Plastering Guide
Plastering Guide is for you if you are...
The beginner who has some diy plastering to do in their home
The person considering a career change and would like to know
more about plastering
The person who is nervous about getting quotes because they lack some knowledge on the subject
Learning how to plaster for a new career?
you can see the plastering process in our videos
Starting a project at home?
you'll need a paperback plastering guide because your computer or smart phone to not go well with plastering because of the dust and wet plaster
Plastering yourself or hiring professionals?
when your deciding to have quotes it might be good to know how much you need the plasterers to do or how much you could do to make it cheaper, are you wondering if you need to get proffessionals? our videos and Gallery show you everything involved when plastering
This Plastering Guide will give you the basic knowledge you must know before starting to learn how to plaster or hiring professional plasterers
Step by Step Instructions
in the gallery below - how to plaster onto plasterboard and how we get it so smooth
 Spot and stand with hawk and trowelspot top for pouring your plaster mix onto if doing large areas, hawk and trowel, the hawk to carry a small amount with you and a trowel to take plaster off the hawk and apply to wall and smooth it down |  tools used everyday for plasteringcan you spot what is what? drill, hammer, plasterboard saw, snips, paint scraper, scrim, tape measure, lining in brush, trowling up brush, scoop, hawk, trowel. |
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 rosie plasteringmixing plaster with a 240v drill, not a big mixing drill, any heavy duty drill can hold the mixing paddle |  plaster consistencyplaster should be like custard or yogurt, or lava, not so runny it fall off your hawk but not so thick it is hard to move |
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 Confidence is key and practiseit is a quick action that we use but if your mix is thick enough you can slow it right down, at one point your hawk will be sideways but because of the technique it is too quick for plaster to fall off, you will drop some at first |  laying 1st coat plasterwe can use left over mix if we are quick enough to start mixing 2nd coat and the 1st coat is firm enough, usually between 5-10 mins, 15-20 mins during winter and damp conditions |
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 pressing down plasterrosie pressing down her 2nd coat, this is your final press down before final trowel up, you should flatten out any lines and fill any dips while 2nd pressing, start at one corner and work your way across the top half then across the bottom half, straight strokes or curved, as long as you overlap and don't leave any lines behind |  pressing down plasterrosie pressing down her 2nd coat, this is your final press down before final trowel up, you should flatten out any lines and fill any dips while 2nd pressing, start at one corner and work your way across the top half then across the bottom half, straight strokes or curved, as long as you overlap and don't leave any lines behind |
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 pressing down plasterrosie pressing down her 2nd coat, this is your final press down before final trowel up, you should flatten out any lines and fill any dips while 2nd pressing, start at one corner and work your way across the top half then across the bottom half, straight strokes or curved, as long as you overlap and don't leave any lines behind |  rosie plasterersockets are a nightmare even if flush with the wall because they fill with plaster easily, try and avoid this |
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 lining in plaster cornerswhile the plaster is firming up you can use soft brushes to spread it out or clean off surfaces, using this we can create very sharp crisp lines, if the plaster is too soft the brush will leave thick lines in it, if it is too hard the brush wont do enough to sharpen up the line or clean off the surfaces, we line in 2-4 times during the plastering set |  cleaning plastering toolskeep your tools very clean, i know ours look covered in plaster, it will build up slowly on everything, don't let plaster dry on a bucket it will stick very well! keep the important parts of your trowel very clean the face and back edges need to be clean and shiny steel otherwise your plaster with stick to the trowel rather than the wall |
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 2nd coatingspreading plaster just like the first coat but this time we will use less plaster, usually half the amount as first coat, but make a little more than half, you don't want to run out of mix, during a set, making more can start a domino effect with the time and before you know it the whole are is ruined | pressing down plasterrosie pressing down her 2nd coat, this is your final press down before final trowel up, you should flatten out any lines and fill any dips while 2nd pressing, start at one corner and work your way across the top half then across the bottom half, straight strokes or curved, as long as you overlap and don't leave any lines behind |
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 plastering 2nd coatsecond coat plaster mix should be a bit runnier than the first coat mix, you are not filling out the big dips and dents but just putting and even layer of 2mm onto your first coat |  always clean plastering toolsclean your tools or buckets as soon as your finished with them, it is far too easy to forget things while plastering because there is a lot to think about |
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 lining in plasterusing our 1 inch soft brush to create beautiful sharp crisp lines, remember 2-4 times will usually do |  trowling up plastertrowling up plaster is removing the fine lines you can barely see, it is filling the dips you can barely see but mostly it is compressing it even more, making it flatter and stronger and smoother for paint, we use a 5 inch soft! brush to apply a minimal! amount of water to sq mtr or so and stroke the trowel over it again in the same way we pressed it down, overlapping and getting rid of the lines from your trowel as you go |
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 trowling up plastertrowling up plaster is removing the fine lines you can barely see, it is filling the dips you can barely see but mostly it is compressing it even more, making it flatter and stronger and smoother for paint, we use a 5 inch soft! brush to apply a minimal! amount of water to sq mtr or so and stroke the trowel over it again in the same way we pressed it down, overlapping and getting rid of the lines from your trowel as you go |  lining up plasterwhile the plaster is firming up you can use soft brushes to spread it out or clean off surfaces, using this we can create very sharp crisp lines, if the plaster is too soft the brush will leave thick lines in it, if it is too hard the brush wont do enough to sharpen up the line or clean off the surfaces, we line in 2-4 times during the plastering set |
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 polishing plasterpolishing plaster can mean two thing, on site it simply mean running your trowel over the wall to flatten even more and smooth even more straight after the wet trowling up but still ok for painting, the other term polishing can mean polished plaster, no paint just super shiny plaster and all the grit comes through and you can see all the different colours, mostly pink still but like polished concrete with much smaller stones |  lining in plasterif your brush leave obvious lines the plaster is too wet or the brush is too stiff |
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 metal beading for plaster workplastering around external corners need beading in most case unless you have curved corners, metal beads for plastering create perfect straight lines although they can bend slightly over distances, and some amateurs mange to bend and twist them, make sure your bead is confortable when fixed in place |  metal beading for plasteringplastering around external corners need beading in most case unless you have curved corners, metal beads for plastering create perfect straight lines although they can bend slightly over distances, and some amateurs mange to bend and twist them, make sure your bead is confortable when fixed in place |
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 stuart plasterer 3mm beading3mm thincoat plaster bead for external corners |  plaster undercoat browningbrowning or bonding coat is undercoat plaster for finish plaster, use on masonry, over fill area slightly then drag off excess with anything straight but clean it before browning or bonding coat start to firm, it sticks to surfaces while it is still wet |
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 browning or bonding coat plasterbrowning or bonding coat is undercoat plaster for finish plaster, use on masonry, over fill area slightly then drag off excess with anything straight but clean it before browning or bonding coat start to firm, it sticks to surfaces while it is still wet |  under coat plaster browningbrowning or bonding coat is undercoat plaster for finish plaster, use on masonry, over fill area slightly then drag off excess with anything straight but clean it before browning or bonding coat start to firm, it sticks to surfaces while it is still wet |
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Check out this sped up short video of the same plastering set as in the gallery step by step instructions