hello, renovation noob here. anybody tackled a replaster of a room before? We've stripped the walls back to the frame and probebly this weekend are going to attempt to replaster it :D mostly know what im in for but any protips??

p.s. also got a proquote just to see how much im gonna be saving and one bloke wanted $1700 to do it... holy s*** for one room? lol..

protip: get another quote and get someone who knows what they are doing

because unless your plaster job is top notch, no matter how good you are at painting it is going to look s***.

thanks for the kind words of encouragement :( :( :(
now you got me worried lol

Yea paveway is right, if you dont do it right it will look s*** house and it will cost you more to fix it.

Are you re gyprocking the walls? Then setting the joints?

yes, get someone who knows what theyre doing

nothing worse then seeing patch marks through your paint all throughout your house

it sticks out like dogs balls if theres any sun or shadow type thing on the wall

well matey, just telling you how it is

i was a painter for 2 years after school and grew up doing it in my school holidays, nothing worse than walking into a new house that was done by s*** plasterers

yeah you can do some minor filling after painting a coat but it's tough to go around fixing whole joints that weren't done properly in the first place because you really had no idea what you were doing..

ok well $1700 seams like a f***ing rip, can anyone tell me what I would expect to pay (or is 1700 about right??).

the room aint huge. 3.6m x 3.6m

Has the room been sheeted? Are you just looking to get the joints set? Or do you need someone to throw the sheets up too?

just get some more quotes until you find a a couple of prices you like

you'll find out how much it should really cost pretty quickly with a couple of more quotes

yeah, what kind of work are we talking here? setting? cornice? sheeting?

pave do it as a cashy

asbestos?

Topic: plastering - any pro tips?

Just drink more you pussay

i don't do physical labour

and i don't do plastering, probably one job i can think of that is worse than painting

any pro tips?

take pride in your work
empty the room completely before you start
sweep all the crap out from the room before you start, especially from around the edges
use a couple of little pieces of offcut to pack the bottom sheets up off the floor
don't put stud adhesive within 200mm of a fastener
use paper tape, not fibreglass
you need tape in the internal corners, folded into a right angle
make sure there's nice wet mud behind every inch of tape, otherwise it'll bubble on you (this is where fibreglass fans will chime in, but don't be fooled)
minimise butt joins, in a 3600x3600 room there should only be a couple of small butt joins over the window and tiny ones by the top of the door
when you cut the top sheets for a wall with a window, carry the sheet over the top of window by about 300mm so you don't have a buttjoin right on the stud that goes up next to the window - when windows get slammed open and shut the force of the window hitting is carried thru into that stud and if there's a join in the plaster right there it'll probably crack within a month of use of the room
make sure your fasteners aren't proud of the surface, but aren't breaking the paper either
make sure each coat is pretty much dry before the next coat goes on unless you like seeing the joins
make sure you know how to get a flat join unless you like seeing joins
seeing it's only one room and it's your room which means you have plenty of time, sponge the edges of the top coat a little to save on sanding
don't scrub the edges of joins too much when you're sanding cos you'll fluff the paper up and the joins will be noticeable - sponging will help here
get a mitrebox made for cutting cornice or if you must use your own non-cornice mitrebox, make sure you've got a spacer in there so the cornice sits on a 90 degree angle when you're cutting it. how big this spacer is will depend on how wide the inside bottom of your mitrebox is and whether the cornice is 55mm or 90mm or some other newfangled size or *gasp* plaster cornice (in which case $1700 is cheap)
cornice is cut upside-down in the mitrebox - not right way up
when you're cutting it, cut gently so you get a nice edge on the paper, this will save you a lot of time finishing off the joins in the corners

just for starters

You supply materials - 2 blokes $50/hr (cash!) should take about 6hrs

P.s. YOU DO SANDING

last edited by Zylox at 09:06:09 12/Aug/08

f*** that sanding is the worst part of the job, ever

Shut up Jim, leave the plastering to the plasterers, you egghead.

