Barnboy Posted March 10, 2022 Share Posted March 10, 2022 I've read the for and against arguments for using Fermacell. I want something strong, can't afford to plaster and don't have the time to learn whilst carrying out the job of every trade possible on my self build conversion. My main concern is the state of timber as I have internal walls and externally lined walls of timber studwork faced with sheathing board and counter battens. I've read that everything needs to be perfect for Fermacell but running a 2mtr level across my stud and counter battens, where its not all flush, I've got 2, maybe 3mm of rock over that 2 mtrs, is this going to be good enough or am I going to have to somehow get everything perfectly flush ? Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe90 Posted March 10, 2022 Share Posted March 10, 2022 As a slight aside, I often use hardboard to pack a few millimetres. I have never used Fermacell but you could always tape and scrim tapered edge plasterboard (it’s what the yanks do!!!) I have done this a few times and if not perfect the top coat is very easy to sand! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redtop Posted March 10, 2022 Share Posted March 10, 2022 We decided against it due to the weight, aint light for a 1 man lift Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nod Posted March 10, 2022 Share Posted March 10, 2022 Fermacell is a good product It will end up costing more than PB and skim Or tape which works out slightly more than skim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barnboy Posted March 13, 2022 Author Share Posted March 13, 2022 I've looked at skimming but it's at least 10k in labour alone, let alone the materials , which is why I've gone for Fermacell, strong but diy-able and I can hopefully route some nice rounded edges on the reveals and external corners. I'm just worried that if I have the slightest amount of out of tolerance timber work when I come to putting the boards up I'll either end up with glued edges with a slight step or have to use tapered board and fill. I'd like to use the square edge and glued boards rather than tapered and filled to give me less chance of cracks appearing in the future. Has anyone any experience of using the glued boards and what the tolerance of the stud needs to be please ? Or any 1st hand experience at all of either methods. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russell griffiths Posted March 13, 2022 Share Posted March 13, 2022 I’ve used square edge and glue in my plant room, as I wanted a fully decorated surface before installing plumbing stuff, IMHO the finish is not good enough for a visible house wall without using their fine surface treatment. What are you going to do with fixing holes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barnboy Posted March 13, 2022 Author Share Posted March 13, 2022 I was planning on using their filler to fill the screw fixing holes and then a skim of fine surface treatment before paint. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickfromwales Posted March 13, 2022 Share Posted March 13, 2022 1 hour ago, Barnboy said: I'd like to use the square edge and glued boards rather than tapered and filled to give me less chance of cracks appearing in the future. Erm, no. The taped and filled joints are the only sensible option for this, with the tapes preventing the cracks coming through, and then filled to better blend one board into the next. As the boards are usually purchased in the smaller format to make them easier to handle ( good luck with 43kg's!! if you go 8x4 @12mm ) you'll have way more joints to manage, and a LOT of expensive waste product where you cut off and end up with square edges again. Butting these together and gluing will not be sympathetic to your type of walls, and trying to use FST and sand that out to an acceptable finish is just mind-blowing in terms of labour, repetition, and the astronomical amounts of dust that is created. From what I've seen, I strongly doubt you will be able install FC cheaper than PB and skim, unless you can live with a terrible looking painted and finished wall. PB and skim will give you a flawless finish with zero sanding and filling if the chosen 'spread' is a good 'un. We install strategic timber pattresses in walls where TVs / kitchen unis etc are being installed, and often plywood / OSB before PB in bathrooms so the shower and wall mounted items ( shower door etc ) plus accessories ( towel rails / loo roll holders etc ) can be retrospectively installed wherever you like. Other than that, there are plenty of good off-the-shelf solutions for affixing item to PB. Save the money on the FC and additional labour and finishing products and invest it into the labour for a plasterer. If your bill for labour only for plastering is £10k, how big is the house?!? 1 hour ago, Barnboy said: Has anyone any experience of using the glued boards and what the tolerance of the stud needs to be please ? The above info is from 1st hand experience where these were fitted to a service battened TF dwelling and 4" internal stud walls. The option for one individual was to abandon and revert to PB and skim, another stuck with FC and the FST and the job took forever, created a gargantuan amount of dust, and was not, after all that process, time, cost, a flawless finish at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Punter Posted March 13, 2022 Share Posted March 13, 2022 I used Fermacell in a conversion of commercial to 6 flats. I would not use again. It is v. difficult and dusty to cut, sparky will hate you, not mould resistant, expensive, difficult to fix. For areas where you need extra strength, line with some OSB, then plasterboard and skim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barnboy Posted March 17, 2022 Author Share Posted March 17, 2022 On 13/03/2022 at 14:13, Nickfromwales said: If your bill for labour only for plastering is £10k, how big is the house?!? What does a good quality spread, spread for each of the following surfaces in an hour or day then ? I've got ceilings, pitch and walls Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickfromwales Posted March 18, 2022 Share Posted March 18, 2022 8 hours ago, Barnboy said: What does a good quality spread, spread for each of the following surfaces in an hour or day then ? I've got ceilings, pitch and walls If you get the likes of @nod and his gang on the case, it'll be cost effective and done el-rapido with great results. You need to get quotes, as we cannot tell you what your particular home will cost to do. Maybe folk here can post up rates for walls & ceilings ( p/m2 ) to give you a yardstick. Most good spreads will just do you a day rate, and should get 3 sets on a day, 2 if the going is rough and they have to dub out ( because the boarding is crap ). Find some recommendations, get some quotes, come back with any questions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WWilts Posted March 29, 2022 Share Posted March 29, 2022 On 10/03/2022 at 21:30, nod said: costing more than PB and skim Or tape which works out slightly more than skim Is taping of PB joints more expensive than skim of the whole PB? Complete ignorance here, pls excuse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nod Posted March 30, 2022 Share Posted March 30, 2022 5 hours ago, WWilts said: Is taping of PB joints more expensive than skim of the whole PB? Complete ignorance here, pls excuse. There’s not much in it With taping slightly more expensive 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickfromwales Posted March 30, 2022 Share Posted March 30, 2022 10 hours ago, WWilts said: Is taping of PB joints more expensive than skim of the whole PB? Complete ignorance here, pls excuse. It was reference to using tape instead of traditional ‘scrim’ tape. Plaster goes over both options. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
markharro Posted April 3, 2022 Share Posted April 3, 2022 ?What about FC with slight gaps on purpose and a feature made of screws and leave the wall that way. Any visual examples of this sort of thing? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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