Thorrington Plasterers: When you are carrying out building work or home improvements on your property in Thorrington it's more or less guaranteed that you will either have to get some fresh plaster applied to a new wall surface or some old plaster walls repaired. Most would agree that plastering is a skillful occupation and while you may consider yourself to be fairly useful at odd jobs, it isn't the kind of work that you should attempt yourself, unless you're extremely confident in your abilities. This especially applies if there is a ceiling that needs skimming, because you'll almost certainly get your home and yourself in a bit of a mess should you try this. You'd definately be sensible to bring in a competent plasterer to handle this type of job, and whilst you shouldn't have any difficulty uncovering a plasterer in Thorrington, discovering one who's got a time slot to fit your job in could be somewhat more difficult. Plasterers, as with many tradespeople, are generally fully booked up, so if at all possible aim to book someone in several weeks or even months in advance.
A certain amount of plastering can be created by even the most basic home restoration tasks. It might be fitting cornices or coving before decorating, plaster repair before tiling, plaster skimming a partition or re-plastering a ceiling. In fact, it may possibly be any one of dozens of plastering related tasks.
The most critical step is to employ a plasterer who knows what they are up to and has a portfolio of proficiently accomplished work that they're prepared to let you see. You want to avoid using "cowboys" for this sort of work, no matter what. Significant complications can result from substandard plastering, as you will soon realise.
The imperfections will soon show up on the freshly plastered wall the moment a coat of paint has gone onto it. Uneven surfaces become even more accentuated in bright daylight. By using experienced plasterers in Thorrington, you should with any luck avoid problems like this.
The primary characteristic of plastered surfaces is that they be flat and smooth, providing a level base for other materials to be put onto them. Trivial dents and cracking can be easily repaired and sanded down afterwards with very few issues, but uneven plaster is hard to disguise. Areas that are imperfectly plastered can result in trouble with fitting skirting boards, the installation of kitchen units, kitchen or bathroom tiling and the painting of ceilings and walls.
You can always tell competent Thorrington plasterers because they consistently get a polished finish, straight from the trowel. Heavy sanding isn't a process that you should ever need to do on a freshly plastered ceiling or wall, just a brief rub down with fine glasspaper. If a lot of sanding is taking place, the plastering was not done properly in the first place. Be extremely wary of re-hiring plasterers who make use of power sanders.
While you may call on the services of a plasterer for many different tasks, a typical reason nowadays is for plastering over old artex ceilings. During the nineteen seventies and eighties, artex was the "in" finish for ceilings in Thorrington, right now that is not the case. Your Thorrington plasterer will jump at the chance to cover up those artexed ceilings and get your home looking sleek and contemporary once again. On the reverse side, many plasterers will also apply artex to your ceilings if you want to bring back that 70's style.
Do-it-Yourself Plastering Thorrington: When you've got a plastering project that has to be done in Thorrington, you've really got a couple of options. You can either get in touch with a professional plasterer to complete the task, or have a stab on your own. Unless you're fairly good at do-it-yourself and have the self-assurance to handle the task, it is probably best left to the experts. Choosing a wall that already has a poor quality plastered finish is a great idea to start with, so your novice plastering early efforts can only improve things. A spare bedroom or an out-of-sight area would be the perfect place to begin. This is going to be less stressful for you, and enable you to spend some time mastering your newly found skills. To a degree, it's quite possible for you to re-skim a wall as many times as you like, subsequently if you make a lousy job of it to begin with, you can always re-do it as your expertise improves.
If you do not wish to go to the lengths of taking a plastering course, you may be able to get some pretty good tips and advice by watching YouTube tutorials, although it isn't always as simple as the experts make it look in those videos. Practice makes perfect as the saying goes, and plastering is certainly no exception to this rule - the more you practice the more skillful and more confident you get. By using trial and error you might even think up you own solutions for getting a flawless plastered finish. But if you are in doubt, stick to the time-tested methods. Because plastering is mostly about self-confidence, the more often you do it, the more confident you'll become. When you have mastered the art to a standard you are happy with, you'll be able to progress to plastering the more important walls of your house. If the whole thing goes pear shaped and you bodge the plastering, you can always contact a professional plasterer to put everything right.
