Any Plasterers In The House ?

[Ackybang]

Hello - looking for some advice from a real, experienced plasterer, or opinions of others.

I am having my house rendered at the moment, inside and out, and the plasterer is experienced - I've waited 4 Months specifically for him to do the job, actually.

Now, my house is all cavity wall, because I don't like the look of posts in my house.

This guy wants to score lines in the render, depicting the position of the posts all around the outside of my house - the Thai phrase is 'sok long'.

He said, if he doesn't do it, any other builders would question his methodology, aswell as the fact it makes the house look better, aswell as the fact that if any cracks appear around the posts, they will be confined to these channels, instead of spreading out across the face of the render.

He said it's upto me, be he advises that I do it. Is this normal ? I'm obviously not a plasterer, but I've used some carlite and pinking on diy projects in England before - here it's all cement - doe's this make a difference to the methodology ?

I need to make up my mind, because once he's done it, if I didn't like it, I'll lose the finish if I try and patch it up.

Finding it hard to make up my mind - I see many houses here have similar lines etched into the plasterwork, but they seem quite modular with evenly spaced posts, whereas my house isn't - it seems to suit some houses, whereas others it doesn't. I've noticed, on bigger, fancier houses they tend not to have it done. Is this a Thai thing / technique, and where does it stem from, or do they do it abroad aswell ?

Do you think houses look better with the 'posts' painted a different colour to the body of the house, or all painted one colour ? My house is going to have mouldings around the windows and doors, aswell as sandstone tiles and mouldings as a border around the lower half of the house, aswell as climbing up some of the bigger 'show' columns to entranceways, etc. Would these lines be overkill, or are they really necessary ?

Thanks for any comments or advice / opinions.

[cdmtdm]

imo , no need to highlight the columns esp if your having moldings , but are the columns flush with the outside wall or recessed behind in the cavity ?

[sirineou]

This is of course a matter of personal preference, but I would not highlight the columns in any way,

it in my opinion takes away from the final overall design of the house and causes the aye to concentrate on the columns, that are structural and Not decorative in nature .

if the walls are tied to the columns properly and the render is done correctly , there should not be any cracks between the walls and the columns.

Edited August 25, 2013 by sirineou

[Ackybang]

Thanks very much for your input.

cdmtdm : - yes, I poured 8 inch columns, and the brick work is flush with the outside and inside edges of all of them, throughout the house - I had it all tied in properly, and the build has been going on for quite a while now, so I shouldn't think subsidence would be an issue. The guy has been finding all the corners on everything before he renders - 'jap siem' they call it. Most of my walls should be about 10-11 inches thick on average, once rendered (allowing for a slight margin of error in brickwork / column straightness - I poured everything myself !)

I must say, I'm tending to agree with you both on this issue, and will probably go with no highlighted columns. Any ideas where this design philosophy comes from ? Is it like a 'poorman's' feature ? It certainly looks a bit cheezy on some houses, showcasing structural elements. I've noticed, they tend to do it with beams also.

Finally, do you know - is it prudent to use metal mesh on corners,or even span the area where brick meets column, as an extra precaution, or is it not necessary ? As far as cement rendering goes, I've been led to believe the more sand you use in the mix, the less the likelyhood of it cracking - aswell as soaking the redbrick thoroughly the day before rendering. I've tried to use best quality materials throughout my build, and have been advised to use Tiger + cement for all rendering work. Any opinions or knowledge about such matters would be appreciated.

Thanks again.

Edited August 25, 2013 by Ackybang

[Naam]

Finally, do you know - is it prudent to use metal mesh on corners,or even span the area where brick meets column, as an extra precaution, or is it not necessary ?

absolutely necessary! costs peanuts and saves you a lot of hassle.

[wayned]

Many Thai houses have lines scored in the render outlining the posts and foundation. If you look they actually paint the posts and foundation a different color than the walls. My MIL's house has the posts painted a hideous pink and the walls yellow. It will help eliminate cracks across the walls as they will follow the line in the render unless you have a severe settling problem.

[cdmtdm]

i think the post outline comes from using precast posts , not from onsite poured posts , when you have the standard village type posts, you will for sure have cracks appear even with mesh ... as for plastering imo do it in the shade never full sun , make a temp tarp cover to keep it shaded if you have to , the slower it dries the better ...

[regedit]

Next your painter will be moaning that he doesn't know where the posts are so will be difficult for him to paint them bright green while the house walls are painted blue !!! The Thai's really do love to let everyone know from the outside how the building is held up !

[Crossy]

The two new homes in our village that do not have visible columns also do not have any markings in the render to show their positions, nor are there colour variations across the locations.

Those with visible columns (ours included) have them picked out in contrasting colours as a feature.

Luckily our village has not yet been infected by the purple and green house disease