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Have a new place that needs a lot of decoration, so Im thinking of learning how to plaster. Does anyone have experience of plastering courses at the local tech college? Here's an example of a course local to me:
http://www.thediyschool.co.uk/plastering-courses/plastering-course-essential-skills
£350 for 4 days. Anyone had a dig at something like this?
Me gaffe is 1920s and hasn't had a great deal done to it, so the walls are pretty old. OTOH, there are no really terrible rebuilding jobs needed, just rough and uneven walls. Wondering what sort of skills to expect out of a 4 day course.
I would depend what sort of general competence you have for that sort of thing really.
Some people could leave and be able to do a half decent plastering job (fairly slowly)
Other people would leave and still not be able to mix a tub of plaster properly.
I did this one at my local college, nice and cheap
http://www.craven-college.ac.uk/part-time/index.php/courses/info/plastering-introduction1
Some good online and digital course available, try searching for plasterers radio or similar.
Plasterers radio- lol.
I think you're probably close to me, I can give you some on the job training of you like. Real walls are very different to straight boarded classroom walls
I think it's one of those jobs that you will either have a knack for or not. Be prepared to start on one wall and then work through the house getting better (hopefully) as you go. Then start again on first room because it'll look crap compared with your last. Or phone a real plasterer and get a proper job done 😉
On the plus side the materials are pretty cheap.
I'm just renovating an old house. We have just overboarded the ceilings and then the plasterer has skimmed them and the walls.
Getting the damn stuff on the walls must be hard. Knowing when to go back and mess with it must be harder..
Hardest part is prep
Im an engineer ( bike mechanic to trade) - not any kind of creative or skilled labour
My dad gave me a day course and ive made an acceptable job of both rooms ive done - bit more sanding than id have liked to get a good finish but its as good as my 1950s house would allow.
If you have not got two left hands id give the course a go if you dot have any famiy or friends that are plasterers
Also i had a chance to learn as im re plastering now due to mass hilti gun exodus rewiring 8 months later
Become a plasters mate for a week and you'll learn most of what you need that way.
Experience though, is what will make you a good plasterer. They can teach and talk the ass end of everything to do with plastering. But if you want to know about putting on a couple coats of multi and how to prep a surface to take it. A 4 day course won't cut it. IMHO.
At £6-9 per sq metre, it's really useful to learn it yourself if you've a whole house to do.
I'm much cheaper though. Where in the UK are you, i might be able to spend a day or two with you, with the basics, then you can work on the smaller walls, till you're up to speed with it and can handle a bigger area..
I guess you are in Stockport?
I did a 4 day course here over two weekends...[url= http://www.psoex.co.uk/ ]Plastering School of Excellence[/url]
Went back to brick on our entire house straight after the course, and managed okay with no previous experience. Browning coats and skim finish throughout, and re-boarded a few ceilings.
Got the professionals in for the stairs and ceilings though.
My cousin did the same course, and went straight into full time plastering. He has managed to get consistent work for 6 years now.
The tutor was like something out of shameless too. The bloke was hung over from the night before, where his girlfriend's brother saw him snogging another woman in a club. The problem was that the brother was a debt collector that lived in a bullet proof vest and cut people's eyelids off for persistent non-payment. The guy was crapping himself all day long.
I gave it a bash and got ok results on the 2 walls. Might be worth reading up and having a in before splashing out on a course, I suspect some people will just never get it.
I know a boyo could help ye [url= 
]a boyo[/url]
Thanks for the replies, food for thought. I'm just outside Stockport, in fact just down the road from the plastering school of excellence - thks for that link OrmanCheep.
My Dad has done it for 30 years and is a good as they come. He's made it his love fe mission that I get an easier and better payed job!!! To see my Dad now approaching retirement at, I wouldn't do it if it played twice what I earn. His elbows and back are in constant pain....he has needed strong pain killers for the last decade. His knees are fukt too, but if he didn't jump off work benches constantly then they may have survived.
I mix for him from time to time-that's hard enough work, and it takes a good day or so for my nose/lungs to clear. Mixing for yourself and doing an entire room etc is a level of work that is alien to me!!
I plastered a few rooms.
Quite possible to learn and do as a DIY type.
I would imagine a hands on course would be better but I learned from watching a video course, online vids and asking a couple of folk that do it for a living and know what they are doing.
Cheesy video below by Ron the builder, but does shows most of the stuff you need to know.
Some observations I found.
Hard work.
Very messy to start with.
I mixed outside, covered the flooring coming in. (messy feet.)
Get a big board to mix on to save on cleaning up after wards.
The mixing is the tricky part. Too watery and slops all over the place. Too thick and goes off straight away. Have plenty spare plaster you will chuck some mixes out.
I found walls any wider than about 3-4m pretty hard to put on a skim in one go.
Start on a smaller wall that is not the most obvious.
If it is even vaguely warm its much harder. Plaster drys to fast / and too slow at plastering.
It takes a while for the room to dry out proper afterwards.
I would expect to have to do some filling / finishing.
Get one of those platform steps. Something like below, essential.
Also a halogen type work light is good. Although you need to turn off the power to the sockets in the room (also remove sockets, skirting etc.)
It is also much easier to do on new or clean plasterboard.
If there is a bad bit consider replacing / patching plasterboard before starting proper.
I sealed everything before and after with 50/50 water/PVA. Again takes a while to dry.
Try it out a small wall or patch, see how you get on. Its all in the mixing and getting it on the wall quickly. Give it a go, save yourself a few quid and a useful skill to know.
ps I wouldn't fancy doing it as a job.
You won't be doing much biking after doing plastering as a job for 20 years. Also getting some help would be a good idea.
For what it costs I would still use a Plasterer.
Are you manual working at the moment ?
Do you know how hard it is to find a good Plasterer !
Basically its a skill and what if your not good at it after doing a course?
Visually its so important to get it right
As a time served plasterer I find it amusing how you can apparently learn something in a week course that I did in a four year apprenticeship...Actually you can't. That comes from somebody who also taught apprentices at the local trade school,before,for the reasons Tom B mentions,I got out while I was still young enough. Sharki dispenses the best advice of all on this thread...I would also quantify what people on here class as an "okay" job.
Garry, sounds like we are nearly neighbours. I know a couple of really good plasterers who are local and surprisingly good value. Let me know and I'll pass on their details.
Go for it. My experience is that you will never get as good as a real pro but lots of people you hire aren't that good and with a bit of effort you should be able to produce an acceptable job. The cup of tea in the rob the builder is key to the timing
Hard work by yourself though :(.
double post
On my fourth old house renovation and due to my Yorkshire roots I've generally picked someone cheap. That has always meant a lot of filling and sanding for perfection.
This time I've got a proper plasterer in and the difference is amazing.
Then again, as a barber I have dealt with a lot of very funny DIY haircuts 🙂