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.
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.