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Important tips on working with plaster walls
from:Contemporary houses are bereft of the plaster touch, but those houses that are seeped in tradition and age know the importance of plasters for sure. They know about the warmth that plastered walls can percolate into the home. If your house is about half a century old, you can be rest assured that it has plastered walls. Plaster on walls was the norm till sometime ago when it was considered ideal for home improvement. Yes, it required a gifted hand and earnest attention to be prolific with the trade of plastering walls.
Dry wall compound taking the sheen away from plaster
When drywall compound blasted on to the scene, it took away the sheen from the plastered walls. Joint compounds or Dry wall compounds soon became the mantra for the wall decoration enthusiasts. There were myriad reasons for this. First was the ease associated with working on it? It sets up in due time and mixes pretty easily. You can sand it feasibly, it is available in an already-mixed formula and you can clean it up in a very simple way.
What is a plaster
For those who are not aware, plaster is a mixture of gypsum, sand and water. For most workers, it is the ideal mixture and wall material that stays strong for a long period of time. Plaster walls are furnished as they are, owing to the reaction of solid plaster with water. Though, joint compound is preferred for patching and a lot of intricate molding, plaster is by far, the better choice when it comes to strengthening walls. However, plaster is also preferred over others as it can be easily manipulated with sandpaper or metal tools as it remains to be quite soft even after drying.
A few ideas for working on plastered walls
If you wish to work on plaster walls, you need to be a little circumspect. For instance, if you try to drive a nail, it will result in the breakage of a lot of plaster. Here, you must use a masking tape. Put it across the area where you are using a nail. This will prevent any kind of chip out irrespective of the strength of the drilling process. You can also use a shallow pilot hole drilled into the wall. Make sure that there is no brown dust emanating from the wall, as it is the sign of plastered walls eroded till their Brown coat.
And a little more help
A dry wall screw is an absolute “No”. It will take a lot of chunk out of the wall. Also, keep in mind not to pull the lath. It will ease out a large chunk of plaster with it as well. Ensure that you do not use stud finders unless well covered by stud sensor technology.
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