Building methods are improving every year giving us better insulated buildings which in turn lead to lower energy costs. Sometimes it’s hard to see where we are making these improvements, but just compare a house that was built 40 years ago and compare it to a modern house built to the latest building regulations. One can see pretty quickly how much easier it is to heat a modern house and how much better a modern house will retain heat, why is this? The obvious and the main reason is that houses are now built with better insulation; new modern materials help retain heat in the building and therefore reduce energy costs. In combination with better insulation, new building methods have given us a more air tight structure. This is important because controlling the air circulation is just as important if not more important than insulation one’s house.

Think about it this way. Imagine a wall built to the highest possible standard in terms of installation, sound proofing and air tightness and in that wall we insert one window and one door. If you think about it you can begin to understand very quickly that once you interfere with a completely sealed wall there is a higher chance of air escaping and heat escaping. With this in mind it is hugely important how we install windows and doors in any building, making sure that the hold structure is of a uniform standard.

This is something that the building industry is only coming to terms with. There has been some resistance to introducing new recommended building regulations as they can increase the cost of the build, however as builders become familiar with new technologies and new building methods some of the costs can be absorbed by increase in the skill set of employees and becoming more efficient. No matter what the difficulties are it is important that the construction industry incorporates these new building methods in order to construct buildings to a higher standard and reduce our energy costs, improving our air tightness standards is a very efficient way to achieve this.

From the builders point of view extra care and attention needs to happen around all joins in a building. Joints are found around Windows, doors, corners, attics and wall plate level. Expanding foam can be used around Windows and doors and it also helps if these joints are taped giving them an all-around seal. Also there has been a move away from plastering especially in large apartment blocks this has been replaced by what’s referred to as tape jointing whereby plasterboard’s that have a groove joint are taped at each joint, sanded down and painted directly on to the plasterboard surface. Even though the plasterboard is of the recommended finish the joints don’t often last the test of time. Even though reinforced mesh is used with a sealant it can crack over time mainly because the sealant may not be applied uniformly. This can lead to leakage in the building.

As you can see while there is huge progress being made especially as I mentioned before when we compare a house built 40 years ago to the modern-day house, we still have a long way to go before we have synergy between the building authorities, contractors and suppliers of new building materials. One of the main drawbacks with introducing new building methods and new building materials is that it is often years before we can really determine if they work!

Bathroom Job – Started – TilersForums.co.uk | Tile Forums | Tiling …

Hi Started my bathroom around 3 weeks ago, as you can see i had to remove all old wall and floor tiles, all plaster board from all walls some screwed.   Read more…

Best way to fasten shelves, curtain rails etc to insulated …

Anyone had practical experience of this? The boards are 60mm insulation and 12.5 plasterboard. eg Kingspan K7 K8. thanks Robin.   Read more…

Home Inspections: Highlight On Plasterboard

One very common problem that laypeople are unaware of when it comes to the structural integrity of a house is plasterboard. Plasterboard is very commonly used, and its construction invit…   Read more…

Before learning to plaster or purchasing any kind of plastering course, it is essential to explore some of the long held myths that are banded around about plastering courses.

Plastering Myth 1. You Cannot Achieve a Good Finish with DIY Plastering

You’re most likely to hear this particular myth from people in the building trade and, of course, from many plasterers themselves. It’s true that most general builders who can turn their hand to anything won’t touch plastering. I’ve known builders who can do brickwork, joinery, roofing, plumbing and even build an entire house who won’t do their own plastering. Why? Precisely because they can turn their hand to anything they rarely need to learn how to do anything text book style – and plastering MUST be done text book style. Here are 2 important golden rules about plastering that we should understand right now…

Golden Rule 1: Plastering is 100% about following a set recipe and set of techniques and you should follow them to the letter.

Golden Rule 2:. Plastering cannot be improvised. You should not try and improve or simplify the processes of plastering demonstrated in your plastering course (at least until you are a true master of the trade).

So, if you are the kind of person who can turn your hand to anything, then you have most likely already discovered that whilst most jobs can be done successfully without knowledge or experience providing you approach them sensibly, plastering is not one of those kinds of jobs and needs to be learnt properly.

Providing you follow a quality plastering course, then plastering can be learnt and you can get truly excellent results only when you follow the time honoured methods.

Plastering Myth 2. It Takes Years to Learn to Plaster to a Professional Level

You’re most likely to hear this particular myth from time-served plasterers and in a sense they are right but it’s mainly a misunderstanding. Yes, it can take many years to make plastering effortless and 100% bang on every time, but to learn to plaster to a competent professional level can be learnt in just a few days of practice providing you have been given the correct instructions and follow a precise formula.

What does take years to develop are techniques that bring you greater speed and efficiency. A relative novice using the correct techniques can achieve a perfectly flat and smooth wall under normal conditions. But the ability to complete the same wall to the same level in half the time to “max-out” your daily rate and allow early retirement takes more practice.

Also, although most new plasterers can plaster over plasterboard very well they may encounter some problems when dealing with more irregular real world jobs such as plastering over less ideal surfaces or conditions such as plastering in a heat wave.

The fact remains, that most plasterers are taught on 3 or 5 day courses, so please don’t just take my word for it that you can indeed learn to plaster to a competent pro level in less than a lifetime.

Of course people don’t spend years learning to plaster before doing it for a living because there are no courses in plastering that last for years.

In other words, plastering takes days to learn from a plastering course but like any skill takes years to master fully.