Thorrington Plaster Patching
If you've recently had some construction work carried out on your home in Thorrington, or if you've got an older Thorrington property, you might have damaged or cracked plaster which needs to be patched up. So that it can be correctly decorated and kept tidy and neat, your plasterwork should be kept in good condition at all times. Cracks and carelessly repaired patches of plaster are apt to be an eyesore and are normally not that difficult to resolve. This type of work is simple for any self-respecting Thorrington plasterer, and your walls should quickly be looking pristine and ready for decorating. Your plastered walls can be impacted by a variety of different problems, with shrinkage, accidental damage, vibration, settlement and damp being some of the more commonplace causes. If there is an underlying problem, you will want to sort that out before carrying out any patching, if you don't the issue will probably recur. (Tags: Plaster Patching Thorrington, Plastering Repair Thorrington, Patching Plaster, Plaster Repairs Thorrington)
A Plasterer's Tools
Genuine plasterers use a lot of tools that don't appear in the toolkits of other tradesmen or do-it-yourselfers, which is the primary reason why the majority of plastering work in Thorrington is generally carried out by experienced plasterers. The following are just a few of the tools that a plasterer will make use of:
- Plastering Rule
- Plasterer's Hawk
- Taping Knife
- Dry Lining Rasp
- Plastering Float
- Plaster Buckets & Pan
- Stilts
- Edging Trowel
- Door & Board Lifter
- Plaster Mixing Paddle
- Plasterer's Trowel
- Finishing Trowel
Decorative Plastering Services
Decorative Plastering Thorrington: Since the days of the ancient Egyptian builders, plaster has been used for both practical and decorative purposes. The materials used would certainly have differed in those long past days, when concoctions of both mud and clay would have been applied. To help restrict fires from spreading in 13th century London, a type of plaster was spread on the internal walls of houses and buildings. Buildings of the Victorian and Georgian eras were extensively decorated with mouldings and features made out of gypsum or plaster of Paris. Skilled professional plasterers today are able to produce stunning effects by pairing contemporary materials with age-old methods. This can take various shapes and may incorporate the use of ceiling roses, cornices, coving, niches, dentils, corbels and brackets. (Tags: Decorative Plastering Thorrington, Plastering Effects Thorrington, Plaster Mouldings Thorrington, Plastering Finishes Thorrington)
Rendering Thorrington
Rendering Thorrington: Rendering is the method by which a mixture of lime, sand, cement and water is applied to walls (both interior and exterior), in order to achieve a smooth or textured surface, with a technique that's very similar to plastering. A popular technique all around Southern Europe, rendering is particularly common in the Mediterranean countries, especially in Italy, Greece and Spain. A rendered surface is mostly used for aesthetic reasons but is also waterproof and has got some fire resisting properties. While it is acceptable to apply paint to a rendered wall, a much better solution is to colour the render itself, giving a more long lasting, durable result. (Tags: Renderers Thorrington, Rendering Thorrington)
Artexing Thorrington
Artexing Thorrington: Particularly popular through the seventies and eighties, artex has long been an easy way to add a decorative finish to a ceiling, as well as to hide cracks and uneven surfaces. Whilst previously you could find many tradesmen who did nothing but apply artex and do artex patching, currently it isn't quite so easy to obtain a plasterer who'll undertake artexing. The thing that enhanced its popularity was probably the wide range of designs and styles it could be fashioned in, and it appeared to be the case that everyone had their favourite design, maybe it was scroll, criss-cross, swirl, stippled, basket & roses, pairs, bark, medusa, hook & line, broken leather or circles. Patterns of artex were available to match any personal preference or taste. All of these artex designs can still be done today if you are able to find a local artexer or plumber willing to do it. Avoid "handyman" types who'll just "have a go". Remember, however, that artex isn't the easiest stuff to repair or patch up, which is among the reasons why it's appeal declined to begin with.
