[Ad – This post is brought to you in collaboration with The DIY School. All opinions and words are of course our own and I really did love the plastering essentials course that I took part in.]
Now, you know we like to try and tackle as many projects as we can by ourselves, but one thing that we’ve never dared do is plastering. Having watched the professionals at work in various rooms of our home, it definitely seemed more like an art form than a building job and was almost hypnotising to watch.
I watched a lot of videos and whilst some of the information I found was really good, every post and video I saw always mentioned things like “when your wall is dry, but not too dry”, “when your plaster is the right consistency” or “when the first coat is still a bit sticky”. Well, how on earth am I meant to know what dry but not too dry is without actually feeling it?!
So, after hours of research, I still felt like I was no closer to actually being able to plaster any of our walls, let alone achieve a result that I would be happy with.
While doing all of this slightly unsuccessful research, I suddenly had a bit of a light bulb moment – why not just do a plastering course?! And, if you follow us on Instagram and Facebook, you’ll already know that that’s exactly what I did for most of last week.
The course I did was a 4-day course called Plastering Essentials which took place at The DIY School in Stockport (they have courses all around the UK) and it was amazing! I learned so much and honestly, had no idea about how much is actually involved in plastering.
The courses take place in small groups of up to around 10 people, which means that the teacher has plenty of time to give everyone the help they need. Everyone was so friendly and the teacher we had was fab.
I totally admit that I was nervous and a bit apprehensive about learning how to plaster a wall and was totally convinced that I’d end up with a load of sticky gunk on top of my head, but it turned out to be weirdly enjoyable and more importantly much more doable than I’d ever imagined.
On this 4-day course (which they also offer spread over two weekends) I learned everything from how to plasterboard a wall and how to cut and attach angle beads right thought to how to mix plaster and how to actually plaster a wall!
Who knew that you could actually get the plaster to stay on your trowel and not fall off? Or that achieving a smooth plastered finish in just 4 days is possible? Everyone was so friendly and helpful and made me feel really at ease.
If you’re thinking of doing a DIY course we can highly recommend this one. The course was so good and surprisingly fun, too. I learned a huge amount and I can’t wait to put my new plastering skills into practice in our home and share the results!
The DIY School also offers a range of other courses, so if you’re looking at improving your DIY skills, this is something we’d highly recommend you try. If we ever get round to sorting our bathroom, I’ll definitely be back for the tiling course!
Thank you so much to Dan (my teacher), Simon (who runs The DIY School) and all of the lovely people who I met on my course (oh, and of course Snoop the dog). I couldn’t have had more fun and am still amazed at what I managed to achieve in such a short time!
PS. You can see some of my real-life plastering efforts in action as I couldn’t wait to put my newly learned skills into action. I plastered the whole guest bedroom (including the ceiling!) and I also plastered our dining room!
Emma Wyatt says
We have recently set up a plastering company in Norwich and came across this article. It may seem counterintuitive to appreciate an article on DIY plastering but we have so much work on, we’re happy that people are keen to give it a go. I particularly appreciate that you see it almost as an art form – and doing it can be almost Zen-like! Plastering is not the most exciting topic to write about but you did an excellent and entertaining job. Thanks so much :)
Christine says
Thanks for the feedback, Emma! I’ve actually come to enjoy plastering and find it really satisfying. Having said that, I definitely know my limits and I’m just not experienced or quick enough to cover larger surfaces in the short time you have before the plaster goes off. I also refuse to ever plaster a ceiling again so even for people that DIY as much as possible a good plasterer is essential! ;)
Good luck with your new company!
Cx
Emma Wyatt says
Thanks so much, Christine.. And good luck with your business too!
E says
I signed up to do a course with DIY school which was cancelled due to covid. The owner Simon is refusing to give me a refund and has been extremely rude. I don’t recommend them at all, I feel like he is a total scammer. I wonder how many other people didn’t get their refunds during lockdown.
Christine says
That’s so disappointing to hear – I’m so sorry that you had a bad experience. I absolutely loved the course. I learned so much and had a great time, too. I guess the current situation is weird for everyone (although that’s definitely not an excuse for being rude) and hopefully, you’ll at least be able to take the course when things have returned to something resembling normality again.
Cx
Adrian says
Great work. An old blog post, I know. But bravo for learning plastering !
Christine says
Thanks! It’s a great skill to have, isn’t it?
Cx
Andrew says
Oh wow, did you end up plastering any of your house yourself? It’d be great to see the pictures if you did. I’ve always said if plastering’s something you’re serious about then a plastering course is a great way to get started. However, if it’s just a job of one or two rooms then it generally works out cheaper and far less hassle just to hire a professional.
I’d be really interested to know which plasterers you used initially. Build Peterborough – – are currently looking to partner with a skilled plasterer looking to work in the Peterborough area. Maybe you could work with us one day too!
Christine says
Yes, we plastered our guest bedroom, a few walls in our dining room and some bits in a couple of bedrooms, too. We’re really happy with the result and it’s just as good as the rooms we paid to have done. I agree that a plastering course probably isn’t for everyone, but even by doing just the one bedroom we already saved money and it’s an additional skill we now have, too.
Cx
Jessica@CapeofDreams says
Awesome! You are lucky to have a place nearby that offers classes like this.
Christine says
I know! I’ll definitely be signing up to some of their other courses when our house is further along!
Cx
Lins @ Boo and Maddie says
I’m so impressed! We’ve often talked about learning how to plaster but think it might be a bridge too far – good for you for learning let another new skill – it makes all these house projects so much more rewarding X
Christine says
I honestly thought it would be much more difficult to do and was really surprised at how doable it is! I’d definitely give it a try – what’s the worst that can happen?
Cx
KarenAnita says
Oh Christine, what a fab idea! Joe was SO close to doing this course about a year ago but as we were so close to the finish line just bottled it and hired in the pros for the final rooms. If I need any more plastering work in the future though, Il’ll know who to call ;) x
Christine says
When we started out on our renovation journey, we’d never thought we’d end up learning how to plaster! I’d never thought it was something I could do, but I’d recommend it to anyone – least of all because it was a fun way to spend a few days!
Cx