Greetings from Canada

[phazetic99]

Hi there. I live in western Canada and I have been doing stucco (I think you guys would call it render, but that word is not known here) for almost 20 years. Last winter I went indoors to do drywall taping. Plastering in my area is non-existent and not exactly necessary to know, but I am keenly interested in some of the faux finish work. I have signed on to some plastering groups on Facebook, but there are products that are used that I have no idea what they mean. Terms such as Artex and SBR and waterproofer. We might use similar products but have different names or they might be products that we don't even use.

I found these forums and l use forums as entertainment on different subjects so I think I can find some of my answers within these threads. I get the impression that plasterers on the other side of the Atlantic have some sort of schooling to learn the trade. In my area there are no such options. All of us are taught on the job. I have a feeling that our knowledge of plastering has diminished over the years and I am looking to gain back that knowledge somehow. For an example of what I mean, I have very little means of getting and lime putty products. The best I can do is get a venetian plaster that is imported. The price is outstanding and could only be sold as a specialty job at extremely high prices. There are a couple companies doing this and marketing themselves as high end specialty work, but they do not live close to me. Working for them is not really going to be possible.

So, I am attempting to learn these things on my own. I hope to find lots of information here.

 

[smoother09]

Terms such as artex is one of the forums main bodgers the term @caspered - means when a job has been severely f**k*d up!
Actually sites across the UK are actually using the term... That room you did other Day is not acceptable you have totally @caspered us!!
He's quite the star on here if you require any information.

 

[Brimstone]

Welcome aboard fella, western Canada is a huge (and very nice) area, narrow it down a bit locally, and what sort of house/work do you want to do? There is a lot of knowledge on here, and generally helpful to sensible folk. Some even know how to make lime the old fashioned way!

 

[Retired Spread]

Trade over here’s turned into a sponge float flexi wankfest pal

 

[phazetic99]

I've lived all over BC and Alberta, but I make my home right now in a small city called Lethbridge, it's in Southern Alberta. I want to do feature walls that are unique and artistically created. I like bringing function with art when I work. I do airbrushing as a hobby and I always thinking about ways to creatively incorporate design into living space.

I do want to make lime the old fashion way. The local drywall and construction stores do not stock quicklime, so I am looking how to get it. I think there is a lime manufacturing plant in the mountains nearby, but I haven't contacted them yet. I did take a bag of hydrated lime and made a putty. It seemed to crack and flake off my sample boards, so I definitely wouldn't trust it in a real situation. This topic is definitely the main reason I am here

 

[Monkey Boy]

 

[phazetic99]

I could write about my current level of experience. I started doing stucco in 2002 in Calgary, and I've worked on many different kinds of crews, doing houses and such. I worked for a very large stucco company doing mostly commercial work and got to work on a number of high rises. I ran the crews as foreman so I have some pretty extensive experience, not just on troweling but on blueprints reading and crew organization and safety. I am proficient at sand and cement stucco as well as EIFS systems.

I have been taken semi breaks over the last 6 years, where I would go work on oil rigs, but I keep coming back to stucco. Last year I worked on a house that had a limestone finish and it sent me on this big lime rabbit hole. I love the history and creativity in it and I would really like to be a part of that. As I said in my first post, plaster is rarely seen around here, its all sand and cement render on the outside and drywall and taping on the inside. The taping, or mudding portion, is just going over joints, not mudding the whole wall. Its very boring and linear. There isn't much deviation from house to house. Just get the drywall ready for paint and thats it.

 

[MakeItSmooth]

Welcome

I'm probably going to get mocked for posting a detailed answer, but you seem sincere and I have a few minutes spare, so...

Terms such as Artex and SBR and waterproofer. We might use similar products but have different names or they might be products that we don't even use.

Artex is mostly defunct these days, as it's not very fashionable (it was all the rage a few decades ago). It's a high-build interior product which has, in recent years, become notorious for quite often containing a small percentage of asbestos. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artex

I know you are familiar with 'popcorn' ceilings over there, and it's quite similar.



