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How2plaster
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24.01.2022 This is a project we did last year at Myvore st Toorak. Its a fantastic home. https://www.realestate.com.au//property-house-vic-toorak-1
24.01.2022 Progress being made on our curved, spiral staircase. The ceiling sheets on the underside of the steps are the hardest. They have to be cut in pie piece shapes and then twisted into shape using props to gradually increase pressure until the sheet has the right shape. On the inner curve the bend is quite sever and it takes a lot of patience to slowly force it into position. Almost impossible to do without splitting the sheet as it wants to stretch as well as bend. We leave the sheets in place over night without sticking them to the concrete. It is impossible to glue them at the same time as working them into shape. When we remove the props the sheets remain in the shape we have bent them and it is quite easy to then glue them and make finer adjustments. It is a very tricky job.
24.01.2022 We are back to finish the most complicated stair well we have had to do. Curves and more curves. The underside of the stair has to be floated out by feel. Very happy with how its shaping up.
22.01.2022 Well, I never thought I would be saying this. I am getting out of plastering!! We are not taking on any new contracts and will be working on current contracts until March. Going forward we will only be doing suspended ceilings and metal stud partitioning. We will be working in conjunction with another company who will do all plaster works while we will be doing all the metal framing. I will still be working as consultant on plastering issues and dispute resolution.
22.01.2022 I love this little laser. Perfect for doing a raked ceiling.
22.01.2022 Today's work, Skylights Toorak style. This is the skylight over the stairs. It will have frosted glass on top of the openings. From our new project in Toorak.
22.01.2022 I did an inspection today for a client and found this problem with the straightness of the walls. I thought I would post this today as I have found this issue on many jobs lately including one of my own where the contractors had not hung the sheets correctly. This is not an easy fix. The contractor in this case tried to fix another wall and made a complete mess of it. Firstly the main cause is nailing the top and bottom edges of the sheet without pushing the center of the s...heet back onto the glue. Austrailian Standards say that any wall over 3 meters has to have a temporary block fixed to the center of the sheet to pin the sheet back to the studs until the glue dries. On long walls there should be a block on every 2nd stud. Another cause is applying the glue well before the sheet is fixed causing the glue to skin up. To fix this the sheet has to be pushed back with a solid thump down the stud to force the glue underneath to blister the board. The blisters are then cut out and the board screwed at 300mm centers down the stud. Patching the blisters without over filling is the tricky part. On this particular job the contractor had tried to patch blisters on each stud over filling the the patch. The result was terrible. These patches need to be floated out very wide to the point of doing a level 5 finish over the sheet if it is on every stud. I find to get the best results I need to do 3 base coats then a top coat. Each coat should just skim the patch to keep the build up to a minimum.
22.01.2022 This is how I batten out a concrete wall if I need it perfect. These columns are both out of plumb and out of line but I need to match exactly to walls either side. So I put levelling blocks using my laser level and stuck with masonry adhesive exactly 16mm to allow for the 16mm furring channel. Then I use spaghetti and either a 50mm 8g screw or if over 30mm I use a 75mm screw. This method I get the walls as close to perfect as possible regardless of how bad the substrate is.
21.01.2022 A good quick way of patching medium/small size holes. They don't crack and can be finished very flush. Final pic still requires a top coat. The plug should fit just below the surface. the initial filler should also be fed in behind the hole to create like a "mushroom" head of plaster behind the hole. Just adding that I had 6 of these to patch and start to finish took about 35 minutes using accelerator to make the plaster set very fast!
20.01.2022 When you do small jobs they don't come much worse than this. We are replacing a ceiling in the kitchen of a Chinese Restaurant!! They kept it pretty clean ..... where they could reach!! Laying on your back plastering is not a Michael Angelo moment for sure. Max is gearing up to get into a tight spot the "poncho" it to protect against 30 years of grease build up. We had to squeeze in against the pipe. Wrapping it with plastic was no problem it stuck!! But we taped it up to make sure it stayed stuck.
19.01.2022 How to straighten up a very out of level column using levelling blocks and a laser. The green beam laser is great for this work as the beam can be seen on your fingers very clearly. I push the block onto the column until I see the beam. After putting the blocks on you can either direct stick the board to the blocks or fix battens to the column over the blocks. These columns were up to 40mm out of plumb and twisted. Using this method we were able to get them perfectly plumb and straight. Note where I have cut through the paint with a grinder to allow the plaster to stick.
