DIY Doctor UK DIY Forums

could i just ask somebody's advice , iam about to board a room in my house and then skim over it .
As iam a just a learner i don't think there will be enough hours in the day for me to add a first coat of fininish and then a second .

Do i stay up all night to make sure the second coat goes on , or can i leave it over night then add the second coat the following day ,
If i can leave the second coat till the next day , do i then need to pva the first coat that i put on the day before .

regards
Richard .

Hi Richard.

You need to put the 2 coats on together. The first coat takes any dicrepancies out of the surface, the second coat is the finish coat. You'll find the second coat goes on a lot easier than the first coat. Start on the smallest wall ('til you get a bit of confidence!) Remember, you can keep flicking water onto the plaster and 'play' with it for some time.

Good luck! Rob

Hi mate, When your skimming on to boards you need to put both coats on at the same time. If youv'e never done it before a big room is gonna be a challenge and a half.
You should try and do it wall by wall.
If you start by covering your first wall with skimming. allow 30 mins maximum, then go back over the same wall with half as much plaster again. Once two coats have been applied you should use a clean trowel to start to flatten off your wall. DONT spend time trying to get rid of your lines on your first coat just get the stuff on the second coat should start to flatten your wall off. The first wipe with a clean trowel should take out a few more. After this you should give your wall another two wipes with a clean trowel, once you've done this your wall should be starting to get brown patches on it this is the time to polish your wall by running a clean trowel straight across the wall from end to end. Hint if you are right handed you should always work from the top left hand corner of a wall to the bottom right reverse for left handed still working from top to bottom. Hope this helps you mate if you would like to learn properly we are now offering a summer special course rate of £250 with a free pre worn marshall town trowel ( which are the best) at the plastering centre in bruntingthorpe as seen on diy doctor web site. Cheers mate

hi there im not a plasterer full time but i do a lot of private work for people my advice to you is would you need two coats if your just skimming board i would skim the board in one coat all in one day if you feel the need for two coats why not just do 2 coats of 2 walls in one day then the other 2 the next if i did this i would not do two joining walls if you know what i mean also i dont think there is a need for pva although i would this will allow you more time to get your finish if your just learning

hope this helps