joint tape on TE plasterboard

That's the way pro plasters do it. Time's money.

What is the point in using two coats when one is adequate?

Let's face it. It you can't apply a plaster skim to a perfect surface and get it right first time - then you aint no plasterer.
 
joe-90 said:
That's the way pro plasters do it. Time's money.

What is the point in using two coats when one is adequate?

Let's face it. It you can't apply a plaster skim to a perfect surface and get it right first time - then you aint no plasterer.
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Sorry Joe, that's b0110cks. Utter b0110cks.

Some may do just one coat although I certainly don't know any plasterers who do one coat. Ever. And I know some who've been at it for thirty years. Sorry, tell a lie, I do know one plasterer who does one coat. He does it when he's working on council properties and isn't really bothered about the uality of work. Some will do two coats. I'd say the majority probably do two.

At the end of the day it's personal preference but your last bit is the biggest load of cr4p I've ever heard. I am a plasterer and a mighty good one even though I've only been doing it full time for a short while. I may not be the fastest but I sure as hell take a ot of pride in my work and make sure the finish is right and the place is left nice and clean. I prefer it that way. Yes, time is money but a sh1t job COSTS money. Lots of it when your customers bad mouth you to others. A bad reputaton travels far and fast while a good one travels much slower. I've started building up a good reputation round here and I sure as hell ain't gonna go destroying it rapidly. Especially not on the advice that one coat is the way to do it.

Regards

Fred
 
Fred
He’s reeling you in with the landing net ready; don’t fret over it!
 
Richard C said:
Fred
He’s reeling you in with the landing net ready; don’t fret over it!
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But I'm no convinced he's trying to actually wind me up with bullsh1t. I think he actualy believes his own bullsh1t!

Regards

Fred
 
Look folks. Forget the insults. Stick to the facts.

The principle behind general plastering is that you apply the first coat to cover the big hollows.

You then go over it with a second coat to take out the minor hollows.

Then you wizz over with a wet trowel followed by a dry trowel.

Job done.

However. with plasterboard you already have a perfect surface with no hollows - it's factory finished perfect. No human can get it better.

So you then wizz over it with one coat to add a paintable surface.

Then wizz over it with a wet trowel followed by a dry trowel - job done.

What is the point of a second coat? It was perfect before you started!

If you can't apply one coat without making a hash of it then you can't apply a second coat and recover the situation.

Why not add three coats? Or four? Doesn't need it?

Doesn't need two either.

It is PERFECT before you lay your trowel on it - you can only go downhill from perfect.

Now quit the insults (which only show you don't understand your craft) and tell me why you think it needs two coats.
 
any diyers or potential plasterers read this and learn.

there are very few 'perfect' walls, plasterboard or otherwise in the real world.

stud walls for instance, can contain differing thicknesses of uprights and ceilings can have differing thicknesses of joists too. this will result in the odd high or low spot on the surface. very small differences but evident.

door casings normally stand proud so can beadings around openings and on corners.

scrims also soak up the water a little quicker and will result in a little proud spot.

but most of all, even a perfect, flat and uninterrupted wall, the surface will become imperfect the moment the plasterer applies his skim. this is why two coats are essential even on a perfect wall.
there will be moderate suction in the plasterboard, and this will cause the skim to go off at a steady rate, slower where the skim is thicker and quicker where the skim is thinner.
this is magnified the larger the wall becomes. even for a fast spread, by the time you have got to the end of a big run the first application can be quite firm.
this is why two coats are used. always. full stop.

and, despite what one poster on this forum says, professional plasterers two coat. even the penny pinching site boys two coat.

why? because it is EASIER. :wink:
 
Not easier - not necessary. Plasterboard is a perfect surface which doesn't need two coats - it's already perfect. What does the second coat do that the first coat doesn't?
 
Wow!

Sorry to bump this contentious post back to the top but can I ask (as a total novice) exactly what you mean by two coat?

Is this one coat on top of a set coat or on top of a setting coat or what?

Ta!
 
Two coats, exactly as said the first coat is put on the plasterboard surface, a second ' top coat' if you like of plaster is then spread onto the surface of the first coat.

As has been said, very few stud walls are perfectly true across their lenght, therefore 2 coats are put on to ensure that the finished wall is true and flat in all directions. I've seen some of the older guys do one coat, and although they were very experienced the finish didn't look as good as the two coat method. IMO :)
 
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