:
Never heard that expression :RpS_confused:
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It was probably from this page: Trowelling Plaster. How to obtain smooth finish

"You should be able to run your trowel over the wall and push the plaster around to flatten. If when you run your trowel over the wall it starts to gather plaster then all you are doing is scraping the second coat off. To fill the hollows you want to push plaster in to them not scrape of all the surrounding area to the level of the hollow."

Once I'd read that, I started pushing into the wall more, rather than stroking over the top of the plaster. (okay so this wall was my second attempt)


Once the second coat was a little tacky, I wet the trowel and went over it, but never sprayed the wall at any stage. When should I have sprayed it?
 
Not too bad nothing a bit of sanding want fix... Why do people always have to take the piss at people having a go at plastering on here people just want a bit of advice ..!!
 
Fair play for having a go mate but its a good job your papering over it, doesnt look good, looks like you've scaped it on too thin or took too much off when troweling it.
 
Glover1983 said:
Not too bad nothing a bit of sanding want fix... Why do people always have to take the piss at people having a go at plastering on here people just want a bit of advice ..!!
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Because we don't go sit in peoples office and have a go at doing their spread sheets.

I also don't attempt to put out multi story fires, arrest people, collect dustbins, perform operations or jump behind the counter at tesco. I'm not arrogant enough to think i could do other peoples jobs well but alot of diy'ers "can do a bit of plastering"
 
Glover1983 said:
Not too bad nothing a bit of sanding want fix... Why do people always have to take the piss at people having a go at plastering on here people just want a bit of advice ..!!
Click to expand...

Why do you think? If I had ago at spraying my own car then took it to the garage for advise what do you think they would do? They would tell me to piss off most probably or get someone who knows what they are doing to sort it and take the piss for good measure,it's false economy not only has it been skimmed it needs papering and painting to hide it take into consideration time took price of matts paint etc when a plasterer would have come job done painted finished half the time and you wouldn't have the added cost of paper etc but the sad reality is people actually believe they are saving themselves some money by doing things like this and then have the cheek to ask advise on it ffs
 
I'm not arrogant enough to think I could do a plasterers job, but for £20 of materials I can get something good enough for us (always intended to paper over) and bank the other £150/whatever we would have paid a plasterer to spend on something else. FWIW, we paid a plasterer to do our ceiling.

I've used a fair few forums for help on spreadsheets, and never seen anyone getting stick for having a go themselves, most people are happy to share what they know.

And self-service tills have been around for a while. :)
 
Glastoun said:
I'm not arrogant enough to think I could do a plasterers job, but for £20 of materials I can get something good enough for us (always intended to paper over) and bank the other £150/whatever we would have paid a plasterer to spend on something else. FWIW, we paid a plasterer to do our ceiling.

I've used a fair few forums for help on spreadsheets, and never seen anyone getting stick for having a go themselves, most people are happy to share what they know.

And self-service tills have been around for a while. :)
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It wasn't a dig at you personally.

Poly Filler has also been around a while. Would have cost u less and worked better on uneven walls than what you've left. Unless your going for an old school blown vinyl paper your going to see all the trowel marks grinning through the paper. That would have been most sensible peoples advice if you'd asked in advance of doing it...dont bother.

A for effort though [emoji106]
 
Glastoun said:
I'm not arrogant enough to think I could do a plasterers job, but for £20 of materials I can get something good enough for us (always intended to paper over) and bank the other £150/whatever we would have paid a plasterer to spend on something else. FWIW, we paid a plasterer to do our ceiling.

I've used a fair few forums for help on spreadsheets, and never seen anyone getting stick for having a go themselves, most people are happy to share what they know.

And self-service tills have been around for a while. :)
Click to expand...
Get back on your spread sheet forum then!! I guess we all think differently but i think its worth giving money to professionals in all trades and aspects of business your just penny pinching you tight ****! Dont step in our world if you cant handle criticism :RpS_thumbsup:
 
smoother09 said:
Get back on your spread sheet forum then!! I guess we all think differently but i think its worth giving money to professionals in all trades and aspects of business your just penny pinching you tight ****! Dont step in our world if you cant handle criticism :RpS_thumbsup:
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Very well said.
 
There's about £2.50 worth of plaster on the wall, a little sanding and a bit of filling and it'll do me. 1700 grade lining paper and two coats of paint will cover a lot of the rest of it. The pink vertical line on the original wall was plasterboard from where a beam was installed in the wall, with bonding plaster around it, and the wall had various lumps and bumps and a bulge where an old ventilation hole had been filled in, so I'd have ended up covering half the wall in polyfilla/smoothover, just as much work and more expensive.

I can take criticism but not when people say you shouldn't even try. Not sure why it offends you so much.

[/forum]
 
looks good to me. would put some on here to shame. looks like venetian in places:RpS_thumbup:
 
OP, it's a difficult one (I'm also a DIY have a go'er) the problem is you can't upload pictures of your first go and not expect a bit of abuse.. these guys do this for a living and are pro's .. plus people who work in trades generally are more manly/bantery (that a word?) than office workers, so there is bound to be some abuse.. take it with a pinch of salt

In your defence... if you're anything like me, I've always been somewhat intrigued by plastering. Was always told it's an art and all in the wrist etc, so when the opportunity came about for me to "have a go" .. I thought why not.. so I mixed up a batch of lumpy, poorly mixed multi with bits of chewed bucket in it, loaded up me hawk, put Rocky music on, faced up to the wall and went for it, 5 mins later I'm cleaning the floor and re-boarding the wall.

