Wet plaster or dot and dab for my self build?

[Nickfromwales]

3 hours ago, nod said:

I’m pretty sure the people moving into them will appreciate our efforts 

Which makes us both wonder why we got out of bed eh?? 😑

[Spinny]

I am going for wet plaster and experience so far is...

 

Discussed work with builder's plasterer multiple times because of concerns over the need for wet plastering skills etc and explicitly asked him - can you do X, can you do Y, can you deal with this wonky wall because the 1930's plaster I knocked off was plumb even where the wall isn't. Told yes, yes, yes etc. Builder told me 'he is a good plasterer'.

Twas all shown to be lies when he started work. Where he skimmed a boarded partition wall it is fine. Where he has wet plastered it is crap. 15mm out of true over the top half of one wall. Even on a section of plumb new blockwork he has managed to be 10+mm out over 1.5m. Never saw him use a long straight edge as you can see people using on youtube.

 

So, some builder's and tradies do lie, some do lie without hesitation. No doubt builders like cheap plasterers (possibly on job and knock terms). The only way to tell if they can do a proper job is to see their work - via reference job visits and/or having them do a small piece of work first so you can see their work first hand.

 

Now have another plasterer starting work. Learning that it is key to spell out all detail re positioning of plaster lines against doors and windows etc. Where something is boarded it doesn't mean it is square or plumb. I am double checking all the beads now with a spirit level in 3 dimensions because the plaster will follow the beads, so it is imperative the beads are correctly positioned. (Builders plasterer's bead was put on in a curve - that wall is curved and has to be corrected). Some things inevitably cannot be made right but better to decide on compromises now rather than measure afterwards when it is too late. (Just had an existing internal door lining pulled out and replaced to facilitate getting a good plaster line).

 

Watch out for recesses - I am going to have to suck up a shelving recess that is deeper one end than the other. Have found two adjacent lintels are not set level because one is thicker than the other. Now cannot be corrected because the trickle vent is in the way.

 

I really don't like dot and dab because few of us have large houses and I just don't like the idea of planning stuff with an architect or a kitchen supplier only for someone to dot and dab every dimension smaller by an inch or two. Then kitchen people want 30mm 'packers' everywhere 'because builders cannot build plumb' and before your know it your kitchen is 6 inches shorter for no good reason.

[Spinny]

Quote

Maybe true if you go around your house hitting the walls - maybe some anger management is needed?

 

If you want strong plasterboard, and plasterboard that that you can screw straight into and mount stuff to, it is available...

https://youtu.be/nQK8awMOKpM?feature=shared

https://youtu.be/nQK8awMOKpM?feature=shared

https://youtu.be/Ure_nvPLYks?feature=shared

https://youtu.be/CUvq0QzwDzY?feature=shared

 

my favorite...https://youtu.be/HfVqIyUpE2M?feature=shared

 

No builder is ever going to buy this for any customer unless you specify it and make them, It costs money and it is heavy. But IMO it makes perfect sense - the public should get what the public wants, not what a builder decides they can and can't have. The world needs to move forward.

(I don't work for Gyproc, just like to see stuff that solves problems - I like my Frosti tap too.

Edited 6 hours ago by Spinny