Plastering a wall…novice DIY

middle daughter has decided that she needs to plaster a room, she is not wanting to pay for a plaster (I blame these blinking 100k house and Grand design 8)) , she has no DIY experience, so what recommendations guides or advice?

My advice would be to be prepared to accept a ‘rustic’ finish.

nailing battens to the walls and plastering between them and then removing plastering the gaps can help but I’ve never had much success DIYing plaster beyond patching existing plaster.

just get someone in!

wwaswas’s advice might work for rendering, but not skimming. If it’s just an over-skim job, it’s not too difficult to get a good finish – the worst problem is that an off-the-shelf float will not be worn in (plasterers use new floats for rendering/roughing-on until the corners and edges are worn in.

If you’re going to have a go, use lots of PVA, watered down and applied with a decorating roller. Mix your Thistle with a paddle on a drill (very clean bucket and clean cold water – water in first and add plaster bit-by-bit). Make sure you have a large clean board to pour your mix onto (on some sort of table) so you can work quickly. Don’t overmix it and it should be looser than you’d think.

Start bottom left, get it on quickly, and then leave it for 15 mins or so. When it’s just started to go off, splash with lots of clean water and start smoothing it up. I find a big wall-paper paste brush is useful for splashing water and tickling up the edges.

OP are you saying that your daughter is wanting to try it herself with no DIYing experience? Is she pretty good with her hands?

IMO there are certain jobs that can look terrible if attempted by a novice diy’er- tiling and plastering included in this list.

There’s a few good videos on youtube on plastering- however these guys make it look easy because they have the knack of how to do it. Even things like trying to scoop up the plaster onto the float can be tricky if you don’t have the knack.

It’s good fun trying, but it is hard work and skilled job to get a polished flat and even finish. If you’re happy with a ‘rustic’ finish it should be ok.

if skimming/joining boards look for gyproc promix – and in the premixed bucket

for diy the thing that will catch most out is mixing the plaster – too runny and it wont stay on the wall , too thick and its unworkable.

oh and a worn float and knife is the key ime.

thanks she is cack handed with no artistic skills but determined and patient.

The room is plastered now after taking all the paper off.

She does have a shed with a brick walls so I have suggested that she tries on that first……….

getting some one is a) cost b) she was badly ripped off by some electrians last and is not keen to go through that again

There are only three things DIY i never attempt, brick laying (as i’m too slow at it), Gas boiler fitting/ repair (excluding pcb replacement) as that would be illegal and…. plastering, compared to a pro i may as well be pebbledashing. General builders i know who do some plasterwork are still no where near as good as someone who does it for a living.

What Shibboleth said – especially the bit about making it runnier than you think. And don’t ever be tempted to use an old bag of plaster or it will go off as fast as you apply it and be impossible to smooth or polish.

Plasterers really aren’t that expensive, and she could probably save some of their time / make them keener to take the job on by properly clearing the room, prepping the walls, sheeting the floor, removing skirtings if required etc so they can just turn up and get stuck in (maybe done as an after hours job).

Can’t believe that £100k house prog – proposing aluminium tread plate or quality birch ply as being “cheaper” than plastering!

Where does she live. I’m sure someone will be able to recommend a good plasterer. Like Markus7 says I’ll give most DIY things a go and I’m not too bad. But plastering no way. I’ve tried and I’m rubbish. Last time got a recommendation for someone and he worked his arse off for a whole day and did a good sized double room. Happy to pay him the money TBH.

Start bottom left, get it on quickly, and then leave it for 15 mins or so. When it’s just started to go off, splash with lots of clean water and start smoothing it up. I find a big wall-paper paste brush is useful for splashing water and tickling up the edges.

All of that. Timing is everything so you need to watch for the point where it starts to go off, I always reckoned 45 mins but must be wrong. Same with mixing the plaster, make sure you mix for long enough (5 mins?). Finally, as I read in another forum once, “plaster is like willy, play with it too much and it goes off” – ie. don’t mess around trying to smooth it down all the time or you’ll make a mess. In any case I’d want to put up good lining paper afterwards so you don’t need to be perfect, just flat

All of that could be wrong of course 🙂

Seriously, if she’s not already well practiced at general DIY, using hand tools etc, she won’t have a chance of making even a passable job of plastering.

