My process is about the same. 30 years ago, when I learned to do this from a master plasterer. We used Gauging Quick Set (basically powdered plaster of Paris) mixed with standard Joint Compound. Create the ring of joint compound on the board and fill with water about half way up. Creating a little lake. Next add the POP filling the well until all water is absorbed by the added POP. Mix the POP until smooth, no lumps. Next incorporate the joint compound in cutting it in from the sides. Similar to making pasta dough. When the mixture is homogenous you are ready to apply to holes, walls, where ever. One note is that this process takes a few batches to get the ratio perfect. About 10-15 minutes working time to apply. Once this kicks off, or starts setting up, you can scrape smooth. One additional trick is keeping a sponge or spray bottle with water handy. Use this to wet the top coat as you polish or smooth the surface down. Hope that helps.
Mr. Vancouver, As novices watching and learning from you please don't be concerned with making trouble free work, because we need to see mistakes or trouble you may have and see how you fix and deal with them. Too many guys make these videos trouble free from working errors, then when we try and do it and run across problems we don't know how to deal with them or correct them. Sincerely Frankie, Massachusetts
Here's usually why you're getting clumps: you must pour small amounts of the powder into cool water. Let it soak. Pour in more powder. Let it soak. Repeat until it stops absorbing water. (Once you stir, it begins setting- thus the clumps.) You can't pour water into the powder. You must pour the powder [slowly] into the water.
That's how we mixed it when making molds in the potteries I worked at. We had a powered mixer that you would put the bucket under and pull the mixer down into the water. (A small change in water temperature would change the mix drastically so we would check the temp of the water with a thermometer) We would then hit the power on the mixer and start to add scoops of plaster. Depending on how molds you were pouring, the batch was usually around 88 pounds.
I've been working for a local contractor for about 2 weeks now as a laborer but I have several mechanical/ home repair skills. Well yesterday he asked me if I knew how to apply a thin coat of spackle to a wall that I watched someone already apply 2 coats , which I sanded out. I said yes because I turn down NO work when offered. Reason being, RU-vid. I can go on RU-vid and watch instructional videos and learn how to do anything. Thank you for being my teacher. God bless you brother.
Wait a minute, isn't this is the guy who was teaching me (via RU-vid) how to skate last week? Now he turns up in my completely unrelated search for how to mix joint compound! What a fun surprise. Thanks for the videos, brother.
Haven’t tried any POP yet but for small batches I definitely prefer mixing quick set on a board - I cannot get a good mix in a mud pan. From the board to the hawk for me. At this point I should just throw away my mud pan - thanks Mr. VC for the referral to Mr. Laurier’s vids 👍🏻
Once you do this a few times, get the proportions correct and add water before the plaster of Paris you’d find you have 3-5 minutes before you can re-coat. I use this method a lot, final skim with regular mud and done. I learned this from a plasterer years ago, stumbled upon Laurier’s video a few years ago and perfected it.
Your adding water that's why it's taking so long to set . Remember the joint compound and plaster dry by different methods . Joint compound shrinks and setting type plaster expand slightly. When you mix joint compound and plaster don't add any water. The more water you add the more moisture your putting . Work you dry plaster in to the compound throughly this way it will pull out any moisture that is just in the compound. Also this type of mix is not really for gauging . I would do my first coat straight plaster to get my depth and fill , add a tad of compound if you want for adhesion kind of like your glue trick I seen you do. It would also help to throw a fan on that would get it to go off much quicker remeber compound dries by the moisure evaporating where as plaster is a chemical reaction . Your right this type of mix for polish is very good but it's a hybrid it can't really be trowled smooth . If you do the mix as I suggested you can put it on and you go over it and smooth it cause the plaster is setting but you can't play with it too long .
