How easy is it to plaster a wall?

Question

How easy or hard is it to plaster a wall inside the house?

We were removing wallpaper and on one wall the old plaster was crumbling and coming off in great chunks. It is a small wall (and the other walls are fine as they're covered in wood).

1. Is plastering an easyish job to do for my husband? He'd need to be able to make it smooth again for wallpapering.

2. Instead of plastering can we put plaster board on? It's housebricks that we're down to.

Which is the better option in terms of cost, ease etc?

Answer 1

Depends

Answer 2

My stepfather can do it and he's not a builder or doesn't usually do that kind of stuff. He says it's fairly easy but I guess it depends on the individual.

Answer 3

easy as. best option is to dop and dab. simple, cut plaster board to size of wall leaving an half inch short from floor. mix 1 part uni-bond and 5 parts water, then brush on diluted uni-bond on to brick work and leave to dry. mix up some plaster and blob in onto the back of plaster board in one foot spacings. then place board at area to be fixed keeping it packed up half inch. then using a piece of 4 by 2 as a straight edge pat the board to the wall. leave to set, remove half inch packer and refit skirting board. fill in any joins if any. hey presto ready to paper!!!

uni-bond is just pva wood glue, not sure of cost

sheet of plaster board is around a 5 note

bag of plaster, 5 note(which will do 3 to 5 boards depending how straight the wall is).

a plaster will charge you around 3quid per square foot to plaster

dop and dab cheap as chips, hope to have been of some help.

Answer 4

Get a plasterer in to do the job, he will have to bond it. should not be too dear, get a few quotes.

Answer 5

Drywall it.  No question.

Answer 6

its not easy to plaster i can do most things in my house but plastering is one thing i cant do plasterers make it look easy but its not i suggest u get a proper bloke to do it (if u can get one) if its only one wall it wouldnt be 2 expensive and it will be worth the money why not get the whole room plastered then paint it instead of wallpaper much better and even if u cover it with plasterboard u still have to plaster over it b4 you paint or wallpaper it dont let anybody touch it if they dont no what they doing if u down to the bricks you will have to cement over the bricks then plaster over the cement once its dry or plasterboard over the bricks then plaster the plasterboard

Answer 7

another name for dry walling ..is dotting and dabbing ..you buy a bag of BONDING ADHESIVE ..not bonding coat ...mix a bucket of this ..its white powder ..to a thick mix ..then apply dabs of this mix to wall ..normal amount is 15 dabs to a 6 by 3 board ..then press board on to wall ..repeat till its all covered ..ensuring the boards are flush and level ...after they are set you can skim them ...after taping the joins

Answer 8

Drywall is what we in the UK call plasterboard..

I'd batten, insulate between with something like kingspan and plasterboard over. I really wouldn't plaster it yourself.

Answer 9

Definitely drywall. Plaster is old school wall covering, requires a special backing to hold it flat in place, is messy, and as you see, can crack eventually.

Drywall is synonymous for sheetrock, a gypsum board material strengthened with fiberglas fibers and paper on both sides. It comes in 4' X 8' or 4' X 12' sheets and can be bought at any building supply.

It comes in 1/2", 5/8", and 3/4" thicknesses. For interior wall, use 1/2". For exterior walls, or "fire barriers" (between living space and garage or between apartments,) use 5/8" or 3/4" for better insulation.

For wet areas, there is "greenboard." Greenboard is just like regular sheetrock but the gypsum is treated to be resistant to moisture. Use it in bathrooms or around sink areas.

To fit pieces in place, you cut the paper on one side, "fold" it along the cut, then cut the paper on the back side to separate the cut piece. Don't cut all the way through the sheetrock, this will just dull your blade, you need to just cut the paper. Nail it in place. You only need sheetrock tape and joint mud to cover the nails and joints.

Sheetrock nails are different than regular nails, but they are still cheap. They have a concave head to help accept the mud (joint compound.) For hard to nail areas, there are also sheetrock screws.

Plenty of DIY tutorials on the web for hanging sheetrock. Anyone can do it, although you may want to experiment on a test area. A certain  strike is required to hit the nails just right so they go a little "concave" to accept the patching mud to cover them.