19.01.2022 A little back yard project to create a circular reveal for a circular window on one of our jobs.
18.01.2022 This is from the job we are doing in Toorak. They are recessed wall lights. The door frames are "invisible" doors that fit perfectly flush with the wall. Note we did a level five finish over the entire lower wall to prevent banding from stopping around the lights.
17.01.2022 Another tricky but satisfying job. Some short tight curves. Got a bit impatient on the bottom one and it snapped so had to set up a running mold to create the curve. Beautiful home in Glen Waverly. Going to look great.
16.01.2022 I have previously posted these photos on my personal FB page. Thought I should post them here. This is the stair well of a home in Toorak that we completed a few months ago. We have had a great run of continuous work on high end homes over the past 5 years. It looks like our next major job won't be starting until April next year, our current projects will be completed in November so we will be looking for new projects for December into the new year. Happy to get any leads.
16.01.2022 Sound proofing solutions means getting the best bang for your buck. Recently a friend was doing a job to sound proof between a two apartments. When described what they were doing I thought this is a complete waste of his clients money! They were direct fixing 10 mm sound check to a brick wall. It seems that anyone hears the name sound check plasterboard and think this is the solution to their problem, where it is only one component of the correct solution. In this case I ...would be surprised if the owner would be able to determine any difference in sound levels. Yet he would have spent a considerable amount of money. He could dramatically improve the results by spending a bit more. Maybe 30% more money for 200% better result. There are 3 components to sound proofing it is best to use all 3 in your solution, even then there are many variables that can make it work or not, depending on the desired outcome. Coupling these components in the right way is how you achieve the best results. How you do this will depend on your budget and the desired outcome. Often these dont go together very well. I often advise clients that unless they are prepared to spend the right money to achieve an acceptable result, they are wasting the money they are spending. Unfortunately some tradesmen will just give the client what they want without discussing the outcome and alternatives. On the other hand, you will get companies that will over specify and put you off doing anything at all because of the cost. Apartment living is on the rise and sound proofing is a major issue to apartment owners be it sound from apartment to apartment or room to room within the apartment. It is a bit of a minefield out there to find the correct solution for you. Your goal should be to get the best bang for your buck, but end up with a discernible difference in the result. Or wait until you can afford to do it right.
16.01.2022 Had a very busy year with 3 major projects for the year. Looking forward to having all Feb off. We have a big line up of work for later in next year, but looking for a major project for March. If anyone knows of any larger projects needing quality plasterers from around March let me know
16.01.2022 This is the ceiling of a cinema in a house we are doing in Toorak. We made the panels on site.
15.01.2022 This is our latest challenge. A circular stair way with a center spiral balustrade. All plaster lined including under the stairs. Shadowline angle around all the steps. Given the concrete wall are up to 30mm out of plumb we have our work cut out to get this perfect. We are using leveling blocks to get the wall plumb.
15.01.2022 I was recently asked to do a report on a plastering job. I thought I would post about the issues I found with this job as there are some common errors. On first glance the job looked reasonable. The joint work was neat, and the decorative cornice was finished clean and neat. Except that in spots it was out of level This was the first thing that my client was concerned with as the contractor was meant to laser level the ceilings. ... I found that nearly all the ceilings were up to 30mm out of level. The plasterer had used easy tape, (fiberglass mesh) on all joins and internals. Butt joins over the doors were too close to the edge and had already cracked. He had only two coated over the tape and the joins were staved (hollow). He had only back blocked the ceilings, not the walls. All joins with fiberglass tape MUST be back blocked. There were other issues as well. This is a plasterer that is obviously skilled enough to do a great job but has taken a number of shortcuts that make the job unacceptable. Plasterers should know the minimum standards required and stick to them. A savvy client is going to come your way and you will find yourself out of pocket. What really amazed me is that a rep from the manufacturer visited for less than 30 minutes and claimed in a one paragraph letter that the job appears to meet the manufactures and Australian standards.
