hello all,
I keep debating with myself if I should have a go at DIY skimming and by the looks of some of the posts I shouldn't attempt it !
Does anyone know of any plasterers on the Isle of Wight instead?
thanks

Did my forst DIY work a year ago on a re-furb I was doing. picked it up within a day. I now take on my own plastering contracts (domestic).

Just one of those things I was good at straight away, other things like woodwork I am awful at.

You never know untill you try

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My project blog - Check it out

Like crooksey says, its pretty simple to pick up, i started of plastering my garage when i converted it to an office, now im sitting out side a kabab shop doing all there walls and ceilings! Simple

thanks both I feel better again and may well have a go...
Out of interest (and your experience) what type of plaster is best for skimming?

thanks,

mark

Learned when I was 15/16, find plastering walls easy now even though i've only done probably 5 or 6 rooms in all that time. It's not as hard as you'd think, although the pro's do put me and most diy'ers to shame.

I coat the walls with watered down pva, then use bonding plaster for about 1/3rd of an inch as the base, smooth it out when it starts to set, then multi finish plaster 1/16th of an inch and polish it.

Give it a try..some people have an aptitude for plastering...others don't..(I don't) once I'd made a complete mess of it..got a man in..

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Verwood Handyman
I Know it says I'm On-line, but I might have just left myself logged in, whilst I'm out....

Thistle multifinish for straight on plaster boards, unibond the walls for an easy aplication and more time to play with it due to less suction,1 coat on, smoth off after 10-15mins then apply a second skim aprox 2mm thick to fill all trowel marks and holes, smoth off again after about 30-40 mins, for brick walls unibond and then bonding coat,then multi finish and for concreat or thermalite blocks i like Hardwall straight on with no unibond then multifinish

Smelly Ted,

I have been looking into moving to the South Coast recently, especially the Isle of Wight. I have been plastering for a few years now. I laboured for a spread for six months and he taught me alot, so when I went at it without him, I was OK. Then I did some work for a firm and nobody noticed I wasn't fully trained so I kept quiet and got on with it.

Look at the vidoes off Youtube before you start.

Plastering is a piece of piddle...........it is the trowel control which is a bugger and this is what you will either get or will not get. Then you have knowledge but any idiot can gain knowledge even without ever doing a job.

As seen in the posts, some take to it quickly and others need time. As a DIY type person all you can do is give it a go. If you make a corned beef hash of it then get a plasterer in to do it for you.

The only expense you will have lost would be plaster, a trowel and hawk.

I worn in trowel is a must. You can buy them pre worn, but a new one would be a nightmare.

Perhaps that's where I went wrong...
























either that or I'm cack handed....

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Verwood Handyman
I Know it says I'm On-line, but I might have just left myself logged in, whilst I'm out....

Probably the trowel. The other common mistake is trying to get it flat too early. Patience is quite important.

Why is that?

If you run a new trowel across the surfaceand the surface is perfectly flat, you have to have really good control not to leave a significant line either top or bottom with a flat sharp piece of metal.

When I have worn a trowel in, usually on bonding and hardwall undercoats where the finish isn't important, it is usually rounded a bit at the corners, and crucially it is curved into the opposite of a dish so that when it is on the wall, the side will touch the surface, but the ends won't. Thus when you move the trowel across the surface, you don't leave a significant impression.

I have only ever done a small areas of plastering, alcoves, chimney breasts etc, but my worse habit is playing with it. Was doing a house with a pro plasterer and I asked him for tips so while he did a whole room I did just a chimney breast and he kept coming in telling me not to touch it and float it over after 20 mins or so but I couldnt help myself.

Another friend couldnt afford a plasterer so he put a bought 2 sheets of plasterboard and screwed one at a time to some stud work and practised on them first to give him confidence then he binned them and put up the full plasterboard and skimmed it all. The cost of his practice is around £10 so a lot cheaper than a plasterer

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Mike
http://rebuildingatimberbungalow.blogspot.com/
any advice welcome