wall plastering dilemna~ need a "how-to" contractor quotes are crazy high
hi trying to smooth the plaster walls in my pre-war apt. i’m getting quotes of 10k-30k to smooth and finish the walls alone , the interior apt size is less than 1k feet. the walls are not bad, some small hairline cracks, just overall not smooth. i need help trying to do this myself. 1…
hi
trying to smooth the plaster walls in my pre-war apt.
i’m getting quotes of 10k-30k to smooth and finish the walls alone , the interior apt size is less than 1k feet. the walls are not bad, some small hairline cracks, just overall not smooth.
i need help trying to do this myself.
1 contractor said he starts first with primer, then plasters and smooth the plaster then primes again.
another told me he doesn’t use joint compound but plaster mix and lime.
so my question is, whats the best course of action for me to do it myself?
use joint compound and primer or trying to find the powder plaster mix?
any help is welcome
thanks!
Hi,
I’ve just had the walls on 3 floors of my house completely rejuvenated by these 2 very nice guys who do side work on the weekends (they work for a big contractor during the week). They were very professional and their price was VERY reasonable compared to all other quotes. I am a little uneasy about posting specific $ amounts because that can vary depending on the condition of your walls. Email me @ mhmela@aol.com if you’d like to see their work, I am in Cobble Hill.
Helen
Those quotes are really high. I had two floors (smallish) done with substantial water damage in spots to the plaster, plus a ceiling and another room on a third floor done, plus some work in the basement for about $13,000 — lots of woodwork, replacing windows, a little pluming and light fixture replacement and so on. So for you, I’d think something like the $5000 quote might be right. Depends a little on condition of walls, of course, but mine were quite bad. The area I had done wasn’t a lot more than 1100 sq. ft. but it was a lot of rooms.
Wow those quotes are really high, I just had my entire apartment done, and it cost me only 5400.00 and they did an GREAT!!! job. I used Wright Management. I found them here on brownstoner. There number is 3477896550 ask for John.
I’ve skim-coated my ceilings with joint compound, along with patching wall cracks/gouges, etc. The key is a substance called Plaster Weld, which gets painted on the walls as a kind of primer. (It’s sold in many hardware stores; it’s a pink liquid.)
Another point about fixing cracks: you have to gouge open the crack a little to give yourself enough room to squeeze the joint compound in. You can’t really cover up a crack; you have to fill it. You can use the pointy end of a bottle opener for this.
Good luck.
I think you’ve had ALOT of crack.
I would say that if you have a few crack you can do this yourself…
I would use joint compound and I would not use primer before. I would take the advice of starting in a closet… but all it takes is a little practice and ALOT of patience. Use less compound than you think and just put on a very thin coat. Try a small area, buy the small joint compound jug and a couple different knives and see how it goes for a wall. Worse case scenario as long as you dont put large gobs of compound on the walls and let it dry you cant mess it up too bad. and you can always make the decision to have a professional do it once you give it a try…
I’ll have to agree with the others. My husband and I are the King and Queen of DIY, but we can’t do plaster. And yes, the contractor was correct about not using joint compound.
If it’s just some cracks, you can absolutely fix it by yourself. Maybe you should do that and live with bumpy walls for awhile until you can afford to do it correctly.
You should know that this work requires a lot of skill, which is why good plaster work costs a lot. It’s definitely not something for a DIY job, so if you really want to give it a try, start inside a closet of some other space that you don’t so much mind ruining.
Call a number of contractors, check their references and visit previous jobs they’ve done. Good luck.
Your quotes sound very high. Have you looked for skim coat specialists? You don’t need someone who specializes in ornate plaster work to do smooth walls. If you are calling these kinds of contractors you’re paying for the skillset you don’t need.
I don’t think this is a great candidate for DIY job…its takes a lot of skill to get plaster just right.
Don’t know if this is the “right way” but Ive seen walls repaired with 3 applications of joint compounding (which means 3 sanding jobs as well) followed by primer and two coats of paint.