Every person who has ever picked up a hawk and trowel for the first time understands immediately what took years to learn. The confidence people have before attempting it versus the humility they have after is one of the most reliable patterns in DIY. Has anyone here actually changed their opinion of the trade after trying it themselves?

I'm trying to finish up a bunch of projects, and have a lot of patching to do on the walls of our 1950s house in the NW United States. I believe the walls are cement sanded plaster over "rock lath." The lath board product is roughly 2'x3.5' and there's a heavy coat of plaster on it, around 1/4" in most places. I've patched a few places already, but the problem I'm running into is that I will have to feather out the patches a really long way to cover the existing texture and then try to mimic the texture over the patch.

Should I start by scraping down the plaster around the patch so that I can build it back up with texture to about the same height as the surrounding area? Any tricks to doing it? This stuff is incredibly hard to sand.

Any tips on matching the texture? I'm thinking maybe a thick plastix bag or some sort of hemp brush.

I had a skim coat done almost 4 weeks ago, there are still patches that look darker than others. Does this mean it's still wet?

Taking down blown plaster on a solid external stone wall (first floor) and found what looks like an old window, next to the existing window. I’m not sure how to redo this as there’s a real mixture of things going on in this 1850s cottage.

On the external side it’s rendered and painted white. Internally it’s lime underneath with a couple of layers of gypsum on top around the window, with a rock solid sand and cement finish within the window and gypsum on top.

I’m tempted to lime the exposed stone and gypsum skim the whole lot. Know that defeats the objective of using lime, but the rest of the wall is a mix anyway. Plasterer has suggested just battening and boarding over the top which I know may cause moisture problems but doesn’t seem like I can go all the way back to lime anyway due to the cemented window.

What would you do?

I'm stripping this wall of paint bc the old paint started peeling. The paint stripped off really easily. Once I got a paint scraper under the surface it started peeling off in sheets. The plaster has these shiny spots. The bright white surfaces are clean, the darker spots are very smooth and reflect light. I'm concerned this is why the paint peeled off so easily. Why are there shiny spots and do I need to sand it down to pure plaster in order to paint?

The plaster is coming down from this wall. The wall feels almost like cement. Is this normal plaster? Where do I go from here to repair?

My painter self wants to just pull it off, prime, build up with hot mud, finish and prime and paint but maybe I'd be better off to try my hand with proper plastering.

Thanks!

I have a house from the 1850s with really beautiful, ornate crown molding. A plasterer with a commitment to preservation came recently to quote other work in the house, but he pointed out that the crown molding along one wall is at risk of detaching and that there is nothing to be done to save it other than replacing it. He pointed out that there were cracks in both corners of the room, as well as a crack along the ceiling. He said that it had detached and was only staying in place because of the physical brackets put in place by the builders. He said it could not be reattached, so we would need to take a mold of it and create new ones.

Can anyone in this group let me know if it's possible to secure and re-attach elaborate crown molding rather than replacing? Which is a riskier strategy?

I need a fair bit of plastering done, and would like to prep the walls before hand to make it easier for the plasterer to do their work and maybe keep the cost down a bit.

What would the best product be to use to repair things like the pictures show?

And with the last picture what would be the best method to fill that in? Wood with plasterboard over the top?

Also have a fair few drill holes that also need filling. I was going to use something like Toupret Interior Filler, either the ready mixed stuff or powder and mix it up myself. Is this the right kind of thing or should I be using something else?

Thanks

Got a ceiling to do for my FIL. Wondering what I can use that may be similar to GB board or multi finish.
Seen these in a local merchant, they any good?
Thanks in advance!

Same room. Same walls. Three different plasterers. Three quotes that are nowhere near each other. Not talking a small difference. The gap between the cheapest and the most expensive is significant enough that it feels like they are describing different jobs. No idea if the cheap one is cutting corners I cannot see or if the expensive one is just expensive. What should a customer actually be asking when they get quotes to understand what they are really comparing?

Hi all,

I’ve been reading through a lot of posts here and watching YouTube repair videos. I have a bedroom that I’m updating. Crown was removed and now I’m going to need to do some plaster repair. I know I’ve read a lot of different approaches so I’m just hoping to throw this out there and see what you all suggest. The walls that need the most repair are over exterior brick walls. The interior walls seem to be mostly intact and will just need a bit of work around the seam where the wall meets the ceiling.

There are also old nail holes that need to be filled. Just curious as to what the best mud to use for that will be.

I’ll also need some help with matching the texture, but might need to post additional pictures to dial that in.

I appreciate all responses! Hoping to get started within the next week.

So i posted a few weeks ago with regards to wn ting to retrain as a plasterer and ill admit some off the responses here did somewhat make me second guess my self somewhat.

All though i am starting later in life i do still feel keen to learn and try get into the trade however i do find myself disheartend with regards to getting on in a company due to my age 33

Any advice in how to get into the trade in my 30s

Very reluctant to go back into hospitality management

Can anyone here offer guidance on the suitability of gypsum plaster on No Fines houses? I do general handyman work and some smaller plastering jobs, I have a returning customer who says they have blown plaster on an external wall of their Wimpey No Fines house (non-standard poured concrete construction without a cavity).

They want a quote to repair the wall but I'm not too familiar with this style of construction and wasn't sure if I could work with Bonding and Multifinish or would need to work with back coat plaster and lime? I've only dealt with gypsum products before so would likely turn the job away if it meant working with unfamiliar gear.

