Spat on the cheap

Status
Not open for further replies.
windy

windy

Private Member
Hi all

Just about to buy a 600mm spat and pole from pft or ptf whatever its called. All in and delivered £95 :RpS_scared:

I have seen these on ebay

Link Removed

it comes with a hole to allow any pole to screw into it. All in should cost well below £30 inc the pole.

Whats the difference between the refina ones and ones like these. I cud rub corners down with an oil stone to wear the fella in. Does anyone use this type of spat on skimming?

Dont tell meto buy stilts as im s**t scared of falling :flapper:
 
they are spats normally for one coat plaster or a lot use them for polymer render ie weber mono i would not really use one for skimming they dont seem to be at the right angle to me putting a lot of strain on the wrist the ones for skiming windy are the orange ones which refina sell and pft
 
That one you're looking at on Ebay is just like one I have used on a few jobs, but I've only found it good for using instead of 1st & 2nd wipes. Also you still need your own trowel to get your corners right (don't rely on that spat mate) AND for your final wipe to make sure you get a good clean finish.

Might be alright on council-house jobs:RpS_wink:
 
those spats are no good. where the handle is is where the pole will fix. when pressure is applied it is all applied at the handle and will reduce along each edge of the spat. the proper skimming spats have a design where the spat blade is supported along the whole length of the blade so equal pressure is applied.

hope this makes sense, I am writing this feeding one of the boys lol
 
bubbles65 said:
That one you're looking at on Ebay is just like one I have used on a few jobs, but I've only found it good for using instead of 1st & 2nd wipes. Also you still need your own trowel to get your corners right (don't rely on that spat mate) AND for your final wipe to make sure you get a good clean finish.

Might be alright on council-house jobs:RpS_wink:
Click to expand...

Might be alright for council house jobs?
Why would you do it any different on as council house?
A paid job is a paid job.
Do you a upper class standard,lower class standard and middle class satndard of plastering then ?
 
@ skimming...
depends on the price, not the 'class of person'...
cheap jobs you might well be tempted to 'one shot' everything, mainly because who needs a reputation as a 'cheap' plasterer... people get what they pay for and i tend not to knock work back to save my 'reputation'...
as lonmg as they know exactly what their gonna get, youre not fooling anyone, and I can one coat on board...
I tend to find its the 'rich' or 'mortgaged up to their eyeballs' who want everything done cheap, dont even offer you a brew etc... whereas the less than well off will be happier to pay for a decent job.... theyre the ones i'd happily go the extra mile for free of charge....

@rich and madmonk...
these spats, i wouldnt use one on multi or boardy but when you use one coat gear, the first sponge turns it all to cream, so easy to move around so you reckon its gonna save you time and effort? I quite fancy one along with a plastic trowel and maybe the old stainless or steel trowel for the corners...
anything to save my back or put more on thereby earning more money for less effort...
 
Im like you if they pay s**t i will gladdly give them s**t.But just cus someone lives in a council house to me doesn't warant giving them a s**t job.
CHris i wouldnt lose any sleep over these spats mate there just a another plastering must have accecsary you really dont need.
I nearly bought one 3 week ago but changed my mind,the reason i changed it was i sat down and thought .......do i really need it ? NO
 
skimmin2day said:
Might be alright for council house jobs?
Why would you do it any different on as council house?
A paid job is a paid job.
Do you a upper class standard,lower class standard and middle class satndard of plastering then ?
Click to expand...

Fackin ell, keep yer hair on skimmin:RpS_scared: For what it's worth I spent the first 20 years of me life in a council house, so no snobbery intended. Notice the little wink at the end? All my work is the same standard, wherever I'm working - sh*te:RpS_biggrin:
 
bubbles65 said:
Fackin ell, keep yer hair on skimmin:RpS_scared: For what it's worth I spent the first 20 years of me life in a council house, so no snobbery intended. Notice the little wink at the end? All my work is the same standard, wherever I'm working - sh*te:RpS_biggrin:
Click to expand...

Yea... Same here pal.
 
Chriss they are for one coat only as has been said the multi ones are different, for £20 it is a good price for the UK if you are going to do lots of one coat buy it.
 
These Refina finishing spats ive seen in my local decorating shop in Spain cant remember what they cost but nothing like Refinas prices i would have noticed ile have a look when i go back, not sure when that will be for the minute.
 
lucius said:
Chriss they are for one coat only as has been said the multi ones are different, for £20 it is a good price for the UK if you are going to do lots of one coat buy it.
Click to expand...
are they cheaper abroad then mate or dearer?
specifically france, ive got a week over there soon but summer could well turn out to be a big job... now ive got some gear over there now, the flights are like 4 quid with a 10kg hand luggage so if i can pick one up over there just as cheap or cheaper thats what ill do...

although im seriously thinking of having a go with wickes one coat stuff and a sponge over here cos of the bright white housewives favourite finish and the ease of application.... im really wondering why using one coat as a skim hasnt caught on over here besides the obvious 'who the f'ck wants to use a product called 'naff' (knauf)'
 
its too much fcuking around to use as skim and slower if you do try it when its firm you need to open it up with the spat then sponge float otherwise it will blister to fcuk mate
 
:-(
bummer...

i was kind of hoping all the one coat gear was basically the same stuff...
i was using this stuff with a 2 hour set like this...
get it on and run it flattish immediately before it had a chance to go like chewing gum...
leave it to pick up a bit till i could spray it with a garden sprayer and sponge it without it covering the sponge and going everywhere but still dead easy to sponge...
trowel that in, goes almost there at this point...
leave it a bit...
light spray once more, quick light sponge, trowel it up - pretty much done..
hard cross trowel when its gone grey - perfect... beautiful finish, dries perfect white... everyones goin 'WOW'...

i seemed to able to sort of 'roll' the sets easier, maybe because of just banging one thick coat on and its literally just a timing thing, but if you get the timing a bit wrong all you need is a little bit more water...
plus the 2 hour set lets you chuck loads on at a time, and as thick as you like so its absolutely ideal for really sh'te walls.... used it for absolutely everything from old rough stone through overskim to board..

anyone know the setting time on the wicksey one coat? cant find any product data on it, not even on the knauf site...
 
Chriss i recently bought two in Spain for €28, hand tools are generaly cheaper their power tools much dearer. I use one coat as a skim in Spain as its not dear and much cheaper than the best spanish finish plasters which are not readily available where i live i also use it as a one coat.Using it as a finish you still have to put it on quite thick to get the best out of it also maybe the cost not sure how much you get out of a bag of Wickseys but i think its about £8 a bag but i think the bag is bigger than multi the other agg with it when using it as one coat and you need large amounts of it is that its a bit of a pain to mix.
 
O dont go and tell me they cost peanuts in Spain:RpS_cursing:

Think the two firms selling these lads have got the pricing wrong. Over £100 for a bit of kit that prob costs $20 in some sweatshop in china. If they were 50/60 quid i think most of us would take a punt. Also why is the pole over £40 when anyone who has ever bought an aluminium pole which extends costs less than a fiver.

Really unsure what refina r playing at with the price?

But im as tight as a gnats ass :RpS_lol:
 
im just gonna have to grab a bag or 2 and have a crack i reckon...
i just cant get over that lutece stuff...
absolutely hated it at first but you just cant treat it like multi, it blisters, scabs, kills your wrist...
soon as i got the garden sprayer and the sponge on it at the right timing it was suddenly an absolute piece of p'ss, loved it...
mixing up was way different to multi, takes about an extra 1/4 of the water per bucket but seems to reach its lump free consistency a lot quicker...
and you cant guage the consistency like multi either, i had to keep gettin a trowelful out the bucket to see how it stood up before i got the hang of it...
20 euro for 40kg this stuff was, so expensive...
wickes stuff is still a 25kg bag cos i reckon were not allowed anything bigger by weight for h&s unlike france and im hoping the coverage will be similar to multi...
i reckon i was getting about the same coverage with the lutece as multi tbh... only thing is it doesnt like a lot of suction when its on thin so its a case of plenty of pva on overskims and get your consistency right on board cos it'll tear if youve mixed it p'ss wet and its on silly thin....
its just so damned easy once you use the technique, i could teach people to get a bang on finish everytime in 2 days i reckon...
tell you what, i reckon the consistency was closer to board adhesive than anything else.... now i wonder?
 
Get yourself a unit Chris, Bigsegs school of plastering, throw in a window fitting course and anything thing else you can think of. This time next year rodney...:RpS_biggrin:
 
one coat loves water and the best way is to mist it with a garden hose with a gun then give it some right sponge float to bring up the fats
 
lucius said:
Chriss you cant carry tools in hand luggage hand or power it has to go in the hold.
Click to expand...
yeh i know mate, i had my gear couriered over last time then the bloke who's job it was bought me like for like brand spanker when i got back cos of the fact that i was gonna be goin back in the new year and the summer...
thought i might get away with a plastic trowel or a spat though, long as it fits in the bag... you can sort of dismantle em cant you?
wish I'd brought my trowel back though, been having some pain breaking in a new un even if it is a 'preworn'...
 
Pug said:
Get yourself a unit Chris, Bigsegs school of plastering, throw in a window fitting course and anything thing else you can think of. This time next year rodney...:RpS_biggrin:
Click to expand...
funny you should mention it mate...
the bloke who's job it is in france owns a training company, autec - they do all the 360/180, dumper, streetworks, slinger/banksman all that and he's got loads of space, and yeh, it did get mentioned...
only trouble is from my side, I aint got the certs for teaching or otherwise, but he seemed to think it was no problem?
could just do one day courses for diy'ers, teach em the one coat method, one day a week, 6 or so at a time... never know?
wouldnt wanna be trying to teach an nvq curriculum though, they'd end up with all my bad habits!
 
grand wizard said:
one coat loves water and the best way is to mist it with a garden hose with a gun then give it some right sponge float to bring up the fats
Click to expand...
thats exactly what i was using only with a pump up garden mister/sprayer - the ones with the lance, hold about a gallon...
works an absolute treat!
I was trying to wet it then trowel it before that and it just doesnt work at all...
or just wetting the sponge... youve really got to wet the wall up then fly over it with the sponge havent you...
then once youve done that - a spat would work brilliantly i reckon...
 
The Spat would show up on the X ray Chriss they wouldnt let you bring it through you can do quite a lot of damage with one of them i imagine.Where in France are you working my brother in law was working in St Tropez last year and he said they were crying out for plasterers but only problem was the cost of living ive aso heard from other sources that plasterers are needed in France, same old thing its who you know.
 
nearest city is poitiers, nearest decent village/town is civray, jobs in a place called chappelle baton...
thats what I hear too... there crying out for spreads, but you cant get british stuff.. although theres a place (or a bloke) sellin it about a 2 hour drive north of where we were, thing is we couldnt get hold of him when iwas over there, hence us using the french gear.... i aint got his number anymore but i did send it to nisus as he's got a property in brittany, if his accounts still registered he'll get a pm via email...
to be honest, f'ck the english stuff.. you dont need it...
they dont seem to make a lot of money though, completely different way of life, might just find you can only just scrape it...
im gonna have to look into it a bit more...
 
Chris W said:
nearest city is poitiers, nearest decent village/town is civray, jobs in a place called chappelle baton...
thats what I hear too... there crying out for spreads, but you cant get british stuff.. although theres a place (or a bloke) sellin it about a 2 hour drive north of where we were, thing is we couldnt get hold of him when iwas over there, hence us using the french gear.... i aint got his number anymore but i did send it to nisus as he's got a property in brittany, if his accounts still registered he'll get a pm via email...
to be honest, f'ck the english stuff.. you dont need it...
they dont seem to make a lot of money though, completely different way of life, might just find you can only just scrape it...
im gonna have to look into it a bit more...
Click to expand...

I've still got the numbers Chris I'll pm them to you.

Yeah the wages aren't brilliant over there but cost of living is cheaper.
In Brittany there are no toll roads & you don't pay road tax.
A standard bottle of red wine here is £5-6 the same bottle in France is just over €2:RpS_thumbsup:

Unless of course you are going to be working for Brits over there then you can charge as normal.

But the locals in those little villages know everyone & everyones business so if your not paying tax over there be careful because working on the black is frowned upon over there & it'll soon get back to the mayor of the village :rolleyes)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Share this page

Back
Top