Plastering a wall takes a great deal of effort and time. We are here to provide you with the perfect guide to make it easy for you to follow the five simple stages of plastering a wall in the great city of Melbourne.
Imperfect walls result in shaky foundations for your home. Simply put, it means years of effort fixing things up. It is critical that you understand how to complete the five phases in the correct order and give your walls the appropriate finish.
This is why we will provide the groundwork for a solid foundation for your Melbourne walls. We have built just the appropriate path to lead you in the correct direction. We will guide you through the steps and demonstrate how to satisfy your wall plastering requirements. Learn how to achieve a perfect coating of plaster with some simple yet useful techniques and methods!
Toolkit
Contents
You may feel the urge to be well-prepared before beginning the work. It is prudent to plan ahead of time. You can save the trouble of stopping the work to bring out more equipment when the supply is depleted. You should know exactly what you need and how much you need to stock up on. The tools you need are two trowels – plasterer and bucket, Plasterer’s float, Corner trowel, Hawk, 2 buckets, paddle or a stick, plaster, clean water, sandpaper, stepladder, and a flat mask. You can easily find these tools in Melbourne.
Plaster produces an even and long-lasting finish that is flawless and suitable for the next stage of the project. It is an important component of the final aesthetic and can be a large and costly job. Therefore, you may not feel confident enough to delegate the job to an amateur. Hiring a qualified professional, on the other hand, might provide some confidence that everything will proceed as planned and fulfil your expectations. My plasterers Melbourne can ease the process for you.
The First Step
Before you start, it is always beneficial if you try your hand with the tools to see if you can use them correctly. Start by holding them the first time to use them; it is all about the practice. Once you have familiarized yourself with the tools, it is now your job to check the walls. Ensure that you have gotten rid of little scraps of existing plaster or anything that stands as an obstacle in the way of your perfect wall plastering. Look for wallpaper or paper decorations along with the presence of suction in your wall. The suction can be quite harmful if you do not control it. It can dry out the moisture from the plaster, making it all fail. You can use PVA glue or water to avoid trouble.
Once you have taken care of the wall, you can start with the plastering. The ratio of water to plaster is half and half approximately, which means that half a bucket of freshwater will provide you with a full bucket of plaster. Remember to make your plaster thick and smooth and ensure the absence of lumps when mixing it up. It should simply have a thick creamy texture. Be certain to add sufficient amounts to form a heap, and add the dry plaster to a bucket of water. Then you can start mixing your plaster by using the paddle. Do not forget to clean your tools right away by dipping them in a bucket of clean water. You do not want to spend hours cleaning them when the plaster has hardened on your tools!
In one quick, clean stroke, skim a little amount of plaster off the hawk onto your trowel, tilting the hawk towards you. Then, going from right to left, sketch a horizontal upper borderline along the top section of the area you wish to plaster. Work the plaster right into the margins to create a level, uniform coating of plaster. At this point, don’t be concerned with little holes and ridges or consistency, as long as the initial coat is level and even. The end result should be no thicker than 2mm.
The Second Step
After you’ve finished the top border, continue placing plaster on the wall, this time in a forward or vertical motion that bends around until it approaches the top border. As you apply plaster to the wall, slant the trowel’s leading edge away from the wall and progressively flatten the trowel closer and closer to it as you travel along and the plaster falls off the trowel. Remember to continue curling it as you overrun the top border.
If you move too fast and don’t flatten the trowel fast enough, you may get a raking effect, which implies the top edge of the trowel is pulling away from the wall and has to be pushed in a little. The key here is to move gently and apply strong pressure while keeping an eye on the space between the trowel and the wall.
The following step is to flatten the initial coat and clean your trowel. The main objective of this stage is to get your wall level and hammer the ridges back because if you don’t, you’ll be plastering over an already unbalanced wall once it’s dry, which will just lead to a much more uneven, lumpy wall later on. So, sit tight until the plaster is sticky before running your trowel across the wall. It’s critical to wait until the wall has dried to a sticky consistency; else, you won’t see any difference.
The Third Step
After you’ve smoothed down the first coat of plaster, it’s time to apply the second coat. This is identical to the previous layer of plaster, except it is thinner, so apply it with a smaller trowel. Aim for a thickness of about 1 mm and a flat, even coat. Try to press forcefully with your trowel once again, since if you don’t press hard enough when running the trowel over the wall, you may end up with a handful of holes. So, applying strong pressure, press the plaster along the whole length of the trowel and into the holes. With firm pressure, move the flattish trowel along the wall with a leading edge of about 10-15mm.
The Fourth Step
Then, using a trowel and brush, clean your trowel once more. When the wall becomes sticky, it’s necessary to wipe the borders and straighten up the corners. After removing any extra plaster from the corner, shape it with a brush. A paintbrush comes in handy here; simply moisten it with clean water and flick off the excess. Aim the paintbrush further at the wall you’re skimming up to, and run it up and down the corner in long strokes. Generally, the plaster will be fairly moist at this point, so apply a little force.
Any brush strokes remaining in the corner can be softly trowelled out; if the area is really wet, it may be best to wait until the following stage. You may use water to obtain a decent clean at this stage, but don’t put too much water on your walls unless absolutely necessary, or you’ll wind up with a watery texture on the plaster. Search for hollow areas or gaps in the wall with the trowel and put the plaster into them. Wrap the entire area, moving the plaster all around from left to right to keep it level and fill empty spots.
The Fifth Step
On the final dry trowel stage, don’t over-polish the plaster; it should be even and somewhat polished but still have the touch of an eggshell. Excess smoothing texture will make the paint and wallpaper adhere to it like crazy. If your plaster is becoming too hard, you may aid this final pass over the wall by adding clean water with a brush and following after it with your float to help you finish nicely.
Remember that when you execute the finish, the float will drag plaster from high areas on the wall to bottom spots, but you can apply additional plaster whenever and wherever it is needed or wipe any excess off the float onto your hawk.
The most important thing to remember while plastering a wall is to work through each stage one at a time and understand that it gets much easier as the drying period starts. If you do this, you should be able to cut down the volume of sanding required once the wall has hardened, saving you time, work, and annoyance in the process.
Conclusion
Plastering walls is an excellent method to improve the appearance of your house. This is why you must pay close attention and exert sufficient effort when performing the task, or just hire the appropriate services. We have guided you through the five phases, providing some helpful hints along the way. Have fun plastering the walls of your Melbourne houses!
