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Plastering Help

If you have a plastering question - something you're unsure about or an aspect of plastering that doesn't seem to go right then ask about it here.

What Other Visitors Have Asked

Click below to see questions/comments from other visitors to this page...

Partly plastered, partly bare brick / block walls 
Hi Paul, I've just removed the stone cladding from my old 1950's fireplace. I'm left with partly plastered and partly bare brick / block work walls around …

HardWall 
Hi Paul, I have put a thin layer of hardwall plaster over soft red brick but I couldn't complete the wall on the same day. Its now dried out and needs …

Gaps in Plaster Board 
Paul. In preparing for skimming a wall,I have fit plaster boards. This has resulted in gaps of varying depth (up to about 7mm in places between the top …

Sand/cement backing coat on thermalite blocks 
Hi Paul I followed your video on how to apply a backing coat. However on thermalite blocks I encountered a lot of problems using sand/cement. (I appreciate …

Very old house ! 
Im applying a finishing coat but because it’s different thicknesses it’s drying at different times and it’s making smoothing out very difficult. Some areas …

When flattening Not rated yet
Seem to get tears and like lines in both 1st and second coats, not sure if I am flattening too soon, tried to get trowel angle between 10/15mm, if you …

Leaving exposed brick Not rated yet
I am aiming to plaster an area of my Victorian fire place that I have just broke out. I would like to plaster the front facing part but leave the brick …

Fire Place  Not rated yet
Hi Paul, What would you recommend for plastering the inside faces of a fire place that will house a log burner? My plan was to use a sand/lime render …

Crazing in skim  Not rated yet
Hi, I've skimmed a small plasterboard wall (1 x 2.2 m) and the plaster has crazed in places as it has dried. Small The pasteboard has been up for …

Patched plaster not flush Not rated yet
Hi, Before signing up to your site I patched some holes with bonding but couldnt get the patched flush with the existing wall. They're only 1-2mm proud …

skim over bottle coving Not rated yet
Hi Paul, I'm about to takle the living room and thanks to your site I'm now pretty confident at skimming walls, but this particular room has coving between …

Uneven finish ....sand it maybe? Not rated yet
Hi Paul, Just skimmed over some old rough looking plaster, although it was Fairly stable/flat and not all falling off. I'm not happy with my finish because …

Plastering around ceiling spots Not rated yet
Hi Paul, I'm about to skim over an painted artex ceiling. I vaguely remember from a plastering course two years ago that I'll need to scrape the bumps …

Plasterboard preparation  Not rated yet
Hi. I am doing a loft conversion / renovation of a few other rooms and have been putting up plasterboard and had a few questions. 1. I really don't …

blown plaster Not rated yet
I'm preparing to skim a room and I've noticed that some of the old plaster has a hollow sound when I tap on it in places like it isn't bonded well to the …

Volume Not rated yet
Paul. I believe the rule of thumb is that a bag of skim will cover about 11m2 @ 3mm thickness. Is there a equal rule of thumb for say what coverage …

Temperature & Humidity Considerations Not rated yet
Paul. Will soon be skimming the walls in a house that we are renovating. It is currently a shell with no heating (other than a portable electric fire …

Uneven plaster colour tone Not rated yet
Hi Paul My plastering is slow and I think that I fuss too much with the coats, although I am trying to learn to ignore the marks/lines/dips as much as …

Repairing Blown Plaster Not rated yet
Hi, Thank you for these amazing videos. I am plastering a room and have a couple of questions. Part of the wall in an alcove has blown, so I think …

Rough Patches in Skim Not rated yet
Hi Paul I will be plastering my last wall in hall stairs and landing, I keep getting these rough patches in places but I don't recognise them when plastering …

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