Does ne1 plaster anymore?

[Chuckca]

We're thinking about plastering our CP home....has anyone plastered their's instead of using ugly drywall....our thoughts were only to plaster the walls...since the ceilings are TNG....ideas and comments please....

Would you plaster - why or why not?

Thanks!

[spinnm]

Yep.  Do it all the time.  Depends upon what you're used to.

If you're back East and want a diamond finish, that's hard.  Way hard.  Takes lots of practice.  You'll probably be good on the last room.  Maybe the second house.

Now, if you want something with a little texture, the occasional trowel mark...not so hard.

If you're really smart you'll convince your wife that plastering is "womens work"

[glenn-k]

Wow Shelly, you never cease to amaze me.

It's so refreshing to see a woman who understands.

[spinnm]

Didn't really answer your question.  It's gonna take longer than DW.  I think it looks better.  But remember I'm often doing frame walls in an adobe house.  DW looks weird with adobe.

You won't need door casing if you bullnose the plaster.  Depending upon the look you want and your flooring you may not need baseboard either.
If you do want BB, it's hard to get the plaster perfectly even so the BB looks good.

You won't need a plaster mixer...you won't be fast enough.  Use a swimming pool trowel...more forgiving.

If you like the pinkish/beigeish color of plaster you don't need to paint.  I always seal mine with a "latex paint additive" (which I think is some kind of glaze) that I get from BM.  That way it's compatible with paint for later on.

Fibered Structolite is usually the base coat and Red Top the finish.  We often use Stuctolite for all coats since we're going for a textured, organic feel.  Can you readily get those products?  And, the plaster board?

You'll need to hang your pictures with short drywall screws and a screw gun.  You'll have to patch if you move accessories.

Lastly, the DW guys have started offering some new finishes....leastways they're new here.  A "sand" finish done with a hopper.  And, a "plaster" finish done with a skim coat that shows trowel marks.

And, if you talk real nice to me I'll tell you how to get rid of the crack that will form between the top of your wall and your T&G ceiling....regardless of which you use.

[glenn-k]

There was a young man who rented form me one time who plastered over drywall - The plaster look was definitely much better.  It would have been nice if he had finished the job.

 :-/

[Amanda_931]

The cob and straw bale people are using plaster a lot.  

Gypsum sets up very fast.  It was the usual finish before "gyp-board" aka dry-wall came in.

Lime is slower to set up.  (before you start your house, start soaking bags of hydrated lime in--Charmaine Taylor recommends rubbermaid tubs, I can disrecommend garbage cans and olive barrels.)  there are colors that are lime-compatible if you want to use it for the finish coat.  Well-soaked lime putty is a joy to work with.  But WEAR GLOVES!

Clay/sand/maybe-fiber plasters now have a couple of books written about them.  (see Ms Taylor's web site--  www.dirtcheapbuilder.com for more information)

Definitely yes on the pool trowels.

Alex Wade loved plaster.  I seem to remember instructions, but maybe he was just describing what his plasterer did.

I've got more experience with floors than walls.

[glenn-k]

I'm being nice now Shelly, so you'll tell us how to get rid of the crack at the top of the wall.  

I also use the pool trowel as a favorite for smoothing cob and earth plaster.  Another handy tool for free formed cob or other surfaces is a hard rubber grout float. not the sponge type but the ones that are smooth -usually about the feel of a rubber boot top and have a flexible plastic backer under the handle roughly 4"x10" in size.  Slicking the surface of odd shaped cob or earth plaster with one of those and a little water will give a finish that is many times acceptable as is.  They are usually found in the ceramic tile section of a store.

[Amanda_931]

I'll keep the hard rubber grout float (try saying that a bunch of times quickly!) in mind since I do have projects in mind, if not in the works.

Glen, do you think Shelly's going to tell us to put a piece of trim up there?

:-/

[glenn-k]

I'm not sure - after my comment above I think she's going to make me say something like, "I'm sure the reason the women prefer to do the plastering is so that it will be done right the first time,"  but actually I think she knows I was just kidding.

We could all benefit from reviving the old time art of real plastering - drywall is easier but doesn't have the look.

[spinnm]

Nope.  Trim looks tacky. Especially with uneven plastered walls and beams.

It's the rope trick.  Saw it in a coffee table book on historic adobes.  Just regular old hemp.  Diameter of your choice depending upon the scale of the room and the beams.

Goes up in a flash providing you use a brad nailer.  First time I did it, himself told me I needed one.  Hate to buy a tool for one thing.  After an hour getting 3' up I went out and bought the brad nailer.  

You adjust the pressure so that the brad just barely disappears into the rope.

Some of the color will bleed at the brad wound.  I've sprayed lacquer over it.  That seems to seal it.

I'm thinking about using some kind of poly rope next time if I can find one that's not ugly.

Elmer's glue on the cut ends to prevent fraying.  Start it like wallpaper (where your eye doesn't go) then around the room in one fell swoop.

People always comment on it.  Think it's cool and just for decoration.  Little do they know it's covering that ugly crack.

Old man leaned over to me once in a hushed voice.  Think Peter Falk in Columbo.  "You know," he said, "mud only sticks to mud".  He was right.

[theron]

I was looking over askthebuilder.com this morning.  He mentions doing a one-coat over drywall.  This eliminates all the taping (which I guess can take a week) and toughens up the surface so you don't get all the little dings that you do with dw.  No real details, however.  
Do any of you have any experience plastering over ICF?  The manufacturer says you don't have to bother with any lathe; just spread it right on the insulation.  I'll give it a try with some scrap then really bend and bang on it to see what happens.

Theron

[Shelley]

What kind of ICF?  I've done it over Rastra/PerformWall.  Never used the styro products.  Works just like they say.  

Only the cheesy builders around here use plaster over DW.  They install it backwards.  Plaster board has a different paper....to grip the plaster...more moisture resistant....costs just a little more.

[Amanda_931]

Here's Charmaine Taylor (of dirtcheapbuilder.com and papercrete.com) on the straw bale list on the subject of putting, in this case, a clay finish on drywall from which she stripped wallpaper.  I've snipped her answer quite a bit.  But it might be instructive to go back on the thread a bit.

She is the queen of lime putty.  I keep it around--and use it--because she is so enthusiastic.

http://listserv.repp.org/pipermail/strawbale/2005-February/037359.html

I've done it in my kitchen over 50 yr old sheetrock, stripped of its  old thick wallpaper, so there was some tooth to the wall surface.

As for a clay  paint..what I have used is -  1 quart clean water, 1 tsp lime putty, 1 cup soft wet clay ( local harvested clay with a little sand i it)

mix well, add 1 tsp of salt to setttle out sand...paint direct onto
wall with this paint.. it should dry clean with no cracking or
flaking..apply with a wide toothed sloppy  brush in a figure eight
motion to cover all areas,  keep a wet edge..( finish one whole area at
one time)

to give the wall MORE stick power paint a limewash first, let dry then
do the clay paint.

[Bart_Cubbins]

Mag Ruffman suggests trowelling over untaped drywall with a mix of drywall compound and latex paint... which means you don't have to paint either...

http://www.homeenvy.com/db/4/234.html



If I did this, I would still tape the seams first, though I wouldn't be fussy about doing a good job.

Bart