Category Archive: Plastering

1. Plastering Walls and Ceilings

   July 26, 2013 4:33 pm Comments Off on Plastering Walls and Ceilings

   Having walls plastered is a great way to create a quality blank canvas, ready for papering, tiling or painting. Essex Property Maintenance give a professional smooth finish every time, at a time convenient to you.  Whether the job involves re-skimming outdated aertex ceilings or plastering over plasterboard to make your walls ready to decorate, our expert service is reliable, fully insured and guaranteed. As well as plastering, we also provide services for dry lining and painting. As a result you can rely on the outstanding workmanship of Essex Property Maintenance to not only dry line and plaster your walls, but also decorate them with the material of your choice, whether it be paint, wallpaper or tiles.

    

   Our team of tradesmen are also fully qualified to construct wall petitions in your home/commercial property. These partitions are a great solution to those of you wanting to create:

   • Separate living and dining areas
   • Secluded study or play area for youngsters
   • En-suite bathroom within a bedroom

    

   Alternatively, for those of you renovating a commercial property, separate offices or treatment rooms can be created, acting as division, not load bearing walls. Partitions are perfect for homeowners who prefer traditional, individual living areas within their home as opposed to the more modern concept of open plan living. Partitions are usually simple to construct, traditionally using materials such as timber for the framework. Alternatively, for those of you wanting to section off a particular area of a room, Essex Property Maintenance also provide single or double glazed partitions. Glass wall partitions are a fantastic way of separating spaces, without losing light which such timber and plasterboard petitions can cause. Glass partitions create the illusion of one large area and are most common within commercial properties, mainly offices, although are becoming more popular within domestic properties to give a fit for purpose secluded area whilst at the same time a modern touch.

    

   Whether you are a homeowner or commercial client, we provide a range of screeding systems to give a professional finish to any size room awaiting new flooring. Essex Property Maintenance promise to provide:

   • A smooth and level floor
   • A reliable service at a competitive price
   • Deliver to your deadlines

    

   We take pride in the high standard of our screeding and have over 20 years of experience in the trade. Not only can we construct/decorate room walls and screed floors, we also focus on the exterior of home and commercial properties. Our external wall insulation services are guaranteed and insured to ensure your property retains heat at an environmentally friendly rate, saving you money too! After insulation, we are also able to provide rendering services, including traditional lime rendering. Like all of our other services, Essex Property Maintenance guarantees and insures all rendering jobs, and promises to give your property that much desired curb appeal.

2. Plastering The Walls & Ceilings in Your Home

   November 12, 2012 6:50 pm Comments Off on Plastering The Walls & Ceilings in Your Home

   Clea plaster can help to fix a multitude of sins in your home. Walls can crack and become easily damaged, especially with family homes or rental properties. Ceilings can do the same, this is especially the case with older properties who have boards in the ceilings that have not been joined properly and have not been fully bonded – the ceiling can sag, crack and chip when the boards begin to settle.

   The other reason homeowners have areas re-plastered or skimmed is when artex is currently in place – it is dated and most modern homes prefer ceilings to be skimmed to a smooth finish. Another reason? When walls have become damp, they can be re-plastered when the damp source has been located and repaired.

   Re-plastering

   This is a great way to modernise the home. Consider whether your walls are slightly out of shape, as a plasterer will not always be able to complete the plastering work to a straight finish without re-boarding and bonding (re-floating) the entire wall again – basically, starting from scratch is sometimes the only way to correct the problem. Some homeowners, however, are happy to simply carry out repair works on such walls to save money though its important to get advice from the plasterer to ensure that they can guarantee problems won’t occur again. In this case re-skimming existing walls may be the solution.

   It may be that you prefer only the damaged areas or cracks to be filled in, in this case its important to ensure that the cracks won’t re-occur and that you are sure cracks are not a sign of more serious damage other than old, dry plasterwork. Modern plaster or mortar applied to older walls may cause defectiveness. Another thing to mention is that it’s essential to ensure if the wall is an exterior one, that the mortar or cement in the bricks or stones (if you house is of traditional build) is intact.

   If the walls are already very smooth, it can be vital that the plasterer you undertake to carry out work cracks the current plaster so that the new plaster can attach itself permanently.

   Re-skimming

   If the existing skimming on your walls or ceiling has become flaky with no hollowing in the wall cavity, it may be possible to bond the existing boards to level the entire wall or ceiling up. This is especially the case where any cracks or flakes cannot be plastered over. In many cases it is possible for a plasterer to re-skim over old materials. In some cases, you can fill in smaller cracks yourself though do be prepared to re-paint or wallpaper the entire room.

   The main difference between re-plastering (or skimming) and plastering over plasterboard is in the preparation. Such prep must be carried out properly or new plaster will not take as the existing plaster has a high rate of suction capability, meaning that new plaster can be absorbed too quickly and will cause problems.

   Damaged plasterboard whether on walls or ceilings needs to be repaired first before attempting re-skimming (or re-plastering.) PVA is usually applied to old plaster before new plaster is used to skim the area, this prepares the area and prevents the existing plaster from sucking in the new.

   A re-skim can be up to £10 per square metre depending on your location, however having advice from a professional is helpful at this point.

   Conclusion

   Assess the room and the exterior facing walls for concealed sources of the problem. Smaller cracks may be simply that your home is older and boards have settled over time, that they weren’t fitted properly to begin with, or that the plaster has simply become damp or dry over time.