Training Course

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kodakclem

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Looking at getting a bit of experience working with Lime Plaster. Just wondered if anyone had been on any courses or could recommend any training centres that conduct lime plastering training. I am a self employed plasterer but never really worked using Lime and think it would be something worth getting into. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
 
Just an idea but try getting in touch with the national trust cos they might have work going on near you and you could volunteer and learn at the same time :RpS_thumbup:
 
Im afraid you will find Lime Plastering is very difficult to break into for two reasons: A) It is almost impossible to tailor a course that covers the different aspects of lime plastering, heres just one scenario, how would you teach somebody to do a lath and plaster ceiling? if you had 10 cubicles for 10 students, they all nailed lath on monday morning, pricked up monday afternoon, that ceiling is now tied to those 10 students for the next 4-6 weeks due to drying times in between coats etc, and they would need to do alot more than one ceiling before they are ready to take on jobs.

B) As a lime plasterer myself, I came through a restoration plastering company as an apprentice, but at the start I still found it very difficult trying to get the old school spreads to share their knowledge and teach me. It was as if I was asking for their bank details, i just had to watch and learn. 15 years on, some of those spreads now ask me "whats the best way to run this cornice or replicate that mould". I dont worry how much information I give to spreads about lime cos i know its impossible to become a lime plasterer on my say so or what a college can teach. If I can help anybody with the knowledge I have gained about lime, then I will.

I have worked on quite a few National Trust properties, and historical buildings like Chatsworth House and kew Gardens, Jesus College in Cambridge and you do need to be known by the architect, client or conservation officer to get invited to tender for such work. (not that I am well known, the company I sub contract to are though). Although I am in the process of building my own links with those kind of people.

So, in a nutshell, if you want to learn lime plastering, find somebody who covers all aspects of lime (Hydraulic, putty, pre-mixed, lath and plaster, internal solid, external rendering) and who is willing to teach you and share their knowledge. If you can already plaster your halfway there, you just need to learn the theory of lime, (thicknesses, drying times, different mixes, backgrounds, and application).

Good luck.
 
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