Stopped plastering 10 years ago but already see the difference from then to now in regards to methods especially with Flexi trowels but yet to see a job we're flexis have been used and they have looked solid... Must be the plastering in my area... Ps I'm a painter now and for a good reason as I was shit at plastering but some people say I'm shit at painting 😂😂😂😂

If you keep the plaster flat as applying then it you will achieve a flat finish. I never flatten in-between coats. I use the second coat to flatten in the first coat. I regularly shine lights down my walls and they're flat as a pancake. If it's flat at every stage then it's flat at that end although I very much doubt it can be flat with a flexi from beginning to end. Using water and spreading the fat is the best technique ive used in my 20 years rather than just pulling a trowel across the work. Love your content Blaine. You're a good spread.

Great video, I've personally got all the different fancy gear, flexi this and plastic that but I always seem to keep reverting back to just using a good old trusty marshalltown carbon steel trowel

Finished plastering 2 walls for the first time and very satisfied with the results. Used 2 tools, OX stainless steel 14 inch trowel and Regina plastic trowel. Everything I know about plastering is from this channel. Really appreciate the time you put in making these videos. Thank you

Great vid! Very informative, very helpful. Thank you

As someone who has done quite a lot of plastering but is not a plasterer I agree about the flexi trowels, I have tried them and had some appalling finishes at times but I have replastered my hallway and part of the living room and just used my old 14" trowel and speedskim and I don't think I'll use my flexi trowels again. Love this channel btw.

Thnx for one more amazing video plaster King!🔥 good job!

Good topic and great advice as always mate keep up the good work 👍🏻

I have never and have no desire to plaster yet I absolutely love your channel dude ! Been watching for ages and love all the vids !

Hi Blaine, just like to say thanks for all your vids, with your help i've re-plastered as 1920's semmi, when i first looked at what needed doing it was like I'm never going to do this, but with your help i got there - thank you!

You are an artist.

Anyone else fill out joints pre plaster ? After many years in this trade I've found it's the only way to stop dry joints showing when lights shine over them.

work as plaster mate knocking up the gear i do it love it you make it look so easy

Mate I'd like to say thanks for your videos iv learnt alot

totally agree flexi and plastic feels lovely on arms but ripple city i seen some jump on flexi soon as 2nd coat on looks great till painters rock up

Plastic is for the very end. And leaves a fantastic finish. If it doesn’t then your the problem. There is absolutely not just 1 way to plaster. If it’s good. It’s good 👍

Hi Blaine have u binned the flexi then for carbon all way through with a final dry pass with plastic?

Excelente trabajo saludos 💪 💯 👌🏻

Best way to check a wall is when painted, and at night , shine a torch across it. This sorts out the pro’s that trowel left to right , up and down ‘ then diaganol both ways. Wall will be perfectly flat . Lot don’t bother but when that table lamp comes on it shows 😂. Great vid as per mate 👍

I bought a plazi years ago and chucked it 😂 couldn't stand the way it moved the gear about as I was flattening. As you say quite rightly, it follows the wall and pulls off what you've just spent ages filling out to get "flat" ... in effect taking your job backwards ! It's more than cheating... it's a bad job if left like that. As the old blokes who I learnt from 25 years ago would say "what goes on the wall, stays on the wall and it's gotta be flat, filled and no trowel marks or tigger stripes... and clean your bloody boxes and frames" 😅 I think a lot of spreads have forgot the basics or worse (this makes me sad because the blokes I learnt from had 100's of years experience through generations) they've never been shown them in the first place

Do you feel when sponge floating you can get on a flex quicker for example after sponging second coat and given it a plastic or steel you can get straight on the flex ?

What size speed skim do you find yourself using the most. No doubt you have a selection but if you were lil intend to 2 which sizes would you have. Thanks

They are perfect for the type of mud we use to finish drywall in North America

I use my super flex when the plasters pretty much gone off leaves a really nice finish then I use a plastic to make the wall nice and smooth for the painters 😂

All you need is a speedskim/refina blade and a carbon/stainless steel trowel...no need for flexi trowels or plastic trowels.. Like you said flat walls is our job. not ride the walls like the sea, Good video blane

After being a plasterer for 45 years never used anything else but spring steel trowel, but that speed skim looks a good tool

Plasterer of 20 years.. there is a place for speedskims and flexi trowels but number 1 thing is timing keep ahead of it setting, before I'd get it on clean out have a couple mins now I get on it wile wet and plaster with to much lighting. Good prep goes a long long way. My plastering is at least as good and my body is under far less strain each hit felt alien to begin with but trust me for a plasterer with a conscience these can be a god send

What size mixing bucket do you use?

Well said I’ve seen lads lay on with flexi trowels😱

What about if you do the sponge float technique, 1st coat, flatten, 2nd coat, sponge, flatten .... can you then go straight to a flexi trowel? Thanks

them plastic trowels are dangerous lol can make your work look amazing when its still wet but once dry, painted and a natural light is on them, it can be a different story, I only use them for last trowel.