Plastering Courses Thorrington
If you'd like to embark on a career in the plastering trade or perhaps wish to gain a basic understanding of the art of plastering you could consider enrolling for an appropriate course of some sort. You'll find there are a multitude of plastering related courses on offer for both people wanting to increase their plastering skills and for complete beginners. There are both advanced and beginner plastering courses offered in either NVQ and City & Guilds. Beginners courses (level 1 courses) tackle skills like applying scratch coats (wall surfaces), preparing background surfaces, mixing up plaster materials, putting on floating coats (to walls), installing sheet materials and applying set coats. Intermediate and advanced (level two courses and diplomas) cover things such as plastering to exterior surfaces, cement and sand screeding, reverse moulds for fibrous plasterwork, fibrous plastering and dry lining. For plastering courses in Thorrington and throughout Essex, try searching on Google. You can check out NVQ, Diploma and City & Guilds courses in plastering and dry lining by going here. (Tags: Beginners Plastering Thorrington, Plasterers Courses Thorrington, Plastering Courses Thorrington, Plastering Lessons Thorrington)
Dry Lining Thorrington
Dry Lining Thorrington: Many plasterers in Thorrington also offer dry lining services, which will be required in plenty of improvement projects around the home. An approach that produces an acceptable wall surface that doesn't have to be plastered, dry lining is attached to a timber studding or joist, a masonry or brickwork surface or Gypframe metal framing. Quite often the plasterboard itself is decorated, although mostly it will be skimmed with a thin coat of finishing plaster, that can be painted or wallpapered without filling. In terms of fittings, when fixing plasterboard to wood studding or joists, nails or drywall screws are used, when fixing to a metal frame self-tapping (or Jack-Point screws) are used and when fixing to a masonry or brick wall the "dot and dab" method is used. (Tags: Plasterboarding Thorrington, Dry Liners Thorrington, Dry Lining Thorrington)
Exactly What is Plaster?
Employed for protecting and decorating the walls and ceilings of buildings, plaster is a material which has been in use since the days of the ancient Egyptians. What most of us call "plaster" in Thorrington is normally thought of as the material which is used for covering the interior rooms of buildings and homes, whilst that which is used externally is known as "render" or "rendering". The most common kinds of plaster mainly contain either gypsum, lime, or cement, though all pretty much work in the same way. Combined with water to make a stiff, easy to work paste, plaster is simply a fine, dry powder when manufactured. The reactions between the plaster powder and water produces heat through crystallization and the mix subsequently becomes hard. If you need to acquire plaster or plastering products, there are a lot of places you can do this including Screwfix, Travis and Perkins, B&Q, Wickes or British Gypsum.
Pebble Dashing
Although it is not everyone's cup of tea pebble dashing has been around for many years and used to decorate and protect the outsides of dwellings in Thorrington, Essex. Thorrington plasterers will often carry out this kind of project for you, although there are pebbledashing experts working in the area.
Pebbledashing (or pebble dashing) is a type of exterior wall coating generally consisting of 2 layers of a base made from lime and sand onto which small gravel, pebbles or shells are firmly pressed to form an attractive, strong and maintenance free finish on both refurbished and new buildings. (Tags: Pebble Dashers Thorrington, Pebble Dash Removal Thorrington, Pebble Dash Thorrington, Pebble Dashing Thorrington)
Polished Plaster Thorrington
Polished plaster is actually the term given to up-to-date variants of classic Italian plasterered finishes that have been used to great effect over the centuries. The expression describes an entire variety of decorative plaster finishes - from the very highly polished Venetian plaster, Lucidato and Marmorino to the more rugged looking textured polished plasters. Giving a finish that appears just like travertine, limestone or marble, polished plaster is mainly used on internal ceilings and walls. Polished plaster is smooth and sleek to the touch but offers natural shade variations and a unique sense of depth. It's also quite possible to combine these kinds of plasters to obtain distinctive custom finishes. By using natural or artificial colourants, attractive tints or colours can be given to the plaster finish. Should you wish to create a "marbled" effect in your Venetian plaster, or unique colours or designs that do not exist naturally, the ability to add tinting to Venetian plaster is especially useful. (Tags: Polished Plastering Thorrington, Polished Plaster Thorrington, Marbled Plaster Thorrington, Venetian Plaster Thorrington)
Plasterer Thorrington
A plasterer in Thorrington is a tradesperson who works exclusively with plaster, carefully spreading a smooth layer of this material over a previously coarse and uneven surface. Plastering has existed for many hundreds of years and has been a popular building finishing and repair procedure for thousands more. In these modern times, predominantly applied to the inside of the outside walls of commercial and residential buildings, plaster is used to create an even and smooth surface that is ready to receive the final finishing material. Plaster is also sometimes used to make decorative and ornate mouldings and cornices which can be used for embellishing the interior ceilings and walls of rooms. Plastering also plays an essential role in lots of home renovation projects in Thorrington, and is often used in the finishing of extensions, porches, loft conversions, garages and more. (Tags: Plasterers Thorrington, Plasterer Thorrington, Plastering Thorrington).
