How hard to learn to plaster?

[Always Learning]

I have sent the files hope you got them alright.

The gold trowel dvds are good but not very much is explained, It is more a case of him showing how good he is at plastering and making it look very easy until you have a go. However they were very useful to me,

I also purchased some dvds from some 4 day training course, I have been lucky that i get to practice 1 day a week at college in the rooms there and also lucky that i had an old house that most rooms were wallpapered so i have had a lot of practice re-skimming,
I understand what joe90 is saying you cant learn to plaster from a 45min dvd but its a start and it has helped me out.

No need for people to be sarcastic tho, I have not said that i am a fully qualified plasterer, i am only 4 months into 2nd year of an nvq level 2.
I am just doing my best and if i can help anyone on the way i will give it a shot. The set up isnt very good at the college basically the tutor doesnt care if we learn or not, Maybe a different tutor would have tought me that good that i wouldnt have had to resort to buying dvds and books for advice.

 

[Thermo]

dont worry always learning he doesnt understand the concept of helping and contributing, only sniping and acting a **** thats why we all ignore him.

 

[Bazdaa]

You could try these people. This is neither an endorsement or a recommendation just something I stumbled across one day in the Sun newspaper of all places, I'd mistaken it for the telegraph you see ........ Ahem.

These guys are superb (my opinion). I completed a plastering course, and learnt how to render and plaster (skim). However it will teach you how to do it, and its turn to you to practice (alot). I have completed a few repair and small jobs at home, and called someone in to do the bigger jobs for me (large living room).

I will say however, that I now have the confidence to pull down old or dodgy plaster, and replace it with plasterboard or bond or render that patch.

Remember that you will not be a pro, so get your practice in.

P.S. My uncle's a plasterer, and when I watched him after the course. He had his own way of plastering (confirmed to be a excellent job, by other bonafide plasters).

Bazdaa

 

[AdrianB]

Always learning I did get the files and replied to you by email. Massive thanks for them they are really good!

I've been reading though them and to be honest the first time I read it I thought it seemed very difficult but reading again tonight its starting to make more sense. I'm only going to be skimming over existing walls to tidy them up and I'm currently at the stage of looking for which tools to buy.

 

[Sully]

I read this post with interest.

I'm just learning the basics of plastering with a view to doing some simple work at my place.

I bought one of the 'Ableskills' DVD off of Ebay.

Audio quality was a bit rough at the beginning but went on to be really quite helpful and i learned alot from it. Have since put boards up in the garage and practiced. And practiced. And practicing!..

The DVD was under a tenner. I thought it was well worth it. The Goldtrowel ones seem to go for a bit more.

Just dive in and get practicing. And wear the old footwear!
Not the new gear you got at Christmas

And as a footnote... keep the misses away from where you're practicing

 

[Cackhanded]

I have just stripped hall,stairs and landing walls of artex.

Had that horrible 'tree bark' finish.

I used a steamer and a 'Pro' stripper,large handle with an angled head and replaceable blade.

Used a standard scraper (Rigid blade) to first scrape the tops of the pattern and expose the artex under the emulsion. This allows the steam to penetrate,a water spray before hand is also usefull.

Took me 2 days in all. The hardest part is opening up a starting hole to get the blade behind the coating.

TIP. Wear a glove on the hand holding the scraper,you could get asked embarrising questions about the blister on your palm.

eddie

 

[AdrianB]

"Always learning" in the unlikely event you read this again would you mind sending me those pdf's again as my computer had a corrupt hard drive and I lost them.

Had my first go at plastering today, what a mess I made, still loads more practise needed!

 

[iaith]

I went out and bought a load of plaster and went for it in my living room, the end result was ok, well a bit rough really. But that inspired me to go on a 5 day intensive course, which was not only very informative but a great laugh too. I don't claim to be an expert , but I've put my work against real professionals, and there really isn't a lot of difference.
Just go for it I say.
p.s. I've now re-done my living room and it now looks fantastic

 

[Always Learning]

Send me your email again Adrian and i will sort those plastering pdfs out for you,

College isnt going too good for me, i wouldnt recommend it for learning plastering, (in my experience) its all about results in the tests you do on the computers, Theres not enough practical and too many breaks, I finish in june and cant wait, I learned more practicing in my home than college has taught me, The lecturer has been teaching over 20years, No wonder theres a lack of tradesmen in the country, People just arnt getting taught properly and a decent percentage have no pride in their work, They just want paying.

I would honestly think that a 5 day (good) intensive course with people who know what they are doing could give you as much practical experience as what i have had in the 16months i have been at college.

Luckily studying dvds a bit of reading and a lot of practice in my own house has got me to a respectable standard skimming and re-skimming.
Could still do with building my speed up and getting some tips / dropping any bad habits i might have developed. Might do a couple of free days a week with a good plasterer to pick his brain.

Anyhow thats me having a big moan, Other colleges might be better, it goes down to how much pride the lecturer has in teaching,

 

[AdrianB]

My address is [email protected] , thanks for that if you don't mind.

Shame the college course wasn't good, its shocking you think a good 5 day course would give the same sort of practical as your course!

My first few attempts were ok but I made such a mess mixing the plaster and I'm obviously very slow. Still hopefully with some practise I'll get much better, I actually find it quite enjoyable!

Glad you've done well with it iaith.

 

[mjr001]

always learning is it possible you could send me the pdf plastering files if please, [email protected]

 

[AndyBill]

Hey that's great. A DVD teaching you to plaster in 45 minutes.

Sure beats the hell out of a 4 year apprenticeship.

Why didn't anyone think of it sooner?


joe

Yes i bought the DVD , its great , i watched it on the friday then on saturday morning i entered the World Pro-Plastering Tournament and won first prize!
I would never have achieved this without the DVD, i cant thank them enough.

 

[summo]

For the 'aboves' benefit, with the cost of housing being fairly obscene, the option of us DIYers using highly skilled tradesmen to renovate/improve our houses does not exist, because of cost. This is regardless of the fact that a better job would help maintain the properties value, it really is down to pounds and pennies.

If the housing market never went through the roof, most people would prefer to pay someone else to do the job and have a day off, but those days are over for all but the rich.

For the cost of skilled person plastering a room, some places offer a weeks course. It does not take long before you save money, even if it takes you twice as long to do the plastering or any other building job.

 

[shooy]

Always learning, would it be possible to also send me the pdf plastering files.
I am thinking of going on one of the 5 day plastering courses and this would give me a heads up first.
Thanks
Paul
[email protected]

 

[Mike2007]

I also wanted to do some skimming and a bit of repair work. I had tried before and made a real mess of it. I did a 2 day course at this place.
http://www.plasteringworkshop.co.uk/default.aspx

I have since skimmed a couple of ceilings, walls and rendered and skimmed a couple of walls. In my opinion as good as any I have seen. It is really useful to have someone show you what to do right from mixing to surface preparation and putting the stuff on the wall BUT......

Although I can now plaster reasonably well I am in no way a professional plasterer. For one I can't do it anywhere near as fast as a pro which can limit the size of job you take on (although there are ways of breaking a job down) and I wouldn't tackle some tricky situations. But to skim up some board, I say have a go. You don't have to do much to save the cost of the course. If I was doing a whole house though I would still get a pro in.

Hey I went there as well (Scotland), I thought I could do it after I left..I was wrong!