The 2 Day Plastering Course

The 2 day Plastering Course teaches the essential techniques for successful plastering. The aim is to equip you with the knowledge and ability to plaster a wall, on your own to a good standard.

Learn the techniques of both backing coat & finish (skim) coat application, giving the ability to plaster brick, block, stone or plasterboard walls.


Who it's for

The course is suitable for: both men & women, home owners, builders, beginners and improvers. No previous plastering experience is needed; being a personalised course means that we can start right at the beginning, or from a point that you want to improve your skills from.

What you'll learn

The Course teaches the essential techniques for successful plastering. The aim is to equip you with the knowledge and ability to skim a wall, on your own to a good standard. 

• A general overview of the plastering process.
• The techniques needed to achieve a flat backing coat and a smooth finish coat. Understanding just how important it is to apply the right pressure whilst maintaining the correct angle of your trowel.
• What to do when things go wrong.
• How to practice at home, and achieve good results in the process.
• How to apply what you've learnt to your own particular project.

Plastering Course Itinerary 

The course format as below, is ideal if a general plastering ability is required. If specific training is required - so as to ensure success with one particular aspect of plastering, let me know when you're booking (add a note in objectives box, or email me). I keep a range of materials and have a few different wall surfaces so if you're unsure we can always change the format as we go along.

Day 1 (Times are very approximate and depend upon what you need to learn)

8:45 to 9:15  Arrival / Welcome Coffee

9:15  About the tools, materials and process

9:30  Demonstration/Explanation of backing coat techniques

10:00 Mixing plaster

10:15 Apply a backing coat to a wall under instruction, and obtain a flat professional finish

12.30 Lunch Break

1:00 Patching and forming external corners.

2:00 Demonstration/Explanation of Skim coat techniques

2:30 Practice Skim Coat techniques

4:00 Finish - coffee and recap

Day 2 (Times are very approximate and depend upon what you need to learn)

8:45 to 9:15  Arrival / Welcome Coffee

9:15  Re-cap of skimming method/technique

9:30 Apply Skim coat to your backing coat, under instruction and obtain a nice clean professional finish

12:00 Skimming Patches to obtain a seamless joint

12.30 Lunch Break

1:00 Skim a ceiling (Learn how to apply plaster to a ceiling and obtain a flat smooth finish)

3:00 Coffee

3:30 Finish

Practical

All plastering courses are 100% practical. Tuition is given through a series of demonstrations and then instruction whilst you are plastering a wall. 



1:1 Instruction / Tuition 
The Course is professional yet informal and due to being 1:1 means we can go at a pace that suits you and allows you to ask as many questions as you like.

The difference between the 1 & 2 Day Course

• More practice time to consolidate what you have learnt.
• Extra time to plaster two more walls and refine your new found skill.
• Learn how to form external corners and obtain seamless joints to patches.
• The option of learning how to plaster a ceiling.

Backing Coat Instruction

• Preparation of background
• Application of a backing coat
• Straightening & levelling
  
• Forming corners
• Floating backing coat ready to accept top finish coat
• Applying base coat to a patch (leaving a suitable depth for finish coat)

Finish Coat Instruction

• Mixing plaster
• Application techniques
• Finishing techniques
• Plastering a ceiling

Cost
The 2 day course costs £550
£100 deposit is payable now. The remaining balance of £450 is payable on the day of your course. Alternatively you can make payment in full.

Booking a Course

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FAQ

I am interested in doing a 2 day course.  A couple of questions from the perspective of a complete novice:

1) My motivation is to to learn to be able to plaster my basement (currently bare concrete blocks).  Will I learn to do this?

2) Does the course cover the use of plasterboard, or is that not necessary once you can plaster directly onto a rough surface?

Yes, the course is perfect this - it will allow you to plaster your basement. Day 1 you will applying a backing coat directly onto bare bricks/blocks with a backing coat, to be finished the next day with a skim finish coat.

As the course is 1:1 we can cover anything you want - whilst I explain all about plastering and the use of plasterboard, the practical elements do not involve using plasterboard. This is due to the fact that it is easier to skim plasterboard than other surfaces due to less variables - it allows for a more consistent process. However, learning to skim a base coat or a previously plastered surface, on the course, provides many more variables and therefore presents far more problems, which equips you with the knowledge and skills to skim any surface,including plasterboard in the future.

When you can plaster directly onto a rough surface - there is less reliance on plasterboard, but it is an important material for timber framing and new construction work. 

If in the future you intend to just be skimming plasterboard then the course can just be geared to enable that to happen as successfully as possible. If a general plastering ability is required the standard course format will be best. I do always have plasterboard to hand so the course content can be decided as we go along - you can just decide on the day. It is only if you have very specific requirements I may need notice to prepare.

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Location

DIY Plastering is in Bedford - North of London 

You can do it!

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