Tommy's Trade Secrets - How To Dot And Dab A Wall 

just wanted a refresh as not done it for about 15 years and I never knew about having to make it solid at top for fire regs so definitely worth watching nice one geezer

Brilliant! I feel confident to do it myself after watching this very clear tutorial. Thanks.

@newaltfuel i have dot and dabbed 30ft high walls, no problem. I have been in this trade for 20 years. We place 2 small off-cuts of board under the sheet to keep moisture from the floor seeping up, and this makes it easier to position and sraighten the sheets with the straight edge

And you sir would be a tradesman! Really well put across and excellent tips. Thanks.

Just mark the socket with a small piece of plasterboard , then place board on wall and gently tap board . Take off and you will have a nice socket mark on back of board to cut round. Then put bonding on wall and then boards. A lot quicker than measuring.

Amazing. Rarely done: dot and dab. Tell me: why do this method as opposed to batten the walls? Which is better and what material did you use to adhere the boards to the block, plaster?

Excellent vid never done this before....this has given me enough info to go an smash this job proper

if u use small cuttings of plasterboard as packers you will find it easier to tap the board in at the bottom if needs be, plus a solid line at the bottom is usually the norm for your skirting

Sorry mate but as any half decent builder will know you forgot to mention the 2 most important tools used on any job......the kettle and radio

Really great video and well explained thank you.

@woodbine66 The feather edge, usually 2+ m long and made of aluminium is used when applying plasterboard to walls using adhesive. The feather edge is used to check that the various pieces of plasterboard are flat flush against each other. Some will have a level built in to check that the plaster board is vertical. The feather edge is also used as a Darby. They cost around £30 and should be part of a plasterer’s tool kit.

great vid dude! can see u r a pro and can learn a lot from u!!

great tips, plus fire regs. too. Thanks a bunch

A few good tips and tricks to help a DIYer like me cheers.

quote from the industry standard apprentice text book by j.b.taylor - "Dot- short pieces of wood lath or similar, which are bedded then plumbed, levelled or lined in; these positions are used as guide points in the formation of screeds" ...... a dab is the "small pat of floating material" (plaster) that the dot is bedded into. plumb, dot and screed is another name that's used for the same method. the term dot and dab has been hi-jacked by the modern industry to describe direct bond dry-lining.

interesting comment - even if the wall is a block wall that has previously had plaster on - would that not create too much suck for the adhesive to bond properly ?

How do you recover from A/ Not putting enough adhesive on the wall? B/ pushing in too firmly and thus making the board "sink" into the wall? Daft questions?? Well no - I've never personally "dotted and dabbed" pasterboard onto a wall like this, so I don't have experience which means that I'm very likely to make such a mistake !!!! How would I recover???

Good video for the DIY and a good job. Ive been doing this trade 20 years and dryliners do it another way on the sites lol. but this way is ok too

Great video, as are all your videos. By far the best and easiest to follow on the 'Tube' I have never seen the feather-edge tool in this video. Is that the job it is designed for, or will any long metal or even wooden object be OK to tap the board to straighten it? Many thanks

That was really cool I never would have thought of putting drywall over block without studding it first.

why not? looking at doing this myself over weekend!!

Another question. Can you do this with smaller dabs? I have rough bathroom walls that I want to tile onto the plaster board. As it's a small room, I want the boards very close to the wall, with a minimal gap, and almost touching the wall. Is this OK? Many thanks

@MultiUnit66 It's called Gyproc Dri - Wall Adhesive.

What's a good inulsting board to use? Can you install Celotex directly onto a bare wall (as in this video)? Can you then wallpaper directly over the installed Celotex or other insulated board?

Hi ! What is the white stuff that is covering the wall? Why want you asigurate the board with some drills ?

Great to mention the building regs for fire, However, you should have a continuous band all the way round. Not just top.

great will have a go myself

excellent

@Arceye23 No problem, thanks for your comment. Enjoy the other video's. Many Thanks TSTV.

do you have to pva the wall ??

Good Video Thanks for your information and clear explanations. It is great to see someone methodically working with direct stick techniques. Cheers form OZ

what about explaining how much gap to leave between boards and looks like you filled the gap after with adhesive?

isnt the fire block ment to be at the bottom this also gives the joiner a good fixing for his skirting board

Plumb and dot is the method for helping when using hardwall or sand and cement to render a wall, dot and dab is plasterboard

as usual no dab for the joiners when skirting!

BUD, YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING ;-);-);-)

@bmphillips15 Thank you very much for the comment, mush apprieciated. TSTV.

why did you not cut the socket out first? thats how i do it much easier.

Nice video, but would it not be better to first mark a straight line on the floor (using a chalk line or similar) so each board can follow a straight line on the floor. The feather edge is ok across to keep two boards flush two boards flush but you can still run out of line over an entire wall. No offence just hope you don't mind the comment. Videos like this are very helpful as they take the misery out of relatively simple jobs. You make it look easy. Good job and thanks.

Hi guys, what happened to the "how to batten a wall video"? I'm ready for it now and it's been removed..

What did he put on the wall and he stuck the plaster board too?

You make that seem so easy.

you should put two boards on first and then level through

if the socket is proud put the board against it give it whack and turn it round and holewas the imprint out,make sue to have the board off the floor tho

Excellent thanks - now I am more likely to do a half decent job. Isn't RU-vid brilliant !

Fully agree if we was working on the ground floor or even if there was a concrete floor below but in this case we was working on the first floor with a timber floor below. Good spot though !!!!!! TSTV

creates a barrier between the adhesive and wall

the adhesive says not to pva

@ArchieWW Ha ha! Yeah, Simon is hard to understand (compared with Andy), but I get the feeling the lighting and sound in his videos is not as good - is someone else directing? Anyhow, you can consider this practice for when you've got to order the bits off builders merchants, LOL. He gives the impression he's spent 5 yrs+ doing this, as opposed to giving presentations, you probably want it that way round :).

@tommystradesecrets building regs require that the dab be solid around the edge of all walls, floors and windows. it is known as 'perimeter dabbing'. also the dabs are to be at 400mm centres (nhbc). also the dabs are too big, i wouldn't like to buy your material.....!!!!

Note! You should never hit your level like that it will damage it

Could you not have skimmed that wall without boarding. Just curious that's all as To why you have to board it ?

The walls are never straight with the plasterboard !!!

Im sorry mate but what you have seen is called dot and dab and follows conventional procedures . You are wrong calling a scratch coat dot and dab. I mean jobbing plasterers will be pissing themselves listening to your verbiage.40 years ? More like 40 hours in training school and most of what they taught you you have forgotten.

To many dots

So so sooooo wrong hahaha buy the time he's finished fannying around with his level i'd have had the room boarded out!! Oh and DO NOT EVER pva a wall before you dot and dab it!

there is just so much of this video that is either not quite right or just plain wrong. for starters this is NOT dot and dab. dot and dab is a method of applying a scratch coat or render coat prior to skimming in order to get the wall plumb and flat. what's being shown here is a direct-bond method of dry-lining. if you apply the dry-wall adhesive in this way then over time you will have problems from pattern staining. 40 years of working as a jobbing builder will not make up for 3 yrs college

Visually, this is an excellent and helpful video, but the wrong perosn was chosen to present this - he mumbled, spoke too quickly, did not always explain exactly what he was doing and was altogether hard to understand. No disrespect to the guy - I'm sure he's an excellent plasterer - but anyone who is providing training should have a good clear voice and should speak slowly while facing the camera. Also, the reason for applying a PVA solution prior to affixing plasterboard should be explained.

im a small builder like you, I wouldn't make life easy for handymen , when its our living