Plastering Myth 3. Getting a Smooth Plastering Finish Requires Sanding or Heavy Manual Labour

This particular myth is both hilarious and utterly untrue. I have even seen some of the better DIY books teach this. Trust me please, if you feel your plastering requires sanding then you need to re-watch your plastering DVD and ask yourself which part of the plastering stages you have overlooked. Do not ever sand plaster, it is futile and does not give a good finish. The sheer amount of dust will swamp your home, destroy carpets and furniture, damage your health and take longer than fully plastering the room properly.

In Summary

You can learn to plaster by studying a plastering DVD or attending a good plastering course providing that you follow the advice exactly and practice skimming plasterboard a few times. When we developed our own plastering course on DVD and book we understood that laying out a very prescriptive and easy to follow formula of plastering steps, timings and stages would be the real key to learner success. Whatever plastering course you choose, ensure that its clear, easy to follow and includes a very weighty take home manual and better still a DVD.

Bathroom Job – Started – TilersForums.co.uk | Tile Forums | Tiling …

Hi Started my bathroom around 3 weeks ago, as you can see i had to remove all old wall and floor tiles, all plaster board from all walls some screwed.   Read more…

Best way to fasten shelves, curtain rails etc to insulated …

Anyone had practical experience of this? The boards are 60mm insulation and 12.5 plasterboard. eg Kingspan K7 K8. thanks Robin.   Read more…

Home Inspections: Highlight On Plasterboard

One very common problem that laypeople are unaware of when it comes to the structural integrity of a house is plasterboard. Plasterboard is very commonly used, and its construction invit…   Read more…

The wall units should line up with the same size unit below. Sometimes the design is such that some will not line through because different door widths have been used but where they do line up a plumb line needs to be drawn up the wall and used as a starting point to mark off the unit sizes.

The height of the units have been determined by the height of any tall housing units or by the height of the tiles below. A spirit level now needs to be used to transfer a line around to wherever there are wall units.

Now the position of the plates on the wall need to be worked out to allow the units to hang at the correct height. A good way to start is to take a unit and adjust the bracket to its half way position then measure from the top of the cabinet to the underside of the hook. Then transfer this measurement to the wall starting at the drawn line on the wall showing the tops of the wall units and measuring down.

A tip here. When fixing into lightweight thermalite blocks a normal plastic plug does not hold very well so it is a good idea to use either 75m/m or 100m/m frame fixings. These have a full length plug and the expansion takes place a lot deeper into the block resulting in less chance of the fixing being pulled out.

Only use the two outer holes and drill the holes down at around 30 degrees and splaying outwards. As most of the forces on the bracket are straight down the fixings, by sloping downward, will resist being pulled out.

If the wall units are to be fitted onto a stud wall the chances of the hanging plate being in the same position as the wooden stud is very remote but there are a couple of ways to get over this.

Firstly a continuous hanging plate can be used. This comes in 2 or 3 meter lengths with holes and slots along the whole length so all that is needed is to cut it to the correct length and put it at the same height as the individual ones and screw into every stud it passes over.

If at the end there is no stud to secure it then fit a high load plasterboard fixing called a hollow wall anchor. This has expanding legs that open up behind the plasterboard to help spread the load.

Secondly a section of plasterboard can be removed to allow 12m/m plywood to take the place of the plasterboard and the plates fixed to this. This method is messy and takes longer but is a solution if no continuous hanging plate is available. The plywood must be strongly secured to the studs.

Thirdly, similar to the plywood solution, remove a larger amount of plasterboard and fit noggins (horizontal pieces of studding fitted between the vertical studs) at the correct height and re plasterboard.

Tip. To make sure the hook rests firmly on the wall plate it is advisable to actually chisel away some of the side of the unit, being careful not to break out through the face to allow the wall plate to run past where it needs to be, so that when on the wall there will be a little left and right movement to line the cabinet up without the hook falling off the wall plate. I have never seen anyone else do this but I highly recommend you do.

One very important thing to look out for when fixing the wall unit plates to the wall is to look below to see if there are any sockets below or nearby. If there are I suggest you find the cables in the wall to be sure you miss them. One way to do this is to carefully chisel the wall away, about 150mm below the bracket position so that is far enough away to not affect the strength of the fixing but close enough to accurately mark the wire position as it passes underneath the bracket position.

The hanging bracket plate that fixes to the wall usually has 3 slotted holes. Usually the bracket position can be adjusted to be able to use two of the three slots. When drilling the holes angle the drill away from the wire for extra security.

Sometimes, as there is only a limited space at the back of a wall unit, you can only trim away a maximum of 10mm so if the wall is running out of plumb by more than that, the wall unit will need to come off the wall to level it.

It is sometimes possible to trim the maximum off the unit and then take away some plaster on the wall to make it right. If there is a problem getting the wall unit right the back may need to be moved further into the unit which will involve taken the unit apart if it is a flat pack unit or if it is a rigid unit then the back will need to be cut out and a new back cut to fit the inside size of the unit.

Sometimes if the layout allows, it may be a better option to move the base units slightly to enable everything to line up. At times like this it is down to what the customer wants and the various options can be explained as well as any additional costs which may have a bearing on the final outcome.

Bathroom Job – Started – TilersForums.co.uk | Tile Forums | Tiling …

Hi Started my bathroom around 3 weeks ago, as you can see i had to remove all old wall and floor tiles, all plaster board from all walls some screwed.   Read more…

Best way to fasten shelves, curtain rails etc to insulated …

Anyone had practical experience of this? The boards are 60mm insulation and 12.5 plasterboard. eg Kingspan K7 K8. thanks Robin.   Read more…

Home Inspections: Highlight On Plasterboard

One very common problem that laypeople are unaware of when it comes to the structural integrity of a house is plasterboard. Plasterboard is very commonly used, and its construction invit…   Read more…