Shadow Gaps

[Barney12]

I know I'm going to regret it but I'm seriously considering shadow gaps, at least downstairs.

I still want skirting and architrave though so it will be above/to the side of that (obviously square edge).

 

Does anyone have any tips (other than: don't do it )?

 

 

[Alex C]

You need to double slab the walls and use a trim like this http://www.qic-trims.com/product_category/dry-lining-trims/

Use the R12. Metal trim is much better than plastic. Door linings need to go in before plasterboard and fit the trim to the edge of them.

Detail drawings here https://armourcoat.com/en/technical/sss/SSS004

[nod]

1 hour ago, Barney12 said:

I know I'm going to regret it but I'm seriously considering shadow gaps, at least downstairs.

I still want skirting and architrave though so it will be above/to the side of that (obviously square edge).

 

Does anyone have any tips (other than: don't do it )?

 

 

 

Shadow margins are not difficult to install If you take your time I always use the tap on type Galvanised As already pointed out the plastic ones are rubbish Difficult to keep straight and prone to cracking Tips Set bitterns around the room five mil higher than your margin using a laser line On dabbed walls keep the adhesive 50 mil short of the bottom of the wall Don't be tempted to screw the beads on use ten mil staples Partition or ply walls screw your boards on 250 mil short of the bottom edge set all your beads Staples again The gently put a screw in each strut 50 mil up from the bead      Hope this helps Gary

[Barney12]

Thanks guys, really helpful. I'm trying to see why there is an absolute need for double plasterboarding? Surely the correct support of the bead could be achieved with the right level of detaining* and thus at a much lower cost?

 

*For example it would be incredibly simple to create 6mm ply fillets/packers to support the bead and a single skin of plasterboard.

[Alex C]

It is really easy to make shadow gap flush skirting look absolute crap by not having the bead and skirting aligning properly and also having a good support for the bead. I have seen loads done badly where the bead cracks away from the skirting and plaster. Depending on your wall build up you may also need continuous plasterboard to fire rate your wall.

[jack]

11 minutes ago, Alex C said:

It is really easy to make shadow gap flush skirting look absolute crap by not having the bead and skirting aligning properly...

 

I can vouch for that.  The guys that did ours didn't do a particularly good job in places, but of course, you couldn't tell until they'd more or less finished.  By this time the relationship with the guy supplying the labour had deteriorated and it was pretty clear there was no way he was going to make it good.  I have plans to improve some of the worst sections, but this is waaaaaaaay down the to-do list, unfortunately.

[Barney12]

42 minutes ago, Alex C said:

It is really easy to make shadow gap flush skirting look absolute crap by not having the bead and skirting aligning properly and also having a good support for the bead. I have seen loads done badly where the bead cracks away from the skirting and plaster. Depending on your wall build up you may also need continuous plasterboard to fire rate your wall.

 

Hmmmm. It makes you wonder why someone hasn't developed a back frame with integrated bead which a skirting/architrave then attaches to. This would simplify alignment? 

[Barney12]

1 hour ago, jack said:

 

I can vouch for that.  The guys that did ours didn't do a particularly good job in places, but of course, you couldn't tell until they'd more or less finished.  By this time the relationship with the guy supplying the labour had deteriorated and it was pretty clear there was no way he was going to make it good.  I have plans to improve some of the worst sections, but this is waaaaaaaay down the to-do list, unfortunately.

 

Out of interest was the issue the with the gap width or the alignment of the faces? 

Is the issue the variability of the plaster thickness or bead movement or the subsequent fitting of the skirting?

 

Sorry that's a lot of questions  

[jack]

All of the above, unfortunately.  We have some places where the gap is noticeably vertically wider than it is elsewhere.  In other places, the edge trim (unfortunately, I now know we should have used a proper profile) isn't completely flush with the edge of the board, so the plaster surface is slightly proud of the underlying skirting board.

 

And then the skirting board just wasn't put on with as much consistent care as I'd have liked.  There are a couple of corners where it's out by 5-7mm, which is quite a lot!

 

As I said, by the time we got to this point it was already a long story with the builder we had in to do some of this work.  I think he'd basically lost money on fixing the external cladding because he underestimated the amount of time it would take.  From then on, he just dug his heels in about everything we tried to call a snag.  Irrespective of whether it was a day rate or a fixed price, it was always "I don't have the margin to re-do adequate work just because you're an unreasonable perfectionist" (not those words, but the attitude was pretty clear by the end of it).