Plastering is a hard business. It’s tough work, hard to perfect and often takes a lot of practice before you start seeing results! However, it’s another thing all together trying to learn how to plaster a ceiling.
This takes a whole new level of skill because there is one thing stopping us from success; gravity! This natural, groundbreaking, earth rotating phenomenon can prevent beginners from getting the success they want to achieve!
That’s if you don’t know what you’re doing!
Luckily I’m here to show you exactly what you need to do. There are a few things you should know but follow our advice and you’ll be winning. Let’s get cracking with the #1 golden rule!
The Golden Rule On How To Plaster A Ceiling
There is one thing you need to avoid. It’s a big, BIG NO GO to overfill your Trowel. When your plastering a wall it’s easy to pack your Trowel with plaster.
However, the difference with a ceiling is the big thing we mention before: gravity. If you plaster with too much gear is does 1 of 2 things:
- Plaster overflows and falls from the front edge of your Trowel onto the floor
- Plaster falls from the ceiling onto the floor
Either way, it often ends up on the floor (especially at the beginning)!
If you’re starting out, focus on having a smaller amount of plaster and practice finding the ideal amount. You will discover with time the optimum amount of plaster to apply and find it easier as you go. It’s tough at first but stay focussed and persevere.
The 6 Steps To Plastering A Ceiling
There are 6 steps to plastering a ceiling. Very similar to a wall with the exception that it’s above the ground and very likely to fall! You can watch the video above which explains in full detail but here are the steps you need to follow:
There’s a lot of information in this section so you can save this post for future reference:
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Let’s get to it
Stage One – 1st Coat
The first stage to follow is to apply your first coat of plaster. Apply the plaster to about 2mm and make sure you cover any scrim tape that might be used.
Stage Two – 2nd Coat
Clean you buckets after you’ve applied the first coat of plaster and get ready to mix another batch. You always apply 2 coats of plaster and the second mix is often slightly thinner and applied to about 1mm. This is the time to fill any missed areas and helps create a more consistent finish.
Stage 3 – Closing in
This is where you trowel any marks or lines out of your plastered walls. Remove any streaks and start getting a smooth area.
Stage 4 – 1st Trowel
You have to trowel your ceilings to get a nice, even finish. This is where you start to create a flat surface. It’s also the time to fill any holes or blemishes with the plaster you collect during your troweling.
Stage 5 – Wet Trowel
Same as the previous step but this time you use your water brush (or sprayer) to apply water to your plaster. This helps provide lubrication and makes it possible to trowel your ceiling. You should have a clean, flat surface by this point with one final stage to finish.
Stage 6 – Final Dry Trowel
The last stage on plastering a ceiling is to give it a final trowel. Don’t use any water and you should be left with a beautiful, newly skimmed ceiling.
This concludes the 6 steps on how to plaster a ceiling. All you have to do now is pick up a trowel and do it yourself. For more information or some advice follow this link on how to plaster a wall. Thank you for reading and good luck with your plastering!