So is it that after you've done the two coats and used the speed skim as well as the steel trowel, you have walls that are flat, in that all the high points are on the same plane, but that have soft spots from the filling action that has pushed softer plaster into the voids in the plaster that is closer to being fully cured, and that the flexi-trowel, instead of riding over the soft spots, will sink into them, leaving sort of a droopy, but smooth, finish? That's my layman's interpretation what I heard; if it's correct, or even close, it might help others who are not fluent in plasterer's terms. PS: The flexi-trowel seems similar to a drywall knife, which works well filling small voids in panels that are otherwise flat, but would probably leave a existing wavy wall almost as wavy as it originally was, and would probably also exacerbate the soft spots in a coat of plaster that is in the process of hardening.

Nice video buddy.

I love it when you have a nice new flexi and drop it them things kink both ways and your never get it straight again

Jesus,got to the point where I had half a dozen trowels in my bag.Now have 13 and 18 inch marshaltown carbon steel plus a speedskim for flattening.Just use the flexis for tape and jointing now

Started new company 4 months ago never used a sponge before then now use it all the time. Change can help but need to be able to walk before you can run if you can't do it all with the basic marshalltown then you shouldn't do it with flexy trowels etc in my opinion.

Usually get my flexi out on the first wet, maybe one more then a dry.

Good to see you Blaine. Hope you're all well? What was the 'bagger' word meant to be though? 🤔😁

Completely agree. But as one guy commented below, I think lighting plays a massive part. I did a job earlier this year, big high walls, used my speedskim and steel all the way through till the second wet trowel. Came out lovely, put my speedskim against the wall to check for any hollows etc after it was dry (it was over old walls) and was fine. However the big window on the balcony next to the wall played havoc. The wall looked awful in certain lighting, couldn’t believe my eyes. I filled where I could see any issues but still wasn’t to my standard. Clients loved my work as I decorate as well and I’ve plastered and decorated there many times since. Not saying I disagree with using them too early though, completely agree. I’ve just bought an 18 inch nela carbon steel trowel, so trying to get that to the standard of my 13 inch mt carbon. Surprisingly enough the 18 isn’t heavy and you can get the wall or ceiling so flat from it

F me wish all I had to worry about was which of three different trowels to choose from. As a joiner your tool list just seems to grow the more you get.

Cant be polishing up walls now days on board work with timbres now twisted got to leave matt finish polished finish shows up everything nowdays plazi finish leave matt

Everytime the music starts I think of the scene in the Joker when he starts dancing down the stairs, rock n roll!

20 yr veteran never used peice of plastic to trowell wall, i rate the speed skims but flexi trowells no i think they just take the art out of plastering 👍👍

Been using my Superflex after sponging, had pretty good results. Obviously I realise this is now way too early. Used my MT for every trowel, except the final one yesterday. I could feel the difference when trowelling. Much better results as well! Your content is ace!

Marshalltown hard trowel start to finish only way you guarantee you will get a flat wall. Agree Flexi can make it shine

As a plasterer you know how a trowel is working for you,professional plastering is all about understanding timing and when to use correct trowel angle and pressure.

Of course they're a con for skimming you need your trowel,hardboard and brushes that's it. I've used the speedskims, sponges,flexis,spats and the one thing I can say with certainty...they will all absolutely ruin your timing so leave well alone because once that's gone you'll start over working your walls. I use a steel trowel and that's it maybe a plastic trowel when the wall has completely gone if I don't like the painter.

I saw a video the other day where two guys plastered a ceiling with a broom & a speed skim. Have you ever seen or tried it?

Flexi only for late trowel. Keep it clean while using but that's same as any blade

Great training video Blane, Speedskim for me

Always lay on with a steel trowel, and if needed, use the flexi to polish, but you shouldn't need any more trowels than your carbon finishing trowel.

I put on with my Marshall Town then speedskim then use my refina super flex 3 gold edition which is by far the best trowel I have ever owned, then I use superflex for final trowel

The biggest problem the causes ripples is the amount of clay now in multi finish. Surface setting and clay below skimmed surface dragging.

Marshalltown for laying on Ox ultraflex for finishing. Never used a sponge or a speedskim. Those speedskims in the wrong hands are absolutely lethal. The amount of times ive seen the plaster be pulled off is a joke.. i agree on using a flexi too early. Literally leave it until the end

I have got a small , medium and large trowel. They put on and finish and all fit in a yellow bucket

I’ve been plastering on new build sites for 37 years and I use a flexi .The flexi doesn’t leave a great job but they don’t put as much pressure on your shoulders and arms . I’d sooner leave a shit job and stay healthy.

Flex are only good for flattening after spat when the gear's still wet, especially in tight spots and troweling up IMHO.

You wont beat Marshalltown steel trowel top of the pops.

