Obtaining a smooth polished finish

Hi, I have recently skim coated over an old asbestos ceiling in our hallway.
Which I thought was polished nicely - but after putting on a thin coat of emulsion it was clear that there were some areas which are not up to scratch. I.e. Some small patches with what looks like pin holes, and some with trowel marks.
Can I just fill these with one coat plaster or will I need to reskim the whole ceiling. Or should I just pva then plaster the affected areas and try to blend these in.

Any advise appreciated...... Pete.

Answer
Hi Pete,

It is definitely not a good idea to re-skim the affected areas and blend in - this is tricky to do.

Also, only if it is really bad do you want to contemplate a total re-skim.

The favoured method:
The trowel marks can be sliced off and smoothed to some degree with the sharp edge of your plastering trowel, and then smoothed with sandpaper. The holes can be filled with just a filler such as easi fill. I'm not sure how is the best way to do this but I'm sure you'll manage.
However you may find that after a light sanding some of the holes disappear or lessen as they blend into their surroundings more.

For next time - a more thorough trowel up in stage 4 will ensure a better finish. As your trowel passes over each area - you'll be looking for these holes, and applying more pressure on your trowel, to force the plaster along the whole length of your trowel and into any holes or by putting extra plaster into them. A more thorough trowel up in stage 5 and 6 will ensure no trowel marks are left.

Paul