Should I use polystyrene or plaster coving?

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Taylor B

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Me and my fiancé have just bought a house and we're thinking about some DIY improvements. A friend of ours suggested putting up coving in the lounge but I started looking into it and I'm just so confused.

I've watched a million videos on how to actually put it up and that. But how do I know what kind of coving to buy?? Can someone tell me the main differences like pros and cons of plaster and polystyrene coving? Cheers.
 
Go for plaster coving or, better still, actual proper plaster cornice. The polystyrene stuff looks like cheap polystyrene (and gives off deadly fumes if your house goes on fire).
 
Pro's of real plaster coving: Cheaper for large and attractive profiles; more profiles to choose from.
Con's: Kinda heavy, you really need two people to put it up.

Pro's of polystyrene/gyproc coving: Cheaper if you just want a small or plain profile like B&Q or screwfix sell; much easier to install.

I disagree with Alan that it looks cheap -I don't think you can tell the difference once painted. It's all just white.

So the question is: what sort of style/size do you need, and how confident would you be working with heavy plaster?
 
Polystyrene coving is awful - it has a very obvious polystyrene texture finish and is easily dented.

You can get a polymer coving which is lighter than plaster or gyproc but has a better finish than p'styrene.
 
OwainDIYer said:
Polystyrene coving is awful - it has a very obvious polystyrene texture finish and is easily dented.
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Hmm, I can't recall seeing coving like that. The stuff I've seen must have been either paper covered, or ten feet up where you can't tell polystyrene from white emulsion!
 
Gerrydelasel said:
or ten feet up where you can't tell polystyrene from white emulsion!
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I could tell polystyrene more than ten feet up. I could see the installer's thumb-dents all along it.

Incidentally, 3-metre lengths of 40mm plastic waste pipe makes a fantasic prop when fitting coving single-handedly.
 
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