Plastering around fireplace leaving inside brick exposed
Anonymous user 23/02/2024 - 3.28 PM
Hi. I asked a plasterer to plaster the surround area of a fireplace, while leaving the inside bricks exposed.. He used sand/cement to cover & then skimmed on top. The sand/cement has slightly covered/overlapped the first bricks on the inside of the fireplace. It looks untidy and unfinished, and not as good compared to plaster just covering front surround. When I brought up the issue, the plasterer said this is the only way to do the job. I disagreed, but I would like to get further advice/opinion? He also did not use any beading. Thanks
Are you a tradesperson and able to answer this question?
Yes I agree stop bead .
Should hav been put on the 2 sides and the top
To prevent plasterer from going inside.
If you used beads it would be a neater job and straight lines
To be a good job angle beads should be used. The beads with the mesh to have a strong resistance and to look good. After plastering, the inside part of the mesh from the beads, the one that is one the bricks can be cut so you can have clean bricks inside the chimney.
Always a tricky situation and the key to this situation is good communication between both parties before the work starts. I lay no blame at either tradesman or customer but personally I would have explained the various ways of finishing, that being - do you want it to look rough ie- olde worlde, or do you want pristine 45 degree corners and tightly finished lines around the fire surround where the exposed bricks are to be seen. If the latter is expected then there are 'finishing beads' specific to this scenario generally known as stop or end angle beads, used in the rendering process. Said beads create a perfect finish against a rough wall where the render/plaster ends and meets brickwork. A typical example is at the bottom of a rendered external house wall where the render starts slightly above ground level. These can be purchased in all builders centres and indeed B&Q and Wickes etc for a few quid per 2 metre length and can be cut with ease with the correct tools. As I said at the start, its always important for both customer and tradesman to communicate with each other before any work starts. Personally I'd have raised this issue on meeting with the customer but I'm a bit belt and braces on this sort of matter. As always and with out having seen the job first hand its difficult to opine but yes there are specific stop beads for this type of work.
