Shout out to the wet trades!

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Originally Posted by dembethewarrior

You using post hole diggers? Can't remember the spelling, shivolas (that's probably a million miles off the spelling :hehe:) used to use them on the railways for digging makes life much easier, but still not straightforward in this heat.

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I've got a Big heavy spike for breaking the earth and one of those big tweezer things to grab the loosened soil. Didn't realise it was called a shivola. Makes life easy - until you hit a brick, and there's quite a few in my garden.
I think the builders dumped a few buckets of topsoil over their rubbish when they finished the actual house.

Good plasterers and bricklayers are basically a different species. For your common or garden human, plastering is essentially impossible. Anyone can sort-of do a shit job of bricklaying, but to do it accurately and fast.... Bonkers. I've spent over £30k on plastering in the last 6 years and I'm someone who will take on most jobs in the house so an area where I might have tried to save myself a stack of money. But plastering... ****ing hell not a chance. I'm more mystified by the work of a good plasterer than I am of the work of a spinal surgeon.

Shit plasterers can **** off tho. Had one have a tantrum and walk off the job (£15k of work!) when his plaster crazed. It was 35 degrees that day so I do have some sympathy, but if you don't know how to deal with the conditions just say! I wasn't in a rush to get it done.

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Originally Posted by Optimistic Nick

Good plasterers and bricklayers are basically a different species. For your common or garden human, plastering is essentially impossible. Anyone can sort-of do a shit job of bricklaying, but to do it accurately and fast.... Bonkers. I've spent over £30k on plastering in the last 6 years and I'm someone who will take on most jobs in the house so an area where I might have tried to save myself a stack of money. But plastering... ****ing hell not a chance. I'm more mystified by the work of a good plasterer than I am of the work of a spinal surgeon.

Shit plasterers can **** off tho. Had one have a tantrum and walk off the job (£15k of work!) when his plaster crazed. It was 35 degrees that day so I do have some sympathy, but if you don't know how to deal with the conditions just say! I wasn't in a rush to get it done.

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Fair play I’ve been a bricklayer for 50 years this September, never been referred to as a different specie:old::hehe:

I've done my own plastering, and I was proud of the result.
Never tried bricklaying tho.

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Originally Posted by bobh

I've done my own plastering, and I was proud of the result.
Never tried bricklaying tho.

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Good effort mate. I do it for a living, and to be able to DIY it takes some skills. Well done :thumbup:

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Originally Posted by Tuerto

Good effort mate. I do it for a living, and to be able to DIY it takes some skills. Well done :thumbup:

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I went on one of those 5 day slap it on plastering courses about 20 years ago

All I could produce was a cow pat which ran down the wall

My apologies

I leave it to those who know

Multi skilled tradesmen do exist and if you know one grab him by the bollocks

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Originally Posted by SLUDGE FACTORY

I went on one of those 5 day slap it on plastering courses about 20 years ago

All I could produce was a cow pat which ran down the wall

My apologies

I leave it to those who know

Multi skilled tradesmen do exist and if you know one grab him by the bollocks

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It's difficult to learn in 5 days. Plastering is a trade where you learn from your mistakes, there is so much that can't be taught. You literally have to **** things up before you improve, as mad as that sounds.

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Originally Posted by Tuerto

It's difficult to learn in 5 days. Plastering is a trade where you learn from your mistakes, there is so much that can't be taught. You literally have to **** things up before you improve, as mad as that sounds.

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That is how you learn to do anything unfamiliar!

You always know a good plasterer when you watch him and he makes it look easy. It aint!!!
A friend of mine is a top plasterer and I recall one day he had just plastered a big long wall in a new Hardrock Cafe in Bristol. The client rep was visiting the site and said, "Oh no, that's no good. It'll have to be done again." We all stopped and looked at him in dis belief, it was perfect. The plasterer was furious and told him so.
The client said, "No, you don't understand. It's supposed to look uneven and cracked and tired, this looks far t0o good."
The plasterer had to admit he didn't know now to deliberately do it 'bad'!!

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Originally Posted by LeningradCowboy

That is how you learn to do anything unfamiliar!

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Not on some ****ers house you don't :hehe: and that's the truth.

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Originally Posted by xsnaggle

You always know a good plasterer when you watch him and he makes it look easy. It aint!!!
A friend of mine is a top plasterer and I recall one day he had just plastered a big long wall in a new Hardrock Cafe in Bristol. The client rep was visiting the site and said, "Oh no, that's no good. It'll have to be done again." We all stopped and looked at him in dis belief, it was perfect. The plasterer was furious and told him so.
The client said, "No, you don't understand. It's supposed to look uneven and cracked and tired, this looks far t0o good."
The plasterer had to admit he didn't know now to deliberately do it 'bad'!!

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Farmhouse finish. I did 5 harvester restaurants, all farmhouse finish, lay it on quite thick and leave the lay in pattern or rub it up with a sponge. Was getting the same rate as a finished product!

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Originally Posted by Tuerto

It's difficult to learn in 5 days. Plastering is a trade where you learn from your mistakes, there is so much that can't be taught. You literally have to **** things up before you improve, as mad as that sounds.

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Those courses are OK to teach you the basics

But just the basics

And that's it

I did a wall with an adhesive taping compound once

It was a straight flat wall that was thankfully going to be papered over

It was dreadful

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Originally Posted by SLUDGE FACTORY

Those courses are OK to teach you the basics

But just the basics

And that's it

I did a wall with an adhesive taping compound once

It was a straight flat wall that was thankfully going to be papered over

It was dreadful

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Tape and joint. I don't do much of that.

