Plastering

Clarelassie

Hi,

I have 2 questions in relation to plastering. We are going with a single contractor who is subbing in all the relevant trades.

1. - The plasterers on our build of a single 3200sq ft block dwelling have just put on a scratch coat and working on the finishing coat. Someone has suggested to us that they should have put on a scud coat first - is this correct? If it is correct, how would we go about rectifying this if even possible?

2. - Should they be plastering outside in this frosty weather? Currently they are putting on the finished coat approx 1/3 of the house done. Again it has been suggested to us that this will lead to cracking and issues in the plaster finish in the next 5 years or so. Is this correct? We have mentioned this to both the builder and the plasterers. The builder never heard of frost causing an issue and the plasterers did say that if there was sustained frost it could be an issue, but they would watch out for it. Today they did most of the east side of the house and with the hard frost tonight, I am very worried.
I have rang homebond ( which our builder has taken out on our behalf) and they did say that any plaster cracking is covered for 10 years.

Thanks in advance for a very novice builder.

trevdahead

Clarelassie wrote: »

Hi,

I have 2 questions in relation to plastering. We are going with a single contractor who is subbing in all the relevant trades.

1. - The plasterers on our build of a single 3200sq ft block dwelling have just put on a scratch coat and working on the finishing coat. Someone has suggested to us that they should have put on a scud coat first - is this correct? If it is correct, how would we go about rectifying this if even possible?

2. - Should they be plastering outside in this frosty weather? Currently they are putting on the finished coat approx 1/3 of the house done. Again it has been suggested to us that this will lead to cracking and issues in the plaster finish in the next 5 years or so. Is this correct? We have mentioned this to both the builder and the plasterers. The builder never heard of frost causing an issue and the plasterers did say that if there was sustained frost it could be an issue, but they would watch out for it. Today they did most of the east side of the house and with the hard frost tonight, I am very worried.
I have rang homebond ( which our builder has taken out on our behalf) and they did say that any plaster cracking is covered for 10 years.

Thanks in advance for a very novice builder.

hi
if the plasterers are using a sand and cement based render that is mixed on site from scratch,then yes they should have scudded the walls,not only to give a bit a key for the undercoat but also to stop shadowing from the blockwork,although this will disappear once painted.but if they are using a bagged render such as a monocuche(one coat coloured render) then there is no need for a scud coat or undercoat,although some plasterers prefer to also undercoat.

As for the frost issue,if you plaster during frosty conditions what can happen is that the top coat wont adhere to the undercoat due to either frost being on the undercoat,not being allowed to thaw out properly or an overnight frost that wont allow the topcoat to adhere.this then in time can create a spiders web like effect on your walls,this may not happen straight away but take time to appear.

hope this helps

mickdw

Should have been scudded. Many plasterers are not doing this now for some reason and they are getting away with it.
Ive seen 3 houses where the complete plaster coat was blown off the wall to the extent where it was just hanging there and could put my hand up behind it. All three houses didnt have a scud coat!

jenzo

Hi
We are getting quotes from plasterers. Just this morning we were told by a well known plasterer that 0 degrees or under is a bad temperature for plastering and they would not work even indoors at this temp. Hope this helps.

cork1

scudding isvery important to act as a key for the plaster. in all my time on sites ive never seen a plasterer to work outdoors when there is a risk of frost!

Poor Uncle Tom

cork1 wrote: »

scudding isvery important to act as a key for the plaster. in all my time on sites ive never seen a plasterer to work outdoors when there is a risk of frost!

+1

mossfort

all the good plasterers will scud a house before plastering .
i,ve seen plasterers trying to blame the blocklayers for shadowing from the blockwork
claiming the blocklayers had used the wrong mix in the blockwork.

murphyep

Hello,
If putting a scratchcoat on the inside walls for airtightness, do the walls need to be scudded?

Cheers,
Eddie