Oh no...not another Plastering thread...

[skier-hughes]

I did a bit yesterday
My plasterers bought it ready mixed, said it was cheaper than paying them to mix it, mostly because they have to travel and stay over and we are getting through about a ton and a half of haired on the first two coats.
With the right consistency it was quite easy to put on........ My trouble is getting that consistency, when I tried it was always just too dry or too wet

 

[Woody3]

I think I'm going to go the ready mixed route and see how I get on plastering for my first time then go from there.

I will stop with the questions soon , but...

> Are the Mike Wye coverage quantities per tonne about right?

> What tools do I need to buy? I have no plastering tools whatsoever! I keep noticing people mention wooden floats?

I think that is it :lol:

Thanks to everyone that has replied, your help is much appreciated! I'll update with progress pics (if it looks ok that is! :? )

Matthew - I'm now following your blog as it looks like it could help me throughout my project - thanks

 

[MatthewC]

Are the Mike Wye coverage quantities per tonne about right?

Yes, if you apply it to the thickness they say, but it's easy to lay it on bit thick. Also, if you have a bare stone wall then it will probably use more to fill the indentations.

What tools do I need to buy? I have no plastering tools whatsoever! I keep noticing people mention wooden floats?

A sensible size metal trowel - unless you have VERY strong arms. I think the big ones are for real professionals! Also a gauging trowel, a comb for scratching (or use old sharpened laths), an old large paint brush (for cleaning up the tools), a mixer and a wheelbarrow. Plus some personal protection as it can be very messy and you don't want lime in your eyes or drying out your hands. The wooden float is to get a slightly rough surface on the finished float coat (when it has gone off a bit) so that the finer plaster skim will attach better.

 

[Woody3]

Thanks Matthew...

My arms aren't at all "big" (I'm built like Peter Crouch ), so I would struggle with a big trowel.

I've measured the areas to be plastered and the quantities are as follows:

First Coat & Floating Coat - 60m2 each @ 8-10mm thick
Finishing Coat - 130m2 (NB-this qty is greater than the above qty's due to existing lime plaster being ok to skim over) @ 3-4mm thick

I've priced up the ready mix stuff and it's coming out at about £500-£600 (based on Mike Wye's prices and coverage qtys)

Now, I'm getting contradicting views from various websites as to which base coats should be haired and which shouldn't! :roll: Should both the first coat and floating coat be haired?

Secondly, I'm trying to price up the DIY mix.

According to one website 25KG of Lime putty is produced by approx. 8KG bag of lime + water. (3 parts water:1 part lime). Does this sound about right? If so, that's about £3.00 for 25KG of Lime Putty.

Sharp Sand for backing coats and fine sand for finishing coat...is fine sand also classed as "Plastering" sand? Lets say, worst case scenario Wickes prices a tonne @ £46.00

Goats hair or "fake/fibre" reinforcement? Where do you chaps get this from? I notice that the Mike Wye sells it in 1KG bundles. How much do you think I will need?

I'm going around in circles with this

*orders Gypsum Plaster* haha :mrgreen:

 

[MdB]

According to one website 25KG of Lime putty is produced by approx. 8KG bag of lime + water. (3 parts water:1 part lime). Does this sound about right? If so, that's about £3.00 for 25KG of Lime Putty.

That doesn't sound right to me.
It has been a while since I've turned hydrate into putty but I think I was getting something like 3 tubs (10L) of putty out of a 25kg bag of hydrate. I could well be wrong so I would suggest you buy a bag and check before placing a large order.

 

[Lime]

I'd make my own mix using builders lime and buy my sand in bags.
Using bags makes the handling, apportioning and mixing so much easier.

As for hair there is no hard and fast rule.
You need to experiment to get a better idea of what you are about to undertake.
Don't forget that the water content in the sand makes a very big difference to how much water you add to the mix.

 

[MdB]

You need to experiment to get a better idea of what you are about to undertake.
Don't forget that the water content in the sand makes a very big difference to how much water you add to the mix.

I found that mixing putty with wet sand sometimes gave me a mix that was too wet to use straight away. It wasn't wasted, you just had to wait a few days for it to settle, pour off the water that puddles on the top and then remix. A pain though and one of the reasons I moved to just mixing hydrate with sand missing out the putty stage. (Some lime pros here think this is a bad idea...)

 

[skier-hughes]

Our number one and two coats both contained hair.
There appears to be quite a large amount in it.
My normal mixer ends up collecting all the hair, so you need a proper mixer to mix it up, regardless of whether you buy it readymixed or not.
We've used about one tonne for about 25sqm. first and second coat.
Is there a reason you are going to top coat all the existing lime plaster? All of ours was left, repairing where neccessary. I cleaned off all the old paint and painted the old and new together.

 

[Woody3]

Just a quick update to this thread...

Thank you to all that have responded.

I'm mixing it myself with the help of my Uncle who is also going to show me how to plaster.

I've now got 2 bath tubs sat in my garage with possibly another arriving from my plumber tomorrow (I only wanted one )

Anyway, I also picked up a mixer from Machine Mart (at a bargain price), so come these next few weeks the plaster should be going on the ceilings, walls, floors, clothes, hair etc :lol:

Wish me luck... :shock: