# Key Post: Plastering/Skimming



## delaneyd159 (29 Mar 2004)

I'm in the process of renovating a house and the walls have a lot of scratches and minor holes and I'm getting the electrics re-wired, which will need major cutting of the walls.  I will therefore need to get the walls skimmed to bring them back up to standard.

Does anyone have experience of this type of job and the possible problems/cost of plasterers/etc.

Thanks,
David.


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## ecstatic (30 Mar 2004)

*Re: Skimming a wall*

Hi David,

I used to be a plasterer for a few years so here is a small bit of advise.

Price around 15 euro a square metre more for corners etc this should be with supply of plaster cash price possibly less. This is on new walls urs is more of an nixer job so expect to pay 340+ per day. If its a small job dont bother expecting a plasterer to come out for less than 300 euros. Its one of the best paid jobs on the sites as its tough work and has to be done fairly well i know of a family member of mine who makes serious dough at it and i mean serious himself and two lads.

U should first bond out the major holes around the electrics and then apply a coat of skim coat to it. Get scrim (meshtape)so the walls dont crack (for 5 - 10 years anyhows!) . make sure you bond out that wall though. Not sure what other problems could occur. Another thing is that plasterers usually travel in gangs ie : more than one so expect to pay a minimum of around 370 per man including material per day. If ur paying less i can assure u they are dragging out the job that job. Try get a young fellow who can do it as a nixer at the weekend for you will prove a lot more cost effective. Thats about all the info drop me a mail back if u need any more info...


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## G (30 Mar 2004)

*Price for plastering*

Hi estactic,
                would €15 per sqm be about right to put up dry lining slabs and skim same in a new build. Is it the case that you can put up dry lining slabs on walls and simply tape the joints and then paint? Any more light you can shed on this would be very much appreciated. The thought of having to pay €15 per sqm for walls and ceilings in a new build has scared me s***less!


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## Elcato (30 Mar 2004)

*Re: Price for plastering*



> Is it the case that you can put up dry lining slabs on walls and simply tape the joints and then paint?


Yes - This is what builders a doing nowadays. There is actually a name for the guys that do this - Tapers which I believe is accepted as a trade these days.


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## sueellen (10 Feb 2005)

*traleeman
Registered User
How Long After Plastering*

Hi All

Just wondering how long to wait for plaster to dry(inside) before we can get the painter in. House plastered about i week.Cheers 

*DOBBER22
Frequent poster
Re: How Long After Plastering*

1 week is plenty of drying out time espeicially in the summer months had to plaster a few walls in my own home and was told 3 - 5 days later I could paint away.

Good Luck  

*suzie
Registered User
Re: How Long After Plastering*

You might like to put an undercoat on first before you paint with your desired colour. The undercoat can be just white emulusion thined out with water. The new plaster can be quite thristy, so dont waste the "good" paint on it.

S. 

*traleeman
Registered User
how long after plastering*

Thanks for replies i forgot to mention that this is a newly built house,does this make a difference 

*DOBBER22
Frequent poster
Re: how long after plastering*

Nope no matter how much plastering is done drying out time is the same if you really want to make sure its well dried out then give it 2 weeks...peace of mind is priceless.

Good Luck  

*paulocon
Registered User
Re: how long after plastering*

agreed with Dobber22.

Give plenty of time. Leave all windows open as often as possible. There's always a couple of awkward spots that'll take that bit longer to dry out. Paint them too soon and they'll peel. 


*Unregistered User
How Long After Plastering* 

> You might like to put an undercoat on first before you paint with your desired colour. The undercoat can be just white emulusion thined out with water. The new plaster can be quite thristy, so dont waste the "good" paint on it.

Probably better to seal it with a coat or two of diluted polybond (something like one part polybond to 4-5 parts water or something like that - instructions on the tub should tell you). 

*anon2398
Plaster and paint in one?*

On a connected but different topic, I saw a TV program ages ago with someone who mixed dry powder paint in with plaster and killed two birds with one stone. 

Given we had to remove the plaster from our walls after steaming the wallpaper off :-( was wondering if anyone know anything pratcial about actually doing this? 


*DOBBER22
Frequent poster
Re: Plaster and paint in one?*

That is exactly why I didn't use a wallpaper steamer in my house, I used the old tried and trusted remedy of warm water with some vinegar mixed in and wet down the walls with a sponge the acid in the vinegar mixed with warm/hot water breaks down the wallpaper paste and with a wallpaper scraper the whole lot just scraped away I had a sittingroom, hall, landing and stairs to do as well as some pretty rotton looking borders in other rooms.
Takes time but you'll get there with persistance.
Make sure to prep your area before painting by washing down walls with sugar soap filling any holes, scrapes and sanding them flush after that it's away with your roller you go.

Good Luck  

*Anon2398
Dodgy plaster*

I think the steamer just made it a little worse to be honest. The walls were a little dodgy to start (quite a few boast and hollow). And now that the plaster is down, it looks like whoever plastered it 30 years ago did a fairly bad job. But hey, we'll have lovely freshly plastered walls when we are done, so it's not all bad!



*kerinsp
polybond*

If I was you I would not use polybond on the walls. It makes the painting job much more difficult. You will see streaks of polybond through the paint. I hate it. 


*heinbloed
polybond*

Polybond seals the wall and therefore makes it unable to "breathe",to take up moisture from the air or ad moisture to the air.But it might be useful before you lay tiles for example,it avoids that the glue or cement "burns
off"i.e.that it dries faster than it chemically bonds. 

*fatherdougalmaguire
Frequent poster
Re: polybond*

Traleeman,

Got walls soundproofed at the beginng of the year.

Involved plastering the walls after plasterboard was applied. We left it about a week before painting.

You'll know. If you're not in a hurry leave it two weeks. Just leave the windows open to help everything dry out. Don't turn the rads on though. Might expediat things a bit too much. Just like hair - leave to dry naturally if can do it otherwise cracks appear. OK. Not like hair.

We didn't use undercoat and it all turned out just gem. Strong and light colours. 

*anon2398
1970's plaster*

Had plasterer around last night and was told that the type of plaster used in buildings in 1970's (gypsum I think he said?) was too "heavy" for the walls which has lead in time to it coming away from the walls. All houses built around this time invariably have had to replaster. (anyone else heard this theory?) Which, for us means, that instead of getting just a couple of walls here and there done, we will, eventually have to get all solid walls done. On checking most of them do appear loose under the wallpaper.

He suggested putting up plasterboard and skimming it, instead of plastering whole wall. Once I have a good finish I don't mind - anyone has experience of this?

Thanks. 

*coldfeet
Drying time and polybond*

When walls dry to a uniform colour (beige/pink) they are ready for painting. In this weather should be 2 weeks max.

Also I've used polybond diluted about 5:1 for 15 years on plenty of skimmed walls and the only problem was I didn't dilute it enough - this caused the streaking in the overcoat. Every other time it worked very well....paint goes on a dream and usually 2 coats will suffice.

Re 1970's plaster I've now on my second 1970 house where walls were drylined and wallpaper embedded in it so I mainly 'scored' the wall with a Stanley and then polybonded it in preparation for the plasterer. The only time I slabbed walls or ceiling was when they were either in very bad repair or had a lot of stipple on the ceiling. This option certainly makes the skimming a lot easier for the plasterer so make sure this is not the reason he's suggesting it!!


*sueellen
Moderator
Re: Skimming*

"anyone else heard this theory?"

No. Our house was built in the '70s and the plaster is staying intact - certain on this because we have paint and not wallpaper. 

Wonder if he is looking for the job of skimming the whole house? Would have to say that getting the walls skimmed does normally lead to a smoother finish but is a very messy job.

Intersted to hear what others have to say about the 'gypsum' theory????  

*Mrfrags
Registered User
Re: Skimming*

Can someone help me out on this. We are moving into a new house next month, it was only plastered two weeks ago but I wanted to use a Vynal finish paint over a matt finish as we have two little nippers who have destroyed the walls in the house we are currently renting (as its the standard magnolia matt paint). Numourous people have told us that we should only use MATT paint for the first year or so. Is this true?. 

*sueellen
Moderator
Re: How Long After Plastering*

I have always used Vinyl Soft Sheen as it has the appearance of matt but allows paw prints to be washed off without removing the paint provided you don't scrub too hard.  I would usually rub it gently with Cif and a light cloth.

Perhaps you should check here [broken link removed] or [broken link removed] for further advice.  All paint suppliers have always recommended soft sheen to me where kids are involved.

With regard to the plaster drying out query see the top 10  tips section and how do I paint new plaster question [broken link removed]


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## chihiro (10 Jul 2006)

Recently moved to a second hand house (circa 1950s ex council in good nick) and having a plaster problem in a small area inside by back door/utility. Paint is flaking off in patches like it's damp underneath and plaster crumbly in those spots. Also yellow/orange type fungus growth/rust which comes off like a powder in the dryer spots if you knock off it. This is happening on the corner where there is some type of metal frame on the wall/under plaster at the edge. We've been scraping off what we can and wondering what needs to be done - does plaster need to be ripped off and replastered? 

 Basically there was a little fire in the house (outside back door) a week or 2 before we moved in. Went to inspect damage at time and all seemed fine - they replaced back door etc and did some painting.
I'm wondering did they wash wall and then paint or maybe replaster and not let it dry out for long enough? Or maybe the wall got a soaking when they put the fire out?

Is it something we can fix ourselves or would it require an expert? 
Is it too small a job for a plasterer? 
Could the corrosion/reaction with the metal be a bigger problem than the plaster?
Is it going to cost me my holiday fund?;-)


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## Sue Ellen (11 Jul 2006)

Would you be able to use [broken link removed] stuff after clearing off the area yourself?


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## Carpenter (11 Jul 2006)

Really hard to comment without seeing a photo even but I'd say the affected area would be best hacked off and replastered.  If the wall was sound before the fire there's no reason to suspect anything more serious than fire and water damage to the plaster.  I'd say it would cost no more than a €200- €300 to have it redone by a tradesman, depending on the extent of the area involved.


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## glic (12 Jul 2006)

Has anyone ever heard of ready to roll plaster? Does it work, is it difficult to apply??


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## chihiro (12 Jul 2006)

Thanks carpenter, will try and get a photo up. It is a fairly small area (less than size of a door). Prob not something we can do on our own I'd say if the plaster has to be hacked off. now just have to try and find someone to do the job! Is there any website with listings for tradesmen or is just Golden pages or word of mouth? Don't know any handy men unfortunately!

Incidentally, have one bedroom with what looks like tough textured wallpapered on the celing. Is this a steam off the wallpaper and get the ceiling replastered/skimmed kind of job? Maybe we'll get the 2 jobs done together and hopefully get some value for money.


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## eeks2006 (24 Oct 2006)

Question about plastering costs:

Friends of mine has just bought an oldish house and are in the process of putting their own stamp on it.
On removing the wallpaper in the living room, they found this process had been done a few times already which left the walls in not so good condition, they had wanted to paint it as opposed to putting up more wallpaper.
They have decided on getting in a plasterer to skim the walls and as i trained as a plaster quite a while ago asked me to do the job, but its not possible for me to do as its too big a nixer for me, travel time to the house wont be possible either, among other factors.
So with this news they asked me could i get them a rough price if they found another plasterer as they are afraid of getting ripped off and as i normally only plaster for friends and family who cant get a plasterer in as jobs are normally too small for them i havent a clue how to properly advise them on price.
Basically there is about 250 square foot or 23ish square metre's for plastering, 1 wall (7ftx9ft) will need to be bonded first then skimmed, the rest is just straight forward skimming, also there is an arch way they want to remove and make a square arch effect as opposed to curved, its a stud wall, they can square this out themselves, (eg remove arch+add studd walls ready for plasterer to add plasterboard) and have it ready for plastering. there will be 2 corners of the job requiring beading and thats about it.
If there is anybody that can advise me on how to advise them on how much this would cost for them, they have somebody coming to view and price the job but want to make sure its a reasonable price.
If you can help of advise in any way it would be much appreciated.
also have photos of room in question if it helps.
thanks

eeks2006.


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## Leo (24 Oct 2006)

Hi eeks2006, and welcome to AAM. This previous post includes details on rates.
Leo


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## bakerbhoy (10 Jul 2007)

Hi
      Have just been quoted €11,000 to slab 200sq m bungalow including ceilings,(all tape and joint). This does not include cost of slabs(drylining outer walls with insulated board).
    From reading through key posts on this, it seems excessive.


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## secman (10 Jul 2007)

Back in April we paid €1,800 for slabs ( combination of plain, foil back and green ones about 250 in all), €2,400 for slabbing and tidying up and straightening battens on internal insulation where necessary (actually included finishing last of internal insulatuion), €7,500 for skimming incl materials.  Its a 210sq metre dormer. 

All internal walls downstairs were sand , cement an finally a skim coat. Total cost €11,700.

Secman


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