As above, mixing plaster properly is not easy, and is learnt by wasting LOTS of plaster (expense)
Getting the plaster onto the float isn’t easy and is learnt by dropping LOTS of plaster (expense)
Using all the plaster before it goes off on the board won’t happen and it will get thrown out (expense)
Scraping plaster off the walls because it looks crap will happen (expense)

Getting even a rough/rustic finish is difficult for a novice.
And a proper finish will honestly be impossible.

She will need to buy all the stuff (hawk, trowel, paddle/drill/mixer, buckets, plaster etc etc)
Combined with all the wasted plaster while learning is likely to cost more than getting someone in to do it.

Plastering is not the thing to start with as her first attempt at DIY.

I plastered all my own rooms.

Started with one room with the idea that we’d give it a go and the worst that would happen is we’d waste a small amount of money on plaster.

Have now done 3 bedrooms and a kitchen. Probably not perfect to the trained eye but not ‘rustic’ either.

b) she was badly ripped off by some electrians last and is not keen to go through that again

Photos here (not that you can really tell quality from photos

One of the main reasons we went the DIY route is the difficulty in getting reliable trades. I don’t mind not perfect when it’s my own not perfect, but hate paying for it. Still annoys me that the electrician didn’t put our spotlights in a straight line.

All of that. Timing is everything so you need to watch for the point where it starts to go off, I always reckoned 45 mins but must be wrong.

I was told to leave it the length of time it takes to have a brew and a fag! Obviously, it’s very dependent on ambient temp, but it suddenly goes from soft/buttery to something like the consistency of modeling clay – that’s when you start working it.

And +1 what Lobby Dosser says, scooping off the hawk onto the float is the hardest knack to master! Prepare to drop a LOT of plaster on your boots!

If she’s practicing on those bare brick walls, she’d need to render them first which is a whole new set of skills!

Thing is with plasterers is that they tend to set a price and stick to it.an avereage room should cost no more than a couple of hundred quid if prepped up front, less if its just a skim. once you have bought the materials and possibly bought at least some tools the diffence in price will probably be less than £100. Unless you are very lucky to get it right first time you’ll end up with a mess that will still need a pro to sort. However if she really wants to give it a try (and good on her i say as i wouldn’t)then just get enough for one wall and id suggest youtube as its often a good resouce for methods etc. Oh and if she does manage to do a decent job I’ve got some major plastering work at work and home!! 🙂

having done a fair bit of DIY over the last couple of years, ive always got a plaster in to do this. but ive recently had a go at plastering myself and (following a bit of advise and watching how the pro’s do it)

to be honest its very difficult and frustrating – water is your friend so keep splashing it on

start on a small section 1st though.

going forward i will do the odd patch but i wouldnt do full walls… get the professionals in!

to keep costs down, get the materials yourself, get a plasterer round to have a look, get them to tell you what materials they need and how long it will take, pay them on labour only basis, a plasterer will probably cost £140 for a day. offer to help mix this should help keep costs down and speed the job up and you can watch how the pro’s do it and maybe have a go yourself in the future.

to be honest its very difficult and frustrating

See, I found plastering to be by far the most satisfying DIY job I did.

Hated laying floor tiles though!

funny that, i quite like tiling!

btw – good effort on the plastering!

thanks folks will discuss with her tonight over the phone and try and convince her this is not the best option

practice on the celing first…

Many years ago, my first proper plastering attempt was a ceiling.

youngest daughters bedroom had a leak & once I’d sorted the roof, I had to replace her bedroom ceiling.

…thick lining paper came in rather handy & made my first plastering efforts look perfectly presentable 😉

People who wallpaper celings should be allowed to buy wallpaper

it was better to look at than my plastering 🙂