Even the most enthusiastic DIY experts and professional builders would agree to that fact that plastering requires the highest levels of skills. Best left in the expert hands of well-trained plasterers with many years of experience to back their expertise, building plastering and rendering is indeed a significant component of the construction industry. In fact, plastering is considered to be an art and builders do not think twice before recruiting trained plasterers to go about the job in the most skillful of ways.
Fortunately, it is an easy to master technique for proficient DIY kind of people; especially those who have no qualms about learning new things. If you happen to be one amongst them, you will be happy to go through the list of helpful plastering tips that we have collated hereunder for you.
Plastering Tip #1
Preparation of the surface
Excited plasterers are often in a rush to trigger off the project on their hands. Given this, they may not give due importance to the step of smoothening and leveling the surface to be plastered before beginning the task. Omitting this very crucial stage, or being negligent at this stage, may result in uneven, ugly or unstable surface later on. Remember, plaster fails to stick closely and securely on the surface that is damp, wallpapered, unstable, dusty, or devoid of any prior preparation; so, prep your walls and ceilings well before reaching out for the plaster mix.
The secret lies in removing all scraped and lose pre-plastered areas on the surface with the help of a duster or paper. Thereafter, you need to treat the clean surface with water and PVA glue to serve as primer for the surface to be plastered. The PVA solution has to be dried fully to reduce the suction levels of the surface that you plan to plaster. If the same is left untreated, the water can be drawn out of the plaster by high suction surfaces, thereby weakening the plaster skim coat and allowing the plaster to fall away without setting in completely.
In almost all cases of high-quality plastering, it is common to find a 3 to 1 mix of PVA and water being applied to the surface beforehand. It is crucial that once this mix is applied, and is still wet, the plaster has to go as the next layer, immediately. The act allows for smoother and faster bonding of the plaster on the walls, courtesy the PVA glue. A top tip rests in testing the plaster with your finger. In case the mixture continues to feel wet then you need to wait a little longer; once it starts giving off a compacted feel, you may want to start with the first layer of plastering without any further ado.
Plastering Tip #2
The plaster mix has to be right
Though the act of mixing plaster is not as difficult as it seems to the eye, it is essential to go through some basic pointers to perform the task correctly. It is essential to add the plaster mix to water rather than doing it the other way around. The idea is to add just enough quantity of plaster so that it ends up forming a small heap on a given volume of water. Then the plaster has to be mixed with water gently and slowly to avoid the formation of lumps. Small consistencies of plaster can then be added to get the right smoothness levels.
Plastering Tip #3:
Don’t overdo it
Most novice plasterers or those who are not trained professionally tend to bite off more than they are capable of chewing. They fail to realize that the perfect finish is not just courtesy careful application but also depends on the correct following of all the steps of plastering. The timing needs to be correct for all the steps, be it the drying of applied coats, troweling the right way, perfecting the art of polishing, etc. – the trick is to perform all the steps quickly and efficiently, and without leaving any scope of premature drying.
Conclusion
The above mentioned top tips for effective plastering promise to make your DIY projects a success. If you are looking towards hiring experienced plasterers to go about the job in completion, these and other published material on plastering will move you forward on the right track. Go ahead and check out this great site for information on plastering, you will be surprised to know different facts, tips and tricks that make for smooth plastering finish.