Need advice in plastering inside bare red brick walls

[kilo_4que]

Right guys this post im making has been answered in some areas in patches but to make sure i have the right idea for my problem i thought ill post away anyway.

Here goes; I have some business premises which have recently had some drylining done by a company i hired. I realised that the upstairs needs refurbing also as the old plaster is very soft and crumbling as it is verrrrrrrrrry old. So soft that it pulls away with your bare hands.

Now initially I was thinking of building a timber or ally stud wall and plaster boarding i.e. drylining the walls but a friend of mine who is a QS for HBC has advised me financially and to save time overal to just plaster the walls.

So the first question is, would you recommend plastering or drylining baring cost and time in mind as i have very little of both at the moment lol

Now some questions regarding the plastering are as follows;

to start with I have naked red brick walls which look and seem dry but for some reason feel dampish to the touch, could this just be that they are cold and feel dampish and with such old plaster wouldnt it have fallen long ago if it was damp?

Now for arguments sake lets say the walls are dry am right with the following processes to take:

PVA the whole wall

Let to dry for a few hours

PVA again liberally

Add 10mm thickness single layer of bonding straight onto the brick work

Leave to dry but mist water during the drying process to stop the bonding from cracking

Once the bonding has dried, coat with PVA again and let dry

Add a first thin layer of finishing and let to dry

Add a final layer of finishing

If ive missed anything or made a mistake above, please highlight for me

I have a few vague areas though. In order for me to keep inner and outer edges perfect to square the walls, what beading do i need to use? Do I just screw these in with galvanised screws and do i add these once ive add bonding to the walls or do i add them before adding bonding?

Ive also seen some videos where people carry out a "polishing stage" what do they actually do in this process

Penultimately what can i do to make sure to start with that i keep a consistant 10mm approx thickness of bonding and how can i ensure a flat flush finishing?

Finally What are all the tools I should get in order for me to complete the job without having to go to the DIY shop again and again i.e. what trowls, hawk (whatever the call it), edge tools do i need

I know its a long one but i really need some help and am determined to tackle it myself as i love DIY and dont mind cocking up and rectifying my mistakes but would prefer to do it right first time as much as possible

cheers

 

[Richard C]

Before deciding the best way to tackle it, more information is needed; is it single skin brick wall? Is it damp or not? If it’s damp, there is no point in just re-plastering using float & skim unless it’s been thoroughly died out & treated to prevent the damp returning; it will just fall off again. Plasterers that can float & skim can be thin on the ground & expensive as it requires considerably more skill & takes longer. Dry lining with a skim can be quicker & cheaper + if you have got damp, using the correct materials gives you the opportunity to cure it & possibly make it warmer in winter.

You say its business premises, how big is it? Plastering is one of the most difficult trades to master; initial DIY efforts nearly always leave a lot to be desired, even on small domestic size rooms; anywhere from the “not very good is it” to a “total disaster”; anything of any size &, believe me, you won’t have a hope in hell of getting it right. I’m not being condescending but it’s really not the sort of thing you can tackle on a Sunday afternoon after popping down to B&Q to buy the basic tools & some bags of plaster, even if youve watched all the videos!

 

[roughcaster]

And that's it in a nutshell.

Roughcaster.

 

[jbonding]

true

 

[kilo_4que]

Before deciding the best way to tackle it, more information is needed; is it single skin brick wall? Is it damp or not? If it’s damp, there is no point in just re-plastering using float & skim unless it’s been thoroughly died out & treated to prevent the damp returning; it will just fall off again. Plasterers that can float & skim can be thin on the ground & expensive as it requires considerably more skill & takes longer. Dry lining with a skim can be quicker & cheaper + if you have got damp, using the correct materials gives you the opportunity to cure it & possibly make it warmer in winter.

You say its business premises, how big is it? Plastering is one of the most difficult trades to master; initial DIY efforts nearly always leave a lot to be desired, even on small domestic size rooms; anywhere from the “not very good is it” to a “total disaster”; anything of any size &, believe me, you won’t have a hope in hell of getting it right. I’m not being condescending but it’s really not the sort of thing you can tackle on a Sunday afternoon after popping down to B&Q to buy the basic tools & some bags of plaster, even if youve watched all the videos!

Hey Richard, thanks for the thurough reply. Funny you mention it, I was at a friends house as it was getting renovated. Had a tinker with finishing a wall roughly 3 by 2 meters in size and to be honest it looked pretty good but that may just be pot luck for a first timer and a different ball game when your talking about walls 5 times as big.

Nevertheless some insight to the other questions. Regarding single skin, im not too familiar with what single skin brick is but basically its this type of brick

http://www.3dspots.de/tutorials/truespace/multilayer_texture/brick01.jpg

The walls are definately dry.

Now I wont mind drylining but was wondering whether the material to dryline would cost more than to plaster the walls?

 

[Mikepeters]

spray on lime based decopierre and it is 100% breathable, can go on to bare brick up to 2" thick and be finished as smooth-ish, stone or block look. more info on resquest.

 

[Richard C]

Had a tinker with finishing a wall roughly 3 by 2 meters in size and to be honest it looked pretty good but that may just be pot luck for a first timer and a different ball game when your talking about walls 5 times as big.

Did you lay it on or just polish it up?

Regarding single skin, im not too familiar with what single skin brick is but basically its this type of brick
http://www.3dspots.de/tutorials/truespace/multilayer_texture/brick01.jpg[/QUOTE]
Well it could look like that but that’s just a brick wall! Single skin means exactly that; is it a solid wall or is there an outer skin indicating it has a cavity which prevents moisture ingression? It could be solid 9” brick but (& I’m no bricky) I would expect to see ½ brick widths where some bricks are turned sideways to bind the 2 skins together!

The walls are definately dry. Now I wont mind drylining but was wondering whether the material to dryline would cost more than to plaster the walls?

Purely in terms of materials, dry lining is probably 2/3 times more expensive than plaster but were not talking vast amounts of money here; a sheet of PB or a bag of plaster is less that a fiver; the cost of materials is insignificant compared to labour cost if you’re buying trades in. If your intent on DIY & have loads of spare time then float & skim will be cheaper in terms of materials but, whilst a skim over dry lining with an acceptable finish is within the capability of competent DIY, I would say float & skim most definitely isn’t. Having learned the hard way, I akin plastering to be partially witchcraft & black art, you either have a flair for or you don’t. But you never know you may be a natural; it does happen!

If you’re not too worried about finish, Mikepeters suggestion may be worth considering; but it’s going to involve specialist labour which may or may not cost as much as an accomplished plasterer; I’ve no idea!

 

[kilo_4que]

I actually layed the finishing, im a bit of a perfectionist in my trade which is design. Now I know plastering a wall has nothing to do with design but perfectionism can be an assett in maintaining consistancy. In my case I took a few tips from the dude doing the job and for some reason I picked it up well. Once I got used to the material and technique, it all just come to me naturally.

However now im in two minds in wanting to dryline the place for the main reason that too much time is not on my side. Im just tryin to find out how much metal furring is cost compared to timber for my stud walls. Can anyone give me an idea of prices on metal furring?

cheers