Timing and light, there's your answer. Buy yourself a site light called "the illuminator " then stick it at the bottom of your flexi wall, you'll throw all that plastic rubbish in the skip. Each to their own though.

You just crossed all of your joints whilst applying and with the speed skim. The speed skim doesn't get it flatter I just does it faster it's all about perspective. The size of person, the size of the wall and the size of the float. To an ant a 14 inch trowel is a gigantic float wheras in a palace a speed skim is a tiny float. You shouldn't use a speed skim on such a small gage. It hasn't gone off enough and if you cross it as you have your going to take from the joint. Speed skims are for use as the name suggests to speed the process up of flattening the trowel lines between coats on a large gage not for any stage after that. Your saying not to use a flexi but a speed skim has a flex blade. A plasterer should be first and foremost a trowel man. Every gage should be taken on with the intention of only using your main trowel. In my experience no boarded walls need a flexi ( unless your following another tradesmans work, then anything is possible) flexi trowels are a tool for a specific situation and should not become part of a plasterers routine. They come into their own on reskim work. You can see as early as your first coat if it will be need when you start to struggle to fill low spots with your normal application process. Even then all effort should be made to fill those areas with the hope that the plaster will have gone off slightly the second time around creating a backing for the second coat. Usually though it doesn't quite work and the stiffer blade either glides over that area or takes drags the wetter plaster out of the low spot and creates slacks over the surface ( areas that uneven plaster has failed to bond together leaving tears that a trained eye can see whe looking into the light) it is still necessary to use your main trowel at this point as the first trowel is the only stage that you can use the fat from the wall for filling and a flexi doesn't create the pressure needed to stitch the slack and take away the excess. The second trowel is then where the fexi is required. As I say the plaster in that area won't go off as fast and your main trowel will either take it away or glide over it completely whereas the flexi will flex with the wall and guarantee that the whole wall is recieving a flatten and a Polish which is particularly necessary on a reskim as bubbles and fire cracking are just a couple of ways in which you may already be experiencincing difficulties in creating not always an even wall but a smooth wall which is usually the customers desire from a reskim as it is can be a way of producing a finish that can be painted without having to tear down walls.

I have worked for a plastering company and my x boss, he uses plazi flex, and his plastering is spot on, no bumps or anything he is that good his customers call him back, I personally think it's technique, stainless steel trowels are coming back and we all know it gives A flatter finish, but you hav to use water to flatten, and takes alot more push and effort. My 1st coat I use steel trowel once I flattened with steel, apply second, flatten second with steel trowel, then plazi when it's pulled in. There are many reasons why wall ain't flat, apply coats with the same mix while first coat is still to wet.

Only use flexi trowel to polish otherwise hard trowel 7:40

I've never used a plastic trowel althou my dad loves them but I lay on all coats with my superflex instead of my s/s trowel that'd demoted to render lol

As you know Blaine light is always bad on a plaster wall Blaine especially this time of year . It always down to light not when your plastering but when the house is finished and then all that light which a plaster never had from day one my friend Blaine A Happy Christmas to you and your family 👪 enjoy . Because I enjoy your videos keep up the great work 👍

Flexi's are great. But they aren't for flattening. They're flexible so why would you try or expect to flatten with them? But in the later stages they glide across giving a nice finish. I come across this "you only need steel. It's all I've used for 4 centuries" from time to time Speed skims, flexi's, plastic, sponge... They're all great additions and help many get a great finish. Use what works and the right time. The only wrong way to plaster is if it's not flat and relatively smooth. Polishing the life out of it is also pointless. I'd say more than 60% of work I see now is far smoother than it needs to be. It's just become smooth = good work. Half the time the paint is making it rougher. That's how polished a lot of work is now

flexi trowel for sale used once 😁

People really need to mkae it known they are bad for filling in. But the finish is like nothing else. Your thick steel isnt getting it to same as a flexi. Just make sure you use it at the end like any normal plasterer would do 😂 and the main reason for a flexi is take pressure off you joints.

Sorry I really don't agree, I use a Flexi from start to finish never had any issues when painted, tbf you were going over your walls way to earlier hence the ripples/ tiger strips and I've seen people with mt trowels do exactly the same thing getting ripples etc, at the end of the day if it works for you and you get great results it doesn't matter what you use, that's just my opinion

All I use now is a 12" & 16" Marshalltown black & red handle trowels, from start to finish, top to bottom left to right, lay the plaster straight none of this stupid half circles, allways clean water that's key won't use a flexi agian waste of money and makes new plasterers lazy and they work is shocking because they haven't got the knowledge of how to use the flexi in the first place

There's no magic trowel if you haven't learnt how to finish plaster sadly you never will forget speedskims plasziflex ect just use a good quality trowel Marshall town comes to mind and you'll be good stiffer the trowel the better flexi trowels leave terrible finish

😂

Stick to steel will keep it flat.

I found just using a flexy trowel from start to finish does leave ripples

And they both come out terrible haha.