I'll get some more quotes.. I really can't see it being that hard, but maybe I'm being nieve.

man you asked for advice, i'm giving you advice from someone who worked in the industry (not plastering, but our work relied on the plasterers knowing what is what)

hey blahnana your post reminds me of all the times I plastered your mum huauhuhahhaa

I'll get some more quotes.. I really can't see it being that hard, but maybe I'm being nieve.

imo you are being a bit naive, but the repercussions of this vary from person to person :) for example you might do this work and it might not be 'professional standard' in my opinion, but in your eyes it might be pretty much good enough and that's all that matters really isn't it? as long as it's your place and you're not trying to sell it or something :)

as for how hard it is... well that just depends on what skill you have in that area already, and what your expectations are for the finished product. if you walk into a house and can't spot s*** plastering, chances are you'll not notice your own. if this is you, you don't put a high dollar value on your own time or have nothing really better to do with it and you save a chunk'o'cash doing it yourself then it's win/win

ceilings show up shoddy work much more than walls because light typically shines across them more noticeably then walls - and this is amplified _greatly_ if the ceiling lights are fluro. however in this case the room's dimensions are in your favour - 3600x3600 means 2 recessed ceiling joins (3 sheets of 3600x1200) unless you suck at measuring and/or cutting. recessed joins are easier to make flat than butt joins because obviously you have a ~3mm deep recess to conceal the tape and bulk of the mud. and the more practice you have at using broadknives and a trowel the better the joins will look.

I guess I should make the disclaimer that I've been out of this game for over 10 years now, so new products might be out that make it easier than it used to be, I dunno

man you asked for advice, i'm giving you advice from someone who worked in the industry

yeh all good.. :D

Cheers all for the advice esp Jim!

report back when you fail

There's a reason it is so expensive - because it is a hard job that requires know how and expertise to complete properly.

So those patches on walls in random houses that seem to have shiny or dull paint may well be dodgy plastering spots?

i did it once, didnt turn out perfect but better than some other houses done by 'plasterers' ... i dont know the names of stuff well, but there was this great meshed tape that fit well into the indented eges of plasterboard. a litle bit of plaster, drying out, sanding and a rinse repeat till I was satisfied gave good enough results.

i did it once, didnt turn out perfect but better than some other houses done by 'plasterers' ... i dont know the names of stuff well, but there was this great meshed tape that fit well into the indented eges of plasterboard. a litle bit of plaster, drying out, sanding and a rinse repeat till I was satisfied gave good enough results.

The meshed tape(Ezy Tape) is a big "NO NO" in the trade. It cracks with time and really is only used by people that attempt it for themselves!

recessed joins are easier to make flat than butt joins because

The industry standard set by Larfarge and CSR is now to do butt joins like this with the joint set back from the sheet level to allow for tape and mud(plaster). This makes for a flatter finish.

http://img293.imageshack.us/img293/3365/butjoinka4.jpg


last edited by Zylox at 21:11:30 13/Aug/08

last edited by Zylox at 21:13:18 13/Aug/08

how about those metal curved braces for butt joins that you screw behind the sheet? I gave them a go a few times and it came up nicely but it was only a few months before I got out of plastering so I never got feedback from the builders years later to see how they held up

cant say I've seen these braces... must not be around anymore

srsly just pay this guy ^ he sounds like he knows his s***

I guess I'm lucky my younger brother is a plasterer, and has been for about 10 years now.
He's a gun to watch work, so quick and does everything spot on, where I would take ages to do it to look as good as him.
How does this help the OP? It doesn't. Suck s*** and get a brother who's a plasterer I guess :)

lol thanks for that casa..

also, watch this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJnKioL-Qng

looks easy! lol

that guy is kind of a nub

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-4pq853YwM

this video is even better.

leinfidel, that youtube (on kog) was super interesting;