To think I can do the plastering myself?

[CochonDinde]

I'm fancying getting my downstairs rooms re-plastered. I'm fairly handy when it comes to DIY (single mum too so no partner to assist), but admittedly plastering is never something I've done. AIBU to reckon I can have a crack? Or am I likely to balls up my house? Anyone here do their own plastering?

Go for it. The consumables are dirt cheap so if you end up taking it all of it’s not much beyond time lost.
If you have stone walls or a house on which an irregular finish will look like it’s over a stone wall you are home and dry, if you want a snooker table flat finish its rather tricky.

I have done a few bits here and there over the years and been happy with the results. People who want a wall as flat as possible wouldn’t be.

they put apprentices under the stairs to learn as no-one really looks under there. Its a black art and takes a lot of skill to get right

DH and I are both quite handy, but plastering is totally outside our comfort zones and we'd get a professional in.

Plastering is harder than you think, I'd probably just pay someone to do it. But if you want to have a go there is no harm in trying. I'd just be prepared to pay out again if you're not happy with the finish

We have renovated many houses and dh has done everything himself, plumbing, electrics, knocking through walls, building walls, etc etc. Not plastering! He can do very small areas ok-ish but no way a whole room. It's one of the few thing we pay out for. So I wouldn't.

I asked a plasterer who was working at my Dad's house, how long did it take to learn to plaster. His response was "About 4 years, but to be honest, I've been doing it 18 years and I still learn every day."

There are certain things you should pay a professional for, in my opinion. Gas, electric and plastering! Getting a glass-smooth finish is SO skilled and a room looks shit if it’s done badly. It will catch the light for all time and piss you off.

Don’t do it. A ‘professional’ plasterer did our bedroom and it was a terrible job, I can still see the waves in the walls.
When we sacked him and got a better guy in the rest of the walls are perfect . Definitely not something that’s easily fixed either.

Try it yourself and you will find out how well you've done it when you get a roller on it.

I've painted after scores of professional plasterers and even some of them haven't done a great job.

Fuck it, I'm going to give it a go if I mess it up, I can pay for a plasterer to rectify (assuming at this point I've not layered so thickly my room volume has reduced by 99.9%)

@OoohTheStatsDontLie please let us know how it goes!!!

Watch loads of YouTube videos OP. If you have a knack for DIY you will manage ok. I'd work on the shorter walls first.

I actually built a partition wall with door frame and plasterboard and did the skimming....it's a good few years ago mind, but I was really chuffed with the result.
A plumber who did some work for me didn't believe me that I had done it myself. He said there was no way I had done such a good job!

You nerd to find yourself a course, if you want to try it. DH did a b&q course, back when they did them. As a result, he knows when to give it a try and when best to call the professionals in (the same can't be said for whoever did our living room because it looks like it was smoothed with a butter k nife.)

Nah! I've just had a house built. The plasterer had shoulders and arms like Popeye. He did 8 hours plastering at a time, and was knackered after, and it still took him 3 weeks to do a 2 bed bungalow (although that was from scratch).

@CochonDinde. I had intended to do it myself, but after watching a few YouTube videos, realised I lacked the physical ability to do it, let alone quickly enough and being a perfectionist knew I wouldn’t be able to do it to even a ‘satisfactory’ level.

My biggest concern though was reducing the large room to phone box size before I was happy enough with it! 🤣

The money I paid the plasterer I consider selling spent’

Complete admiration for those who have done it themselves!!

I wouldn’t. I’ve just had a new kitchen. My fitter did all the fitting of units, gas, electrics (all necessary certs in place before anyone says otherwise), fitted a new window. But he got a plasterer in for the walls where tiles were removed. It really is such a specialist skill.

Thanks all. I'll give it a go, but winter hesitate to get a plasterer in when needed. My brother's done his own plastering in his house without any training and it looks fabulous. I'm physically fit and generally very good with DIY so sod it, I'll give it a go! Might do a few weeks 80s style training montage before I attempt (and get a plasterer ready on speed dial!)

I did a very small bit of patching up plastering yesterday and have never swore so much in my life! It’s exceptionally difficult to get a decent finish.

Plasterers are really cheap- by far the cheapest of the trades

I'd give it a go, well I actually have tried and failed, but I would try again!

You don't know unless you try.

You need Gyproc (sp?) If just smoothing rough cracked walls. White bag, green lable in Homebase. Mix with water. Apply with a squeegee and sand down lightly for a smooth finish. Saved us a fortune.

I will tile, paint and do electrics. I can even artex ceilings. I won't plumb or plaster.
Get a bit of plywood and practice on it. I can't get the action of scooping it up and getting it on the surface at all.

Iostin I can afford a plasterer.. that's not the point

I'm sure there's a Simpsons episode where Homer plasters the ceiling and they end up about a foot from the floor

Good luck op, sure you'll do great if you are quite handy anyway.