I've been using plaster of paris snd all-purpose to make my own quickset for years now. You wanna pour the water into the all-purpose ring first. Then pour your plaster of paris into the water. Spread it out and level it with your finger and wait a minute or two to let it soak all the way through. The wet plaster of paris won't set for quite a while until it's actially mixed. Then i take a wedge of the pie and mix it on the board. It mixes easily and evenly because it's already soaked through. Then i can come back and grab another wedge for another coat. Each subsequent wedge will set a bit quicker than the last. I certainly prefer it over standard quickset. My mixing board is much easier to clean than a bucket or pan, and after you get used to it you can control how quickly it sets, so i can make it more like a 20 min or a 5 min or anywhere in between, and i don't have to clean a pan or bucket between coats, i just grab another wedge. I'll never go back to standard quickset
@@vancouvercarpenter Yeah, it does take a little getting used to the mud/water/plaster proportions before you have really good control over your set times and mixing on the board can be a bit awkward at first(i usually use a 4 or 5 inch knife). someone who doesn't do patchwork very often may not be interested in messing with it too much but the majority of my drywall work is patch
I find plaster or Paris and mud is easier to work with. Quick-set gets too hard, and sands horribly. I find if you wet sand with a brush or sponge before your final skim coat it makes the material set even faster
Apples in Mono I am wondering how easy is to sand this mud+plaster is? Is it the same like sanding all purpose mud? Or hardeners make harder the sanding process as well?. Thanks a lot for your answer.
I like your videos, and believe you are providing a great service to the community. I am a taper from Winnipeg, and enjoy watching how certain fundamentals are present across the continent. Please take this as a constructive criticism: mesh tape is supposed to be bedded in a durabond, or other bedding medium. CCG will not warranty any defects if this is not followed, just as they won't by adding plaster of Paris to joint compound. It's a great trick. On something like the patch you did, it will work fine. I have witnessed contractors using this on a larger scale taping job, and fail miserably. Keep up the great work! You are one of my favorites!
I have tried this and what I did find out is that if you mix just the plaster and no mud for your first coat you don't need to use tape. Just fill the joints good and then it makes it easier to finish with quickest mud and gives you a nice hard solid base to work with. Especially when repairing plaster walls where its hard to get a good tight fit on the drywall patch. When working with plaster the more you mix it the faster it sets so just get it slightly mixed and when your applying it and wiping it down it will get even more mixed as you use no it!
This is a carry over from lime plastering. You make a ring of prepared lime,then make a pool of water. Add POP into the pool until it is completely absorbed. Depending on the size of the ring take a quarter to a half and mix thoroughly. This was done when making rosettes,or coping moulds. I use this often,and it works very well,once you learn how to work it. POP will not set off for 30-40 minutes if it is not disturbed once absorbing water. Once you mix it though,it will set off in 5-20 minutes depending on the temperature of the water and the environment. When used with drywall compound it makes a very hard,durable finish.
Using dirty wash water from washing quickset off tools to mix fresh batches of quickset seems to make the new batch set a bit faster. ALSO I love hearing those bubbles pop while applying mud. I LOVE to hear them submit to me. It's like finally beating your arch enemy.
1:00 Laurier Desormeaux puts the water first and then had the plaster. Then he doesn't mix the plaster. He just cuts a quarter of the "pie" at a time and use it. Mixing seems to activate the plaster for what I could understand from Laurier's videos and other traditional French plaster guys.
The proper way to mix plaster of Paris is to add it to the water. If you mix it the other way around there will be issues with consecutive coats not adhering to each other.
That's right! I should have watched that one again. I watched it years ago. I could never figure out why the plaster doesn't start setting until he starts mixing it.
Andrew M- Yep, that's the way to do it. Also wetting the blade helps to prevent pulling and allows for smoother pull while the applied 'hot mix' is not quite dry.
One thing I can tell you about setting plaster in a plastic tub or anything made of plastic. you do not have to do anything but set the plaster in the tub and when you want to remove the plaster just run hot water on the underside of the plastic container as plastic expands when hot. In seconds the plaster of Paris will drop out. Only tried it a few days ago with no problems. Just remember not to put the plaster into something that is narrower at the top than the bottom or you will be in trouble.
It is a great way to mix the mud. I still have my board in the shop when I use to do it that way. It gives us better time control then fast set mud and is very strong. There used to be a guy Larry G. I don't remember his last name. I learned it from Larry on youtube. He was a great teacher in sheetrock and finishing.
What me and my boss do is make a mix up of 45min cornice cement, put how much mud we need on the halk and put how ever much excelerator we need as well so you can control how fast your mix goes off. Works great only have too make one mix of 45min instead of many 5min.