SBR is often used for cement-based work (exterior or interior).

www.everbuild.co.uk/product/503-sbr-bond/

bond-it.co.uk/builders-complete-range/sbr-admixture/

www.pavingexpert.com/sbr_01


In the UK, for preparing surfaces prior to applying gypsum plaster, we generally tend to use diluted PVA or a commercial bonding agent such as Bostik Cementone, Thistle Bond-it etc. The decision about whether to use PVA or a commercial bonding agent is often a personal one but can be influenced by how porous the substrate is, etc.
Commercial bonding agents tend to contain fine aggregate with the aim of providing a 'key' for gypsum plaster to stick to, but in many situations, ordinary PVA works perfectly well.

I should add that PVA or a bonding agent isn't necessary when applying UK gypsum plaster to new drywall (unless the bare drywall has been allowed to dry for many weeks, prior to applying the plaster, in which case a coat of dilute PVA can be helpful to control suction).

 

[The Hobo]

Hi there. I live in western Canada and I have been doing stucco (I think you guys would call it render, but that word is not known here) for almost 20 years. Last winter I went indoors to do drywall taping. Plastering in my area is non-existent and not exactly necessary to know, but I am keenly interested in some of the faux finish work. I have signed on to some plastering groups on Facebook, but there are products that are used that I have no idea what they mean. Terms such as Artex and SBR and waterproofer. We might use similar products but have different names or they might be products that we don't even use.

I found these forums and l use forums as entertainment on different subjects so I think I can find some of my answers within these threads. I get the impression that plasterers on the other side of the Atlantic have some sort of schooling to learn the trade. In my area there are no such options. All of us are taught on the job. I have a feeling that our knowledge of plastering has diminished over the years and I am looking to gain back that knowledge somehow. For an example of what I mean, I have very little means of getting and lime putty products. The best I can do is get a venetian plaster that is imported. The price is outstanding and could only be sold as a specialty job at extremely high prices. There are a couple companies doing this and marketing themselves as high end specialty work, but they do not live close to me. Working for them is not really going to be possible.

So, I am attempting to learn these things on my own. I hope to find lots of information here.

welcome m8 plastering over her f**k*d only a few old school boys left sad

 

[Complete]

 

[phazetic99]

Welcome

I'm probably going to get mocked for posting a detailed answer, but you seem sincere and I have a few minutes spare, so...



Artex is mostly defunct these days, as it's not very fashionable (it was all the rage a few decades ago). It's a high-build interior product which has, in recent years, become notorious for quite often containing a small percentage of asbestos. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artex

I know you are familiar with 'popcorn' ceilings over there, and it's quite similar.



SBR is often used for cement-based work (exterior or interior).

www.everbuild.co.uk/product/503-sbr-bond/

bond-it.co.uk/builders-complete-range/sbr-admixture/

www.pavingexpert.com/sbr_01


In the UK, for preparing surfaces prior to applying gypsum plaster, we generally tend to use diluted PVA or a commercial bonding agent such as Bostik Cementone, Thistle Bond-it etc. The decision about whether to use PVA or a commercial bonding agent is often a personal one but can be influenced by how porous the substrate is, etc.
Commercial bonding agents tend to contain fine aggregate with the aim of providing a 'key' for gypsum plaster to stick to, but in many situations, ordinary PVA works perfectly well.

I should add that PVA or a bonding agent isn't necessary when applying UK gypsum plaster to new drywall (unless the bare drywall has been allowed to dry for many weeks, prior to applying the plaster, in which case a coat of dilute PVA can be helpful to control suction).

Thanks for taking the time. I do appreciate it. So, if I understand it correctly, SBR is used as kind of a gluey based layer between the substrate and the mud you choose to put up?

We don't generally go over too many substrates that our material isn't made for. I have never mudded over brick or cinderblock. Our sand and cement stucco will get wired and our EIFS mud is a polymer/cement mix.