14.01.2022 A little belated but here is the end result of entry ceiling.
14.01.2022 Curves everywhere!!! Seems to be our thing lately.
14.01.2022 Just another reason why I love what I do. Nothing like job satisfaction.
13.01.2022 Raked ceilings with obtuse angles can be pretty daunting for many plasterers or persons hanging plasterboard. Getting perfectly straight angles can be a nightmare if you don't use a cut and fold method. This pictures are of a job we did today showing how we set up for the cut and fold, how to glue, and the finished product. We first set up a template on each end then screw a temporary sheet as a guide. The sheet is held up to the temp sheet before breaking the fold. Then ...we screw that edge first. We then push the other edge up into place until it is sitting snug. Because of the way we have glued the folded section we don't screw anywhere near the fold. The bit of extra effort is well worth it. The end result is perfectly straight SHARP angles. This project is jammed packed with obtuse angles and hips in every room. Max (my worker) and I are very happy with with the results. We got them all done without a single failure! Quality plastering is not due to better skills IMO just the desire to produce a perfect job for your client.
13.01.2022 I did an inspection for a client today who has problems with his plaster finishes. I thought I would share how NOT to install p50 shadowline angles. This is a very expensive rectification for the contractor who did the work. The contractor will not be very happy when he sees my report.
10.01.2022 Specialty plastering works by Plaster Brokers. If you have a difficult plaster job that has to be perfect, call Rod Dyson on 0412 343834 for a quotation. For more examples of our works go to our face book page how2Plaster
08.01.2022 This is a video of 2 Myvore St Toorak We did all the external eave ceilings as well. Came up a treat. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KB7fj5ACdTU
07.01.2022 Today we had to build a wall out to accommodate a fire place. The wall had been previously battened. I thought I would post this picture of how I went about strengthening the metal stud frame without noggins or fixing back to the brick. This is an amazingly strong method and very quick. You could do the same if building the wall in front of a timber frame
07.01.2022 One of our new jobs is the restoration of a home in Eslternwick. The front of the home is being restored while we have a huge 2 story extension on the rear.
05.01.2022 A very curvy job at Toorak. Getting some practice in for our next Toorak project that has a LOT of curves.
05.01.2022 Well this is the last of the big projects completed before having a month off! All the external eaves here are villaboard with a p50 shadow line angle. The lover eave is over the pool so we did a level 5 finish to make sure the glare off the water did not show ceiling joins. I will be taking on small jobs here and there until the next big one. A welcome change!
04.01.2022 As we are getting into warmer weather I thought I would post this reminder about using retarder in plaster base coats. Plaster base coats are a set with a chemical reaction which gives the plaster strength. If the base coat dries before it sets these photos are the result. The paper tape just peels out of the joint. In the hot weather base coat can dry before setting even without retarder. I strongly recommend switching over to an all purpose compound in the summer months... as this is a drying compound NOT a setting compound. Using a drying compound will eliminate tape de-lamination problems. Unfortunately for the home owner the problem will not be evident for some years after the installation. So the plaster job can look fantastic for years. The slightest strain on the join over years will cause the tape to pop away from the join and de-laminate, like you can see in the photo. This job was 8 years old when this problem surfaced. The problem is very few plasterers heed this advice and continue using base coat and retarder over the summer months.
04.01.2022 Here are some pics of a pelmet I have constructed out of metal studs and plasterboard. The challenge was to design and construct a pelmet to hide Auto blinds, but not over power the room that had a low ceiling. It had to look good too. Here is the result.
03.01.2022 Just a small garage!! Could not even get half of it into this pic!
03.01.2022 How to cut nice tight miters in a large cornice without a miter box. I set the cornice up along a wall with a door way. The cornice is upside down to how it would go on the ceiling. This cornice can go either way. When the cornice is sitting square measure the distance from the wall to the edge of the cornice, this will be the ceiling projection. Square across the cornice and mark. The laser is great for this. Then mark the ceiling projection along the bottom edge from the square mark. I use the laser to between the top mark and the ceiling projection mark. Trace along the laser with a pencil and you will have the exact mark to cut the cornice. In the picture below the left hand cornice will have an internal miter and the right hand cornice will have an external miter.
03.01.2022 More photos of our current project.
01.01.2022 Here are a few pics from my report. Showing some errors.
