Plastering & Rendering

Should newly skimmed wall have holes in it

Anonymous user 03/03/2024 - 3.39 PM

I recently had my bathroom skimmed, for context the wall area is 1.5meter by 2 meters , 1/2 meter by 1/2 meter and 1/2 meter by 1/2meter. Most of the walls have wet wall on them. He done the ceiling too. When wet it looked perfect however he pointed out an area he thought was cracked and said he would come back to check and may have to redo that small wall . Now it’s dry there is indeed a large cracked area that you can feel and see in 2 places on the same wall, areas where he has missed around a tricky window area, holes like the size of the top of a pencil and a few patches where it looks like the top layer has been scraped off and isn’t smooth, small but there’s several of them. I’ve requested he come back as he said I would have no sanding to do. I expected to be able to do mist coat and move on. He suggested he is quite busy but has put posts up on fb looking for more work. I’ve tried to deal with it in private with him but I’d like to know what is reasonable condition for reskim to be once it’s dry. I feel he is just not interested .

Romeo Llabani Plastering

Rating: 5 out of 5

5/557 reviews

Northampton

In answer to your question, you can reskim the surfaces but firstly I would put two coats of PVA first followed by two coat skim. Just make sure that the areas around the cracks are not blown (hollow sound when tapping). If it is blown, just scrape them off and the plasterer would bond first and then skim (tape if necessary). It doesn't have to be bone dry, as long as it is strong to the touch. I'm sure other tradesmen use different dilution methods but I use 1:5 first PVA coat and 1:3 second PVA and once tacky, start skimming. Regarding the cracks, they can appear depending on the condition of the "old" plaster. i.e. already cracked surface, old skim missing and left with "rough and crumbly" plaster, etc.. Regarding the "holes" it sounds like there were bubbles created and with curing of the plaster, the top surface was too weak so it has popped :) Again, this should have been picked up when finishing and dealt with at the time. Hope you find a better plasterer for your next step. ps. It might be worth asking a decorator and see if they could rectify the issue, depending on how much "damage" there is.

Answered18 June 2021

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Anonymous user

Depending on the level of damage you may need a better plasterer to come in and rectify the issue, however, if the damage is cosmetic may only require some level of decorating services. Why not have a free plasterers assessment?

Answered26 June 2021

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