PVA/multi VS bonding agent/board finish

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ljm

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I've only ever used PVA/multi but I see a lot of you go for the bonding agent/board finish option. I'm thinking I'd like to try this and my wife has just decided that I'm skimming our bedroom this christmas. Perfect opportunity I feel to test it out. My question is of the difference between the two and whether there are any nasty surprises I should look out for. What do people prefer using?
 
i used to be a stricly pva person, now i use wba whenever i can. depending on how fast you are i'd use board as i find multi hangs a bit too long on wba
 
Cheers beddy, speed not too sad, been doing it a fair few years now. So using board finish with WBA would give a similar set time to pva/multi? Just so I can judge how many walls to stick on...
 
wba needs to dry for hours, so you have to take that in to account. Sometimes it's quicker to pva the lot, but you get more time on wba and the reduction in suction is uniform unlike pva.
 
if you can go in the day before and wba it then do it. once its on you can forget about it, where as with pva you have to get the first coat on, let it dry, then time the second coat right so you can mix up in time to skim it when its tacky
 
This was another plus point for WBA, it buys me one more day off! haha. If I WBA the whole room tomorrow how long will I have to skim it. I know that you need to leave WBA to dry but is there a length of time after which you shouldn't skim without re-applying. ie. is there some sort of expiry time with Bonding agents?
 
I would think it will be fine for as long as it remains dust-free - but that's a complete guess:RpS_thumbup:
 
Cool, cheers peeps, will dish out some thanks as rewards!!! Will let you know how it goes and maybe, just possibly, post some pics when done....
 
Wots wrong with pva been using it for years and no come backs all this thistle bond-it and bettacontact is a load of shite cant beat 2 coats of pva.
 
WBA is quality gear but its just totally impractical, how many of us have the time to pop around the property the day before to apply the stuff, it needs more than 2 hours to dry I would say at least 4, it will appear dry after 2 hours but the way it works is through chemical reactions which takes longer, and its just so expensive compared to PVA, I know you can pass this on to the client but why bother, as above PVA works fine if used correctly
 
as ive already said if i can use wba i will, its better to skim on and gives you a bit more reasurrance. but i always keep pva in the van as theres always a time you will need it. if you prefer using wba then its easy to get time to prep a job. how long would it take to wba a whole living room, an hour?
 
If it's really a ball-ache to do it yourself, just give the punter the option of putting the stuff on for you - tell 'em it's saving them £50/£100 or whatever.
 
Its not just how long it takes to put on its getting to the property sheeting/taping up etc, lets not forget what the stuff is like i.e. you get it on anything other than the walls and don't wipe it off straight away its then almost impossible to remove, the days long enough as it is with work / carrying out quotes / typing them up then getting to a property to prep for the next day, sorry the moneys not that good
 
well in my eyes id rather go and prep the night/day/saturday/sunday before and then forget about it. no more skimming when tacky unless i have to.
 
Both pva and wba are good products.
Wba is great on low suction areas i.e vinyl silk paint overskims or concrete pilars/walls etc.
wba is also good on friable and flacky surfaces i.e distemper when bulk removed or flacky paint etc.

On any other surface your wasing your money
Wba is about £14 a tub and it takes 2 tubs minimum to do a average room. now pva is £10 and will do a whole 3 bed house.

If you have to price a room /house with wba it will be more expensive so if your compoetitor ( another spread ) prices it with pva he will win the job.
You cant even say that wba is better than pva becuse its not,its only better on certain backgrounds.

Personally and this is only my take on things . i would only use wba on a back ground that needs it thus saving me time and ultimutaly money.
 
I never had a prob going round the night before to slap it on... was pretty handy cos you could then make sure it was all ready for you the following day and all you have to do is get there and spin up... then get out and go to the next job scrape ceiling back slap WBA on and then head to the pub....

I think it made things easier... that's just me though I am very odd at times, but a lot of the time they were one set jobs so I had rakes of time and never had to rush.

PVA does have its uses and I have not had one fail on me... other than when its been cold.
 
Have to say I nearly f*ckin cried at the price of the WBA especially considering I needed more than one tub for my bedroom which is about 4.5m by 3m. Note to others thinking of using it - make sure you mix it properly first!!! The last dregs were like trying to roller treacle on the feckin wall! Skimmed over today using board finish. Loved the board finish. Nice and creamy and good to work with. Trowels up loverrrly. It was nice having all the prep done and just getting on with skimmin. Board Finish I would def use again. Juries still out on bonding agent, can see pro's and con's. Glad I gave them a go though. Now she wants a frickin custom made wardrobe so bang goes my time off over christmas....
 
Thanks for the tip. Did notice it stretched a bit further when roller was damp! Would it not compromise the strength and suction control by mixing with PVA?
 
i dont do it myself but have skimmed over it, didnt seem to affect it. i just water it down a little
 
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