Monday 16 December 2013

Man Lab - Plastering Progress

So, I set about actually plastering... The first small wall was great, and I'm 90% happy with it... But the second wall, what a struggle... The mix had started to cure in the bucket within 10 minutes... I think either I did something wrong, or I'm unaware of quite how quick this stuff sets, but I had the first wall on and roughly smooth in about 15 minutes turned around and boom struggle, the second wall took ages to get the main bulk on, always getting heavier and harder to work until in the end I was resorting to patching little bits with finger fulls of very watered down plaster... literally running it with my fingered into the gaps and then floating the trowel over the top.

The biggest problems for both walls is the join between them, I get the impression plastering from the corner was a mistake, especially as it's an in-ward bend.  As I was smoothing one side, the pressure would push the other out, so that's lesson one, do one wall at a time.  Also plastering up to the skim bead was smoothest, so I'm going to put skim beads all around the windows without a doubt.

The next thing was smoothing it, I'm pretty sure at one point I smoothed really well, but then the next it was difficult, I need to learn from somewhere the skimming polishing technique a bit better, because I was expecting my trowel to be wet and then carry small amounts of plaster with it... But it didn't and it dug in, so my motion was sometimes right, sometimes wrong.

Another mistake I made was vibration, there are two or three distinct points in the plaster where I was under reaching (so not stretching out to far, I was pulling my trowel down and left past my own body too far) and the edge vibrated, this left ripples in the plaster which remain there now.

Finally, I masking taped the skirting, but plastered over the top of the tap, I should have taped 3mm away form the wall on the skirting.

All in all though, its better than what was there, its flat, it'll take a colour, and I've had my first experience.

My next job is to put the skim bead up around the windows, take down the blinds and plaster the inside of the window sils, this way they can be done when I come to do the whole rest of the main wall...

The skim beading around the small window and its plastering I may even do tonight.

I've clearly got to get quicker getting the stuff out the bucket and onto the wall, and I need to learn more about mixing it, because I mixed it as I'd seen in videos, so it was a thick cream which held a shape or peak... but it went off so quickly.

Either way, this is the first step to placing my desk and setting back up my gear, so I have to stuck with it.  I have to remember all the Full Real Battles in WarThunder I'll get once I'm done.

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