Hi, Usualy, when you use plaster of Paris, you put plaster powder into water and not the opposite. I've never tried to mix with mud. For my own, I spread plaster powder in a bucket of water untill I don't see water any more, and I wait 10 minutes before mixing. More you wait to mix, more plaster is consisent. Please excuse me for my bad english writing :=) Best regards from France
While never a pro I have been paid to finish drywall. 😉 But back in the day my boss tried mixing plaster accelerator into regular mud. Of course it didn't work. He wanted a quick finish but felt mixing quickset and cleaning up the mixing tools took too long. This also may have been before easysand quickset was widely available
Always put water fist and add plaster of Paris on the surface until the dry plaster don’t get wet and remain dry on the surface and this is the exact mixture, then don’t mix until be ready to use you can mix with drywall compound but only 1 to 1 to accelerate your mud. But the best option is to buy the drywall compound quick set 5 minutes or 20 minutes depending of the area and your harrying boss
On a smaller hole that’s probably be fine, but plaster has zero glue in it, so it really doesn’t adhere well. I usually cut my filler piece a little small, use plaster, durabond, or thinset if I’ve got some left from tiling, and key in the filler piece. After a few minutes it kicks, then just tape as usual. I like fibatape because it’s reeeeally thin.
One thing after making and pouring in the water and plaster is soaked. You can cut sections out and mix smaller amounts at a time which make doing this way rock over fast set mud. Then come back and cut another section out.
Also the guy at home depot didn't know what MUD WAS. I tryed to explain to him what I was doing and he recommended Plaster of paris. You Totally Know what you are doing. I'm hooked
I make the mud ring add water into the ring then add the Paris until all the water is absorbed, if there is dry paris in the you need to add more water so its moistened. the more paris I add the faster it sets. I can make it so it sets in just over five mins. If you leave the wet paris in the middle of the ring for a few mins before you mix it the clumps come out way faster!
For a little patch like that I would just use the Plaster of Paris by itself, mix it with a bit of that glue, & no need for compound to slow the set, just use lime.
I’ve used it just mad scientist playing around but started to use quick setting mud for most stuff. It was neat to be able to pull the fat and smooth it out. I had a plastic square container and a paint mixer to mix it.
This seems like a good method for someone who mainly uses pre-mixed mud and doesn't want to keep quick-set around. It could come in handy for the last day of a job, or work in an area where the water solubility of pre-mixed compound would be a problem. I've always wondered if one could throw a small amount of this mix or quick-set into an almost full 5 gallon bucket of ready-mixed, mix it in with a drill, and expect it to still be usable. I wouldn't expect it to set at all when diluted that far and I can't stand throwing any of it away.
This trick has been around for a while and works for some people ! But as you say !! Why invent a new product when good hot muds were designed to do that ?? Also plaster of paris will reduce the strength of your mud! One product dries by evaporation and the other one by chemical reaction ! Nice Video ! The chemists that make the finishing products in our labs do not recommend to do this ! But Hey!! No one recommends to put baby oil in a car !!! But if that’s all you have available ! Cheers!!
Laurier Desormeaux adds the water to the center first, and he seems to have an easier time dissolving it. I've not personally tried this though, as I always have some quickset somewhere.
Try mud in pan. Add water stir till thin. Then add plaster untill you get the consistency you want. I do this with 20 when i want a fast dry that is smooth as compound
I agree with your conclusion. I’ve done it before, but I’ve had better success if I need something fast but not quite as fast as 5min, by just adding powdered Plaster of Paris to 25min quickset. Or by mixing hot muds, say 5min and 25min together. Of course the amounts to time ratio are anybody’s guess.
Plaster of Paris expands as it dries. Using less than he did is better. The mixing in of PoP is done to make a harder coat that doesn't shrink and dries quicker than joint compound. Using too much can cause delam.
What to use skim coating on top of ceramic tile? Backsplash has a lot of lippage so though of couple skim coats creating venetian plaster look. Not wanting use microcement
Thanks for sharing. Quick question; how come so many of the dry products (powdered) say “not for skimming”, or do not use to skim? Specifically, I’m trying to skim and blend the edges. Thank you in advance. Daniel
Do you have to use tape with plaster Paris and or mix with compound? Also I patching a stucco wall and not sure if I have to remove stucco or if I can go over top with either tape or plaster or both. The Sheetrock patch does not sit flat with the existing wall because of stucco. Thanks for your help!
hey can you make a video on how to deal with ceiling stains ? I have stains on ceiling that is top of shower....how do you solve that? and how can I coat dryway so future steam and moistures wont cause stains? well done videos! keep the good work
I use my tint to wet the PoP in the donut that way I know it got mixed into the mud fully . As I'm walking thru the house doing my drywall checkouts it kinda hadens up on the hawk you can work it for a while to finish up.
