How to plaster a ceiling flat

Hi Paul

I noticed that none of my ceilings are straight, what's the best
way to deal with this? I've skimmed them and worried people will notice a wonky line.


Regards
Kibria

Answer

Hi Kibria

as you say the eye will pick out any problems with the edges straight away - you can get away with slight undulations in the middle of the ceiling or wall but not the edges.

An easy way:

To save straightening the whole ceiling you can try and just straighten all the edges - as this is where it will be more noticeable. Before skimming use bonding coat and flatten using either your eye or a straight edge as a guide.

Once the edges look straight it can be gradually feathered into the middle. But as you say it is important to take your time and prepare these edges properly otherwise the ceiling will never look good.

Or if you want a top class job the entire area can be flattened by applying bonding coat to all the hollows and ruling off flat with a straight edge.


When you're applying the finish coat - ensure you don't overload the edges with plaster - keep it flat by running your trowel over it in the opposite direction to which you applied it.

If there are a few small holes and hollow areas then apply firm pressure to force plaster from the highs into the lows. Adding more plaster when you don't need it can just add to the undulations.

You will spend 3 times as long on the edges as with other areas.


Good luck
Paul


Click here to post comments

Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How? Simply click here to return to General Help.