poor plastering job

viztopia

I have just converted my attic and the plastering job is really bad. Was pointed out by two seperate painters who looked at it. I am going to speak to the builders but wanted to get people's opinions as to what he can do. I know this will be hard without seeing it but will sanding it help or can you skim over an existing wall without having to chill of the plastering?

Gulliver

viztopia wrote: »

I have just converted my attic and the plastering job is really bad. Was pointed out by two seperate painters who looked at it. I am going to speak to the builders but wanted to get people's opinions as to what he can do. I know this will be hard without seeing it but will sanding it help or can you skim over an existing wall without having to chill of the plastering?

I too had a blind plasterer and sanding doesn't help unless you're really, REALLY good at it and very patient. I'm neither.

I'd be interested to see what the opinion about reskimming is too.

viztopia

i spoke to another builder who is not a plasterer. he recommended a product called thistle which is applied like paint and then to skim over again. have a painter coming to look at it so I will see what he says

mfceiling

viztopia wrote: »

i spoke to another builder who is not a plasterer. he recommended a product called thistle which is applied like paint and then to skim over again. have a painter coming to look at it so I will see what he says

It's thistlebond. It goes on like paint but has a "grit" in it to give the plaster a "key" to take to.

I would take a sanding pole and some fine sandpaper and give it a good going over first, just to see how it turns out. If it's a large area then it probably will need to be redone - depending on how bad a job it is.

sky6

Yes it's Thistle Bond you use, it comes in a 10 litre tub. Rough the wall up a bit using coarse Sandpaper or similar. Then dust down and wipe over to remove any remaining dust. Paint on Thistle Bond. It goes on real easy allow to dry then re skim over with fresh plaster.

Tombo2001

First point:

I had a lot of tradesmen in the house for various different things in the past 18 months.

By and large, the FIRST thing that they will say is "Jasus, whoever you got in to do that made a complete hash of it".....and then "I wouldn't have done it that way".....and then quite often "I have a pal....."

......and then they do a job, and whoever else I get in for the next thing says "Jaysus whoever you got in to do that was useless"....

That's just my experience, but I feel its something that tradesmen say.....

Really annoyed the hell out of me cause it had my wife thinking I was constantly picking dud tradesmen......

Anyway the job mightn't be as bad as you think, or as you've been told.

Assuming it is bad then you have to ask yourself:

How much does it cost to remedy.....and how much do you care.....

Incidentally, when I was getting plastering done, I put the Thistlebond on myself to save money. Generally they will have to put the Thistle on first and then come back the next day to put on the Plaster. Its not hard.

tedimc

Fully agree with Tombo2001 - as I have had the exact same craic.

Our roofer kept criticising the roof membrane that I picked, the quality of the timber, the natural slate, etc.

Met him the other day to pay him and he was telling me how bad the felt was on the job he is working on now - "that was great felt you had". I felt like hitting him.

If the plastering doesn't really bother you, I'd leave it. Call it a 'feature'. You will probably find most plastering jobs can be criticised in some way by a painter.

viztopia

there are 4 bedrooms, a toilet and a hall. there is something up with every wall it terms of marks or smoothness. I put a level up against one wall which seems to have a bump in it (level is 1 metre long) and I can put my little finger under it at one end. the level is not going from top to bottom it is going from end wall to end wall. most of the walls are like this..... looks like the studding was bad and who did the studding? the plasterer...............

Bullocks

viztopia wrote: »

there are 4 bedrooms, a toilet and a hall. there is something up with every wall it terms of marks or smoothness. I put a level up against one wall which seems to have a bump in it (level is 1 metre long) and I can put my little finger under it at one end. the level is not going from top to bottom it is going from end wall to end wall. most of the walls are like this..... looks like the studding was bad and who did the studding? the plasterer...............

If there are bumps and hollows like that a new coat of skim won't cover them up . Its will need bonding aswell . But you might be aswell live with it now and pay a good recommended painter to do his best .If he takes time on filling and sand sanding you shouldn't notice too much wrong unless they are woefully obvious now

viztopia

Bullocks - I had a painter in and looking at and that is exactly what he said. He put it well that at least its the bedrooms and not many people will see it!!

recipio

I have a bad plastering job that I painted over at the time. You can really see bumps and dents with a low level light. Would I have to strip off the paint to get it re-plastered ?

cheers.

Bullocks

recipio wrote: »

I have a bad plastering job that I painted over at the time. You can really see bumps and dents with a low level light. Would I have to strip off the paint to get it re-plastered ?

cheers.

You can paint thistle bond straight onto paint to give the plaster a grip but I usually score the walls well with the Stanley knife first and scrape any loose paint off before I paint on the thisle bond just to give it every chance to bond

Bullocks

viztopia wrote: »

Bullocks - I had a painter in and looking at and that is exactly what he said. He put it well that at least its the bedrooms and not many people will see it!!

I'm plastering an extension for a lad at the minute and he brought me into the house to show me walls like what you've got and he wants to go over them again , its an awful job taking off skirting, architraves, curtains and covering all the floors but he said he can't look at them anymore even if no one else notices them ! If it was in my own house I'd live with it sooner than go to the hassle he is going to

duckcfc

You can also unibond the old plaster to make it ready for new plaster. This can be done on same day.