The wetter the compound the better, compound first,add plaster mix good add water by rag ,each added plaster up to 3 times will bring you down to 5 minutes or less
Realize that the quick set mud wasent always readily available as it is today. Go back say 25 years and this was the only option. And once you get the hang of doing it, all you need do is keep some plaster of paris with you.
You can also mix a 7030 without water and get a no sand finish if you know how to manipulate the mix properly!! PLASTER MASTER GREAT FINISHING LLC NYC.
Is this the same as that muddskip stuff? They try to sell that product saying it sets up fast, can have additional coats applied the same day, then polished to a level 5 finish. That product also seems over priced.
so quick set drys the same as plaster of paris? does it need open air to dry? Plaster of paris sets more like epoxy and for this reason i use plaster of paris for pouring into molds but it is expensive ..like $1 a pound... thanks
Let’s say I want a plaster like finish. What happens if I mix 45 min Quick Set Drywall Compund (has a little plaster of Paris already mixed in), and I add a bit more of plaster of Paris. Will this make the working time less the more plaster of Paris I mix in?
I use quick sad and I think it’s the one that drives fast from the bag but I didn’t smooth it out and now Anna Scott lamps and I cannot send it is so hard what do I do
VC I got ask, what was the main purpose in doing this concoction? I ask because I've been considering to mix Plaster of Paris or the Imperial brand in order to get stronger finishes. Lately with my revov's, I've been dinging and denting my beautiful skimmed walls and its so much work to have to go back and redo. I literally want to fly my pan when I see the dings . . . LOL. Help please! What are your thoughts?
I bought the small 4lb. Box of DAP Plaster of Paris now I'm wondering if I should of bought the bag at HomeDepot, I'm trying to build my wall even with the bottom part of my wall. That has old white thick paint on it and it's to had to scrape or sand and to much work. So I just want to even up the top have with the bottom. I hope you understand what I'm trying to do. Its an old bedroom in my Moms house I had to move into with her for her disability no legs, and I'm just trying to fix my room. The top half of the wall had 3 or 4 coatings of paint which really almost pulled and just came off so east. I'm ready to tackle this and got everything I need. I just want to coat the whole half top to make even with the bottom . Please help. I want to start spreading the right Plaster.
Honestly, just doing multiple coats of regular air drying muds is the easiest. This video explains the easiest technique ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-AVxIVdDEFTI.html
I use topping compound mixed with 5 minute mud, sets up in like 15-20, sands like a dream!! Do u do this also? I’m in Southern California. I learned it in Las Vegas, and some guys here use that method too.
I mix plaster of Paris with hot cocoa mix (all dry) & I feed it to the rats in my chicken coop. They love it. Then it hardens in their guts & they die. I love that.
I never mixed plaster of Paris with anything. I don't like the short working time. I often mix Easysand with all purpose compound for a faster drying time and easier sanding.
My wife says she is getting great amusement at me yelling at your videos. 😂 "Step away from the 6" it's still wet!" "Don't add more...!" 🤣 I'm enjoying your vids though!
I filled a cornerbead with more than 3/8 to 1/2 inch of fill. Im concerned about shrinking and cracking which has already occured on the first scratch coat. Should i remove it and use another product like durabond or just use fiberglass mesh tape over the deepest part on the next coat (i still have more to fill)?
I usually carry 20 or 45 quickset, & canisters of accelerator or retarder (make sure to buy the drywall version, not plaster or you will suffer a terrible chemical reaction)
Water first, let it soak in. As soon as you start stirring, it starts setting. Are you telling me a professional plasterer doesn’t know this? Just read the instructions. I do it this way so I won’t have to carry around a bag of 10 minute, 20 minute, 45 minute and 60 minute. You can gauge how much plaster to mix in to make it the equivalents, with just one bag.