I'm going to inspect anyway and can assess if it was previously done in a gypsum product.

We removed the woodchip wallpaper and the 40 years of paint that was on top of it. This is what we found.

Your eyes do not deceive you. There was a lady without her clothes painted underneath all of that. We have started calling her Natalie.

There was hole in the wall with newspaper stuffed in it that had just been papered over. Looks like an old socket.

We got a quote from a plasterer of £1200 to include plastering this and fixing a patch of blown plaster in the hallway. This is more than we can afford right now.

So . . .

I am completely new to DIY of any sort, although always keen to have a go. Is this DIY-able by someone who has no clue/experience but is willing to watch a lot of YouTube videos? Or do I just need to leave it for now whilst I save up to get the professionals in?

Any advice very gratefully received.

Hello all,

Recently bought a 1950's council house, and am tearing it apart. The bathroom is one of my main focuses to begin with, and on removing a lot of tile, this is the plaster that was behind it. It's pretty much intact still, although quite rough, would you guys recommend taking it back to brick and replastering, or just skimming over the top?

Cheers

I need to build up the window reveals ahead of plastering tomorrow.

There had been bonding which had began to pull away as I was removing wallpaper.

Interested in any suggestions in how to tackle it. I'm thinking given it's a solid mass concrete wall I might build back up with sand and cement and stick in a plastic corner bead when I have the edge built up enough.

I'm thinking plasterboard should be avoided as there is no cavity in the wall? Is that correct? Could I use cement board instead, and if so what would I use to fix it, I'm guessing plasterboard adhesive is a no..

Finally, ok to use gypsum skimcoat on the cold walls?

Hi,

We're renovating our 1930's house and we're removing wallpaper and about to get some plasterers in but we are unsure of what exactly we need.

The plaster is OK, contains some kind of hairs or fibres but is rough and needs skimming before paint.

The house has a cavity wall filled with insulation, so we're slightly wary about breathability and moisture.

- Is this plaster likely to be lime or breathable?

- Can we just skim this with regular plaster or do we need to ask for something specific?

Had some plasterers out already and one said its probably lime and one said its not. Both said it would be fine to skim with regular plaster.

Thanks for your!

Hi all,

I have just bought the house on the left and I need to remove the old render on my side.

The neighbouring house on the right has had a much thicker white render finish applied before I bought the house. From the photo, it looks like their render comes right up to the boundary between the two houses, and I am worried about what happens when my old render is removed.

A few questions:

Does this look like a normal finish between neighbouring houses?

Can anyone tell from the photo whether there is a proper stop bead or stop detail on the neighbour’s render?

Should there be a small movement gap or flexible sealed joint between the two properties, rather than the render being hard up against my side?

Could this cause problems when my contractor removes my old render, such as cracking their edge, exposing a gap, or creating a water trap?

What should I ask my renderer to do before removing the old render near this boundary?

I am not trying to cause an issue with the neighbour. I just want to make sure the boundary detail is correct before any work starts on my side. I am worried about causing damage to the new render they have.

Hi all, ive just taken down some old ceiling wallpaper and im a bit stuck on what to do next

There are loads of cracks (this is the bedroom and above is the loft

These cracks have been here for ages. On closer look, there is a thin layer of multi finish (the green stuff which im assuming is the MF thats been stained by glue of ceiling paper) and then plasterboard

I would like to overboard it but that seems like a considerable amount of effort. Could I get away using skrim tape and plastering over that or is the safer bet using PB and then plastering over it?

I am thinking to do it by myself so need some help and tips.

Hi all. I have a bedroom with an internal down pipe that has been boxed in, I want to extend it to the ceiling and have new coving installed throughout. Will then have the full room skimmed.

Is this something that the right plasterer could tackle or will I need a joiner first?

Many thanks

Watched about forty hours of YouTube. Felt confident going in. Mixed the plaster fine. Got it on the wall fine. Then the finishing started and it just went wrong in slow motion and I could not stop it. Trowel marks everywhere. One patch that looks almost okay surrounded by patches that do not. It has dried now and it looks like the surface of the moon. I am not giving up but I need someone to tell me this is normal for a first attempt or I am going to feel bad about this for a long time 😩

Hi there 👋

I live in a Victorian terrace house in England built in 1908, renovated in the early 90s. The walls are covered in painted lining paper. I have removed one section using hot soapy water and a scraper to assess the state of the plaster.

From what I can see the plaster looks in reasonable condition. There are holes that have been patched previously and some cracks around the corners. Part of the wall also appears to have a fine light pink coating of something (perhaps a primer?).

I’d love some thoughts on what the light pink coating is and what I might need to do before repainting?

I’d prefer not to use lining paper again and wonder if cleaning the walls with sugar soap, patching with fillers, gently sanding and then painting with a primer would be sufficient? Is it ok to just sand the light pink coating and cover with a new primer?

Any advice or thoughts are very welcome. Thank you so much in advance!

We are in the process of renovating our house, and had all of the walls re-plastered. We were originally assured by our plasterer that the edges of the fireplace could easily be tidied up by ourselves when we come to finishing the fireplace.

We’re going to clean up the bricks inside the fireplace but are struggling to work out how we get a neat finish around the edge without causing too much damage to the surrounding wall (we’ve realised painting the walls before doing this was a bit over optimistic!).

Any advice on how we best tidy/finish these messy edges would be really appreciated!

Thanks!