Basic Room Preperation When Plastering.

When starting your plastering job or calling in the tradesmen, preparation is key.

Having your room ready in the right way can save you a lot of time and prevent the potential of accidental damage and a lot of clean up. Overall being prepared is essential.

If you're looking to get plastering work done, and if its possible for you to do as much preparation yourself then this will make the job a little quicker and a bit easier overall. Potentially saving you money on the overall price of the job.

First of all remove as much furniture as possible from the room in which you are preparing to plaster. Completely empty it of all potential obstacles whenever possible. If there are items of furniture you must leave in the room then discuss where best to place them with your plasterer so they will have an idea of where and what they can work around. Will items be best placed in the middle of the room? or at one end? Always cover your items with at least a plastic sheet to help prevent them getting covered in dust, or the odd stray bit of plaster ( nobody is perfect) especially if mixing your plaster in the same room as this dust is unavoidable and can soon build up. Keeping windows open as much as possible will help minimise the dust and aid the airs circulation. Plastic sheets are a cheap throwaway option and will keep your prized possessions safe and clean.

Next is your flooring. Clean old bedding or curtains, which you would be ready to throw away are a great option to start with. Second option, naturally your dust sheets. Place these snug against the skirting boards or bottoms of your walls and overlap each sheet by roughly a foot or two. Bedding and curtains are fine to prevent dust but will not stop any water/plaster spillages from potentially getting through to your carpets so it is advised to use dust sheets with plastic backing or to place a tarpaulin down over your sheets. This may sound like overkill but for a little extra cost, the floors are a lot more protected by adding the tarpaulin.

Mixing Area. Wherever you or your plasterer sets up the mixing area, we always recommend placing a tarp. This makes the clean up much, much easier as this is usually the messiest place. Simply remember you can not cover your floors or items too much, the more the better.

The third place to consider is the floor route from your house entrance to the rooms that are being worked in. Feet are the last enemy, potentially travelling plaster through your home with a trail of dusty footprints. Two options for your floors are your dust sheets or plastic sticky floor covering. Simply lay it down on the floor covering wherever foot fall is expected.

Next, bathroom or kitchen. Wherever a fresh supply of water is being supplied will also have footfall so an extra precaution is to also cover this floor.

Finally is the option to remove all fixture's such as light sockets/switches by a qualified electrition. Radiators removed by a qualified plumber.(Need to keep your nail/screw hole's? Try this) As well as curtain poles, t.v. brackets etc. All of these are difficult to work around when plastering and can add significant time to your job and can sometimes have a result on your finish. When removed the plastering is made a lot easier and the results so much better, most often a lot better. A little more time consuming but well worth the effort if your looking for the best results out of the job which you are only looking to do once.