PLASTERING ADVICE
There are many types of plastering and there are also several terms regularly used by plasterers that can be confusing. To help you understand what the hell we are talking about I will explain the following terms, what they are and what they involve.
Plastering Terms:
Internal Plastering
Plastering that is done inside of a building.
External Plastering
Plastering that is done outside.
Skimming - click here to see some skimmed walls
This is the final coat of plaster that can be applied to new plasterboard, a rendered wall, an old wall or ceiling or a newly floated wall. The skim coat is about 2 – 3 mm thick and can take between 90 and 150 minutes to complete. This coat can be used to tidy up an old wall and prepare it for a painted finish as well as being applied to a newly built wall.
Rendering - click here to see some rendered walls
Rendering can be done internally and externally, usually it would only be done indoors if the building was slightly older and needed some kind of waterproof protection. The render coat’s thickness can vary greatly especially in older buildings but would usually be around 12 - 15mm thick. The render coat would have a skim coat over the top to prepare for a painted finish. The render is ruled off using long straight edged tools to ensure a flat wall.
External rendering is common on houses and means the building can be painted for a nice flat finish. Many people get rid of their old pebble dashing and have flat rendered walls instead which look much nicer and your kids can’t pick the stones off of the wall.
Floating
Floating is the modern alternative to rendering and there are several materials used for this. Hardwall and Bonding are the most commonly used and are chosen depending on the type of background to which they are being applied. This coat would be ruled off the same as a rendered coat, it would also be between 12 – 15mm thick and would be a tough finish.
Float and set
Applying the backing coat(floated coat) and the skim coat is known as float and set.
Plasterboard
Sometimes referred to as dot and dabbed. Dot and dabbed is when the plasterboards are stuck to the wall using a board adhesive. This can be a quick way of getting flat walls but some people do not like it due to the hollow spaces created between the wall and the board. This hollow can make fitting things like shelves to the walls tricky and require special fittings.
Plasterboard can also be fitted to metal frames or partitions. This is common in many new builds and while it does not give the solid finish of brick walls it can be a quick solution to splitting a room in two. Wooden partitions can also be used in the same way and the boards should be fixed using screws. Some people will still use nails but does not give such a strong hold.
Ruling off
A tool called a straight edge is used to flatten the wall. This should be done vertically and horizontally to create an even layer.
