Great Expectations

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Woodwyrm

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Hi, I'm a new home owner with limited experience of 'reasonable' standards set by time-served plasterers.

If a plasterer is asked to produce a skim finish suitable to paint on, is it reasonable for a customer to expect not to have to fill-in and sand numerous drag marks on the plaster surface, or will there always be several areas of a room that need prepping before painting? I read a remark on another forum by a property developer who said he'd only ever encountered one plasterer who could produce a finish ready to paint on without prepping.
 
Woodwyrm said:
Hi, I'm a new home owner with limited experience of 'reasonable' standards set by time-served plasterers.

If a plasterer is asked to produce a skim finish suitable to paint on, is it reasonable for a customer to expect not to have to fill-in and sand numerous drag marks on the plaster surface, or will there always be several areas of a room that need prepping before painting? I read a remark on another forum by a property developer who said he'd only ever encountered one plasterer who could produce a finish ready to paint on without prepping.
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He was most likely talking about me
 
This is what the nhbc regard as acceptable.

WALLS AND CEILINGS - APPEARANCE
1.2 - S7 Wall and ceiling finishes shall have an appropriate appearance


Items to be taken into account include:

Plastered and dry lined
(a) appearance of wall and ceiling surfaces
Surfaces should be reasonably uniform although there may be minor textural differences around lights and other fittings. There should be no visible gaps between fittings and the wall/ceiling (e.g. around switch plates).

In plastered walls and ceilings some tooling marks may be visible.

Commentary

  • in general wall surfaces, some cracking (up to 2mm wide) is likely due to shrinkage and differential movement of materials
  • at wall, floor and ceiling junctions where there are changes in the construction materials, small cracks (up to 2mm wide) may appear in the surface as a result of shrinkage and differential movement of materials
  • jointing tape should be fully covered and not be obtrusive in the finished wall or ceiling surface
  • small cracks may occur in wall finishes which pass across floors (e.g. in staircase walls)
  • where stair strings abut a wall, a crack of up to 4mm may appear as a result of shrinkage of materials.
 
Woodwyrm said:
Hi, I'm a new home owner with limited experience of 'reasonable' standards set by time-served plasterers.

If a plasterer is asked to produce a skim finish suitable to paint on, is it reasonable for a customer to expect not to have to fill-in and sand numerous drag marks on the plaster surface, or will there always be several areas of a room that need prepping before painting? I read a remark on another forum by a property developer who said he'd only ever encountered one plasterer who could produce a finish ready to paint on without prepping.
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I would just say if a time served plasterer has done the work you should only be breaking out a roller not the sandpaper x


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Rossi, you're a living legend!

Thanks for the useful guide Scotty, it has put things in perspective.

Cornelius, do you mean the new plaster should be left to dry out before filling and sanding?
 
I would say depends on the size of the room, if it's huge then there's bound to be an odd trowel mark that needs a little fill/sand!
 
It don't matter what size the room is it should be paintable with no prep needs unless the plumber or sparks bin in with his hammer goin mad I'm not acing a dig basset but you out on what you know you can handle and finish to a good standard [emoji106]


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Woodwyrm said:
Hi, I'm a new home owner with limited experience of 'reasonable' standards set by time-served plasterers.

If a plasterer is asked to produce a skim finish suitable to paint on, is it reasonable for a customer to expect not to have to fill-in and sand numerous drag marks on the plaster surface, or will there always be several areas of a room that need prepping before painting? I read a remark on another forum by a property developer who said he'd only ever encountered one plasterer who could produce a finish ready to paint on without prepping.
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I sense you may have had some substandard work done? In the best of all worlds a time served plasterer worth the name should leave it ready to paint: no trowel lines, brush marks, slacks or hollows, dribbles etc. Sadly, this is not always the case.
 
I always leave a bag of easyfill behind its in the price

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Woodwyrm said:
Hi, I'm a new home owner with limited experience of 'reasonable' standards set by time-served plasterers.

If a plasterer is asked to produce a skim finish suitable to paint on, is it reasonable for a customer to expect not to have to fill-in and sand numerous drag marks on the plaster surface, or will there always be several areas of a room that need prepping before painting? I read a remark on another forum by a property developer who said he'd only ever encountered one plasterer who could produce a finish ready to paint on without prepping.
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Is there any photos .?
Not really close up ones , we can zoom in.
 
You gotta be honest we can all do a great job but even the best plasterers might have the odd bit on it light rub with bit of 120grit won't do no harm but if you got 60grit on a belt sander that may be a problem,not me though I leave a good job :hola:
 
Play the scorpions rock you like a hurricane on last pass no sandpaper needed [emoji3] but seriously if you control your gauges to what you can handle no matter what size room it shouldn't matter sandpaper is a swear word I'm not having it


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TROLLHUNTER said:
I sense you may have had some substandard work done? In the best of all worlds a time served plasterer worth the name should leave it ready to paint: no trowel lines, brush marks, slacks or hollows, dribbles etc. Sadly, this is not always the case.
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My guess, reading the NHBC guide, is that the work we recently had done might be seen as 'adequate' rather than substandard. I think the plasterer did his best and maybe his standard is reflected in his quotes which are 20% cheaper than most we've had. In his defence he turned up on time and left no mess. I suppose we'll just have to take the chance and take a mid-range quote next time if we hope for a better finish. If that backfires then we'll have the leftover bags of Easi-fill and the last plasterer's phone number! ;)
 
Marshy said:
I usually get milf customers to do nipple test. Ie. Rub her nips against the wall till they get like fag stumps meanwhile im bollock naked her pants down and its merry fistmas
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Great Expectations
 
It's always hard to say with these posts what is right ..

But I do like them when they come up.
 
ys leave a bag of easyfill behind its in the price

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only 1 bag of easifill :inocente: you must be improving with age :lol:
 
Cheap quote and gone for it "he did his best" always go with your gut feeling if you like their approach and explaining of how works will be carried out,we ain't seen it so can't criticise really,maybe it's alright and anyone looking for a fault can find one or maybe it is bad without pics it's hard to say
 
Agree with @Pagey, even the best of us have the odd mark here and there.

Filler is extreme but a little sand paper in your back pocket having a quick look around after the mist coat is normal, I did it on my own house and advise customers to have a quick check around and gently rub out any slight misses.

Different lighting & substrates can all be a factor
 
puddove said:
ys leave a bag of easyfill behind its in the price

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only 1 bag of easifill :inocente: you must be improving with age :lol:[/QUOTE]
I used to leave behind one strike filler a half a litre one, not enough anymore, I think I'm going downhill if anything

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beddy said:
Why?

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I realised what the sounded like once I re read it! I always leave my work that is paintable however the last ceiling I did I left one little trowel mark on a 35m2 ceiling! So kinda meant it like that! Only realise I had left it when I was back there painting it! Just thought I'd be honest and get it off my conscience!
 
basset said:
I realised what the sounded like once I re read it! I always leave my work that is paintable however the last ceiling I did I left one little trowel mark on a 35m2 ceiling! So kinda meant it like that! Only realise I had left it when I was back there painting it! Just thought I'd be honest and get it off my conscience!
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That old chestnut..lol
 
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