Plastering Tasks Thorrington
Thorrington plastering specialists can normally help you with plaster patching, pebble dash restoration in Thorrington, fibrous plaster, dry dashing in Thorrington, skimming over plasterboard, Venetian polish plaster, floor screeding and bull floating, tyrolean rendering Thorrington, ceiling roses and cornices, blown plaster Thorrington, ceramic tiling Thorrington, flood and fire renovations, recessed TV walls in Thorrington, dot and dab walling Thorrington, lath and plaster ceilings, plastering quotations, metal studding partitions Thorrington, magnetic plaster, polished plaster Thorrington, bonding, skirting board installation in Thorrington, the rendering of concrete blocks, rapid setting screeds, monocouche rendering, rendering with sand and cement, lime plastering, dragged plastering Thorrington, ceiling replacements, asbestos testing in Thorrington, screeding before tiling in Thorrington and other plastering work in Thorrington, Essex.
Information and Advice
To find out more about the history of plastering and plaster over the years, plasterer's tasks, plastering tools and materials, internal plastering, external plastering and traditional plastering techniques, it would be a good idea to take a look at the Wikipedia "Plasterwork" page. To join the world of screeding, rendering and plastering visit the Plasterer's Forum. Discussion threads include Fibrous Plastering, Exterior Wall Insulation, Damp Proofing, Plastering Students Discussions, Magnetic Plaster, Tricks and Tips of the Trade, Plasterer's Health and Safety, General Trade Discussions, Floor Screeding and General Rendering. To discover fully qualified members of the Federation of Plastering and Drywall Contractors (FPDC) you can do a search here. (Tags: Plasterers Essex, Plasterers Thorrington, Plastering Thorrington, Plasterer Thorrington).
Thorrington Plastering Services
- Thorrington Commercial Plastering
- Thorrington Plasterer
- Thorrington Plaster Patching
- Thorrington Plaster Skimming
- Thorrington Soundproofing
- Thorrington Cornice Installation
- Thorrington Artex Covering
- Thorrington Plasterers
- Thorrington Dry Lining
- Thorrington Plastering
- Thorrington Polished Plaster
- Thorrington Float and Set
- Thorrington Coving Installation
- Thorrington Domestic Plastering
Other Useful Trades in Thorrington Essex
Not surprisingly, whenever you're doing home improvements in Thorrington, Essex, you'll likely be in need of all sorts of different tradespeople and apart from plasterers in Thorrington, Essex, you might additionally need external wall insulation in Thorrington, painters and decorators in Thorrington, polished plaster in Thorrington, artex removal in Thorrington, electrical re-wiring in Thorrington, rendering specialists in Thorrington, domestic & commercial cleaners in Thorrington, screeders in Thorrington, coving installers in Thorrington, plasterboard installation in Thorrington, plaster mouldings in Thorrington, wall tiling in Thorrington, pebble dashing in Thorrington, bricklayers in Thorrington, carpenters in Thorrington, dry lining services in Thorrington, waste clearance in Thorrington or builders in Thorrington.
More Essex plasterers: Billericay Plasterers, Harlow Plasterers, Brentwood Plasterers, Corringham Plasterers, Witham Plasterers, Rayleigh Plasterers, Harwich Plasterers, Canvey Island Plasterers, Maldon Plasterers, Great Baddow Plasterers, Southend-on-Sea Plasterers, Basildon Plasterers, Stanford le Hope Plasterers, Halstead Plasterers, Braintree Plasterers, Loughton Plasterers, Waltham Abbey Plasterers, Leigh-on-Sea Plasterers, Frinton-on-Sea Plasterers, Clacton-on-Sea Plasterers, Colchester Plasterers, South Ockendon Plasterers, Wickford Plasterers, South Woodham Ferrers Plasterers, Benfleet Plasterers, Chelmsford Plasterers, Tilbury Plasterers, Saffron Walden Plasterers, Grays Plasterers and Chigwell Plasterers.
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