My problem is, that disaster makes me want to get better, which I have. Still a million miles away from the guys on here but I feel confident to skim a wall/ceiling now. I'm getting into property so wanted to learn at least one skillset, and I think plastering is a good one to have under your belt. I have the utmost respect for the people who do it for a living (the decent ones not the cowboys)
 
Glastoun said:
Okay, so first shot at plastering a wall this weekend - we're lining and painting it afterwards so wasn't too worried about a polished finish, just wanted it reasonably flat, but obviously want to get better at it if it's something I'll be doing again. :)

Not sure what you're able to tell from the photos, but they are the wall before starting, first coat, second coat, and partially dry after a day or so. Any obvious mistakes that you can spot?

There are some decent areas of smooth finish, some small patches of rough but still level finish, and other patches where there's obviously not enough plaster on the wall as there are dips and holes. At what point should I have made sure these were filled in and smooth, should it be when applying the second coat? I guess I thought 'that's good enough' a little too much.

My first mix was much too liquidy (should have stopped and added some more powder really), the second was much better in that it stayed on the trowel nicely but started to go off in the bucket before I finished off the wall - was that just a case of me working too slowly? I didn't time anything, but I doubt it was more than about 20 minutes. (then again it could have been an hour... :) )

And how to deal with small areas like around wall vents or above door frames - just use a smaller trowel?

I enjoyed working with the plaster, and once I'd got the hang of swiping my arm up smoothly it went on much better. I also read something about 'you're not really smoothing the plaster, you're pushing it from one part of the wall to another', and that made a lot of sense, and made me put more pressure on the wall which got better results, especially when smoothing off the drying second coat.
Click to expand...
not bad first attempt but always use a plasterer u dont no about when to aplly second coat and how to prepare a wall it could fall off due to a host of probs if its your house the fine if not then could cost u
one thing i did notice was u didnt plasterer behind the socket which is a no no my motto as most spreadsis it pays to do it right the 1st time lining it wont hide the bumps
 
Glastoun said:
Okay, so first shot at plastering a wall this weekend - we're lining and painting it afterwards so wasn't too worried about a polished finish, just wanted it reasonably flat, but obviously want to get better at it if it's something I'll be doing again. :)

Not sure what you're able to tell from the photos, but they are the wall before starting, first coat, second coat, and partially dry after a day or so. Any obvious mistakes that you can spot?

There are some decent areas of smooth finish, some small patches of rough but still level finish, and other patches where there's obviously not enough plaster on the wall as there are dips and holes. At what point should I have made sure these were filled in and smooth, should it be when applying the second coat? I guess I thought 'that's good enough' a little too much.

My first mix was much too liquidy (should have stopped and added some more powder really), the second was much better in that it stayed on the trowel nicely but started to go off in the bucket before I finished off the wall - was that just a case of me working too slowly? I didn't time anything, but I doubt it was more than about 20 minutes. (then again it could have been an hour... :) )

And how to deal with small areas like around wall vents or above door frames - just use a smaller trowel?

I enjoyed working with the plaster, and once I'd got the hang of swiping my arm up smoothly it went on much better. I also read something about 'you're not really smoothing the plaster, you're pushing it from one part of the wall to another', and that made a lot of sense, and made me put more pressure on the wall which got better results, especially when smoothing off the drying second coat.
Click to expand...
Not bad ,keep it up ,to be honest you can teach a monkey to skim a wall ,but some like to think it,s open heart surgery ,best of luck mate
 
This comment does not contradict my previous post which was supportive
of DIY plastering. "A positive attitude can take you a long way but you
cannot just wish away limitations" is what I said.
I have been catching-up on the hundred-plus pages on the Forum since I
wrote that. My interest is doing some skimming in my kitchen flat, a
chimney breast and a small wall. That's all.
My last post was a praising of plastering, this one is a praising of plasterers.
Before the decorating I was a plasterer's labourer so know something.
To all intending DIY plasterers-you must accept your limitations.
I have a large living room which was in dire need of a good skim and
not for a millisecond did I think of doing it. It was skimmed by a pro
a few months back.
Just think of the tools and equipment that these pros have. You are
paying for their experience of using these and the plasters. They know
how the material behaves, we are guessing.
And there is the safety issue which has not been mentioned. Think about
that first. You cannot pay enough for it.
I could say more but I hope I have got across some serious points.
Go to the bank-rob one- but don't be foolish. Use one of the pros on
TPF.
 
Give the guy a break, he has had a go and posted the pics up on here which is a lot more than some of the regular members on here. He hasn't done it in someone's house and he has Tried to save some money, I would rather try it myself before taking a gamble on five out of six Cowboys. Let's try and remember this is in the DIY section so be a bit easy on the banter coz it doesn't look good, I can't understand why anyone would rip into him unless you were scared he was gonna take your work ;)
 
What's with all the negative comments on this post..? The guy has had a go and to be honest he has done a lot better than a lot of others I have seen.

To us it is a complete mess and we could never leave a bag of b*ll***s like that, but he should be applauded for having a crack.

To the poster..... Your main problem is you have gone mental with your trowel, hence the reason for the scars and lines. It isn't great at all mate, but if it is truely your first attempt then hats off to you.
 
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