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Originally Posted by Tuerto

Farmhouse finish. I did 5 harvester restaurants, all farmhouse finish, lay it on quite thick and leave the lay in pattern or rub it up with a sponge. Was getting the same rate as a finished product!

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Ive done a few Harvesters many years ago ( as in the mid / late 90's )

Never use a level, always do it by eye, which was very strange

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Originally Posted by Tuerto

Tape and joint. I don't do much of that.

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as a unskilled plaster, thats my prefered finish to job, I always called in " chaulk and tape " i must admit, if i lined a garage out with plasterboard i can now get a decent finish with a little sanding

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Originally Posted by blue matt

as a unskilled plaster, thats my prefered finish to job, I always called in " chaulk and tape " i must admit, if i lined a garage out with plasterboard i can now get a decent finish with a little sanding

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There's some great products out there for that kind of thing. Easifill 20 and 60 make it much easier.

That building supplies place near the King's head in canton run by an Asian family have got some great powder filler in huge bags which you can use to get a flat finish on stippled ceilings , knock it off with a scraper then apply the mixed filler as you would plaster , goes off in 6 hours , great for doing small areas , patching

Its not a plaster finish but it's pretty good

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Originally Posted by SLUDGE FACTORY

That building supplies place near the King's head in canton run by an Asian family have got some great powder filler in huge bags which you can use to get a flat finish on stippled ceilings , knock it off with a scraper then apply the mixed filler as you would plaster , goes off in 6 hours , great for doing small areas , patching

Its not a plaster finish but it's pretty good

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M and R Decorating Supplies. Be careful with stipple textured coating, there's between 2 and 5% Chrysotile Asbestos in them.

Well they’re definitely going to get wet next week :hehe:

I once plastered our outside loo to give it a Greek uneven whitewashed look. It was perfect for what I wanted and not too difficult.
Anything inside the house is a no go. It's not even worth me trying. Every time we have some plastering done I'm in awe of the skills they have and the finish they produce.

It is awkward to get your head around things when a less than perfect finish is required. Working on a pub in Newcastle some years back and the internal finish was ‘distressed brickwork’, lay the brick, tap it to the line but leave the ‘snobs’ on the bed and perp. Very unnatural to leave them and not scrape them off with your trowel, there were many bricks relaid at first due to absentmindedly carrying out the habit of a lifetime.

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Originally Posted by the other bob wilson

I know how much of a waste of space I'd have been even thirty or forty years ago when I was much fitter than I am now doing the sort of work talked about in this thread, so I join in with your salute, but how about a word for people working in takeaways in this sort of weather? Back during that lovely spell we had in 2018, I went to my favourite chippy around here on a sweltering day and had to wait about ten minutes for a new lot of chips to be fried. By the time, they'd been done, I was genuinely feeling decidedly queasy because the air I was breathing in was not just warm, it was hot - it only took me a few minutes to feel so ill, yet the poor so and so's working there had to put up with that for hours on end.

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Having just built a new catering van I think this is a good shout.
My partner works in the part of the van with the chipper, the Bain Marie and the Griddle blasting away .
Now that is hot when the weather is 30 degrees plus.
The van is Vegan which I know would be well received in these parts . :hehe:

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Originally Posted by splott parker

It is awkward to get your head around things when a less than perfect finish is required. Working on a pub in Newcastle some years back and the internal finish was ‘distressed brickwork’, lay the brick, tap it to the line but leave the ‘snobs’ on the bed and perp. Very unnatural to leave them and not scrape them off with your trowel, there were many bricks relaid at first due to absentmindedly carrying out the habit of a lifetime.

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It’s like throwing away your last mouthful of a cup of tea !
Still do it every time, even though I know there are no tea-leaves in it

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Originally Posted by Jimmy the Jock

Having just built a new catering van I think this is a good shout.
My partner works in the part of the van with the chipper, the Bain Marie and the Griddle blasting away .
Now that is hot when the weather is 30 degrees plus.
The van is Vegan which I know would be well received in these parts . :hehe:

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Volkswagen Vegan:shrug:

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Originally Posted by splott parker

It is awkward to get your head around things when a less than perfect finish is required. Working on a pub in Newcastle some years back and the internal finish was ‘distressed brickwork’, lay the brick, tap it to the line but leave the ‘snobs’ on the bed and perp. Very unnatural to leave them and not scrape them off with your trowel, there were many bricks relaid at first due to absentmindedly carrying out the habit of a lifetime.

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Yup, I've used lime putty on stonework, the stone work is bulging out etc. I was only there to cover the stones and then bring up the fat with a sponge. My mind was telling me to fill in the hollows and try to achieve a smooth finish, which is impossible with a putty. I did get used to it after a few days and it dries back beautifully, so natural and at one with the stone work.

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Originally Posted by Jimmy the Jock

Having just built a new catering van I think this is a good shout.
My partner works in the part of the van with the chipper, the Bain Marie and the Griddle blasting away .
Now that is hot when the weather is 30 degrees plus.
The van is Vegan which I know would be well received in these parts . :hehe:

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More and more people seem to be going that way now.

I've thought of doing it a few times but I just seem to be too lazy to put any real effort into decent easy to make/shop for meals I'd probably end up eating the same 2 or 3 things and get bored.