Learning to plaster can be fun and very rewarding and is certainly less hard work than most people seem to think. In fact quality plastering can be taught and learned in just a few hours providing you have had good instruction and had the correct plastering formula explained to you.
For the DIY enthusiast or for those unable to afford plasterer near me to employ a plasterer, there will be times when you are faced with the dilemma of whether to repair the damage to your internal walls using filler or learn to plaster properly by purchasing one of the plastering DVDs available on the market.
The distinction between choosing to repair a wall as opposed to re-skimming is an important one to make. Obviously, as a plasterer and author of a plastering DVD course myself you might think I would always take the “always plaster” route but you would be wrong. I don’t see any need to create work where its not needed. For example, if we are only dealing with 2 or maybe 3 small and minor dings or holes, for example a couple of nail holes and a chip caused by a flying object that your wife thought you might want a closer look at one night when you had been at the bar until later, then you might not want to re-skim the entire wall. However, if the wall surface itself was of a generally poor appearance and the previous plastering job was less than perfect then you might see it as an opportunity to learn to plaster.
As already mentioned, learning to plaster can in fact be more painless than you had imagined and compared to sanding down a large area can in fact be a lot less work. There are a couple of good “how to” plastering DVDs on the market including my own to choose from which can teach you to plaster for the cost of just a few bags of plaster.
In either case, if you are facing a large hole in the actual plasterboard / drywall then you will need to consider the following stages:
Plasterboard Repairs: Holes in plasterboard are the most common. Plasterboard is very strong but can be punctured with enough force. Unless the hole is very small, it is usually best to replace a section of plasterboard than to try and plug a big hole and fill it. Don’t make the age old mistake and stuff the hole with newspaper as this is a fire hazard.
To replace a section of plasterboard you should follow these steps…
1. Locate the studs (vertical joists that the board is nailed to) either side of the hole using either an electronic joist finder or by inserting a mirror into the hole.
2. With a pencil, mark out the location of the studs either side of the hole and then connect these up to mark out a square around the hole.
3. Use a bolster chisel or hand held drywall saw to cut out the section of board you have marked ensuring that you reveal some area of stud either side of the cavity to nail to.
4. Measure up and cut a new piece of plasterboard of the same thickness to fill the hole and fix this in place using clout nails (do not apply scrim tape to the joins).
5. You can now apply the PVA and water bonding mix to patch up the hole using the techniques mentioned above. Without a doubt, the best filler for a plastered wall is plaster itself as it mixes well, dries quickly and can be applied to a greater thickness than commercial filler.
I would always recommend re-skimming the entire wall where you have replaced a section of plasterboard. This is a couple of hours work but the results will be much better.
