plastering

Hi all, I bought a doer upper in zone 3 SW London, one bed house, 45 sq metres. It has artex ceilings everywhere which I had tested for asbestos and they contain Chrysotile. I’ve been doing everything myself in the renovation except gas plumbing, electrics and roof repairs and now need a...

Amazing Lofts came to install loft storage and move my hatch yesterday. I'm happy with the former but not the latter. The render to cover the old hatch is very rough. I've been at it with 120 grit for two hours, and there are still pits and lines. It's going to need polyfiller and more sanding...

Hello We are having the gable wall in the living (solid brick wall) sand / cemented and then skim coated. We are having this done by a contractor What would you expect. Would there be two layers of sand /cement put on the wall. How long do you need to wait between coats of sand /cement and...

Hi all, I recently moved into a 70s build and need to tidy up some walls. Not sure if it's concrete or mortar in these photos. What would be the best way to tidy this up? Thanks

How would people suggest I cover up the architrave in the photo below? I dont want to see it all, I'd like a totally flush door. Any special filler or will it just crack? Thanks

Hi there Just had our old gas fire removed and trying to decide whether to plaster over or keep the hole for a feature. The opening is pretty small and messy and the flue blocks taper up so wondering if it's ok (or not) to knock out the pre cast blocks at the bottom? This would allow for a...

Hi, i’m attempting to re-plaster my kitchen and need some advice on the steps to do so. Currently the kitchen walls are a bit of a state, it used to have wall paper on however this was taken off many years ago. Now what is left on the walls is paint and (what i’m guessing is plaster) which is...

Hi, Hoping someone can help. I have a wall (double skin cavity wall) that had damp. The damp problem has been fixed and the bricks are now dry. I have painted it with sand + cement tanking slurry with a waterproofer added. Can I get away with bonding and then skim? I’ve read somewhere that you...

Hello, DIY-Novice here hoping to get advice on how to repair some walls I’ve stripped of lino-paper and wallpaper My intention was to strip paper, sugar soap it, sand it and then prime, before filling in crack/gaps. However I am now confused by what I’ve found underneath. In Room 1 it seems...

What sort of float is used when plastering/skimming around uPVC windows so the white uPVC doesn't get scratched by a steel float? I looked on Screwfix but maybe I wasn't using the right search term, I couldn't find anything that looked right. Tnx Dain

I have bought a house that requires renovation and I have spent a considerable amount of time reading material and looking at videos for smoothing and painting uneven walls. The walls are drywalls build on 1991, and they are already painted, but they require fixing holes and smoothing. Given I...

Is there a reliable online materials calculator? Actual areas without addition to be on the safe side etc are: hardwall - 10m² skim - 20.7m² This presumes that hardwall needs a skim finish.

Hi - I'm renovating my Victorian terrace and have some original coving I am attempting to restore. I've managed to remove the majority / all of the paint but there seems to be small scratches and dents throughout (see pictures attached). Is there any easy way I can smooth these out to get a good...

Hi, I'm hoping you could help me. I just removed some old polystyrene cornice from my wall/ceiling and can see the wall was only skimmed up to the cornice, not behind it. So now there is a dip where the cornice was with some glue marks. What's the best way to clean this up? EasiFill or standard...

Hi all - first post on here so go easy on me. In the process of refurbing my living room and want to reinstate the hearth. It's mainly for decorative purposes but would also like the option of installing wood burning stove further down if possible. I've already opened up the fireplace and...

Hi all, hoping you can help. We’ve recently had our hallway and landing plastered. Paid going rate (had a few quotes) but the finish is not what we were expecting. It’s rough in places and I’m worried about the finished look once we paint. should we mist coat and then sand bits? Or sand bits...

I've been trying to steam off wallpaper in our 1920s semi we've just moved into. In the kitchen there's a small alcove which is like to restore as a pantry but having steamed off the textured wallpaper and revealed a grey plaster underneath I've realised it's been wallpapered over to obviously...

Hi, We are soon to be having two of our bedrooms re-plastered. I have a young family and don't want to expose them to any 'nasties', i.e. dust, wet plaster fumes as the walls dry out. Is it safe for us all to be in the house while the plastering is taking place? I'm guessing that the best we...

So, we have 3 chimney breasts that are blocked off and are on the party wall - they are all papered over and I presume plasterboard/wood or similar has been used to block the gap. These are not vented at the bottom, which I thought had to happen. (Please note that I'd prefer not to have a vent...

Hi all, need some quick advice. After taking the skirting board off, I've been left with 6 inch tall gaps. Which is fine, my plan was just to fill it up from floor to wall (with a 20mm gap of course). But that's not the major issue, in one of the pictures, under the window a fairly large chunk...