HOW TO PLASTER A WALL

So for our fellow guys and gals who are curious how to do masonry jobs like a pro, just follow these tips and gather some muscle power and you're all set to a start.

Follow the grid lines

Before you do the actual plastering job, you need first to determine the reference point for your lay-out. For buildings they usually have grid lines which are determined by line and grade engineers using surveying tools, but for laymen, you can actually use a big ruler or steel tape, some straight edges and start marking the floor for your reference.

Use the plumb bob

Once you get the horizontal alignment and set up the strings for your guide, you need to check the vertical alignment of the wall, there may be some part of the walls that needs some chipping and to determine that, you need to use plumb bob to make sure that your line of reference is aligned

Preparation

Chip some parts which needs to be chipped, like when you're plastering on a concrete hollow blocks wall, some edges of the blocks could be broken and these would not give you a nice plastered finish result. You need to chip these edges, or use some angle grinder if needed, in order to attain the desired results. Some smooth walls need to be chipped and scratched before you can actually apply plastering mortar so that the mortar can bond well to the wall surface. Remember to dampen the wall with some water before you can apply the mortar.

Application

During the preparation, you can actually have the mortar mixed by an assistant or a friend to make the job faster, but for solo acts you can now mix the mortar at this time. There are plenty of plastering mortar available in the market nowadays unlike on the old times when they also use cement on plastering. Some of them are in powder form but are finer and with thicker texture than cement (just like the one you use in tile setting) which you mix with water and there are also some products in clay form which you mix with cement but I cannot give you detailed comparison yet on their results since I haven't used the clay type.

For techniques or tips on how to apply the mortar on the wall, better yet talk to experienced masons for their share of advices. They say its on how you glide the tool on the wall but I can't describe it yet since I don't do the actual work on a daily basis, I just supervise and inspect their works.

Another tip I can give is that before you finish the application, you might want to dampen your plastering tool once in a while for that smooth plastered finish.