Hi Y’all.

Lately,  more and more, I’ve been asked to repair drywall and to apply a coat of veneer plaster overtop. I’ve been hanging and taping drywall for several years now with no problems. Plasterers in my area don’t want to piddle around with finishing my small jobs, and they don’t like to pass on their trade tips either. What I am looking for however is a trade tip…

 When I veneer plaster,  I don’t use Kal Kote or Diamond Coat, instead I use thinned joint compound and add fine,  white, “sugar” sand to the mix. I then trowel on a thin skim coat of this mix overtop the drywall.  Up to this point…No problem. Here is my problem….when wanting a swirling, half moon effect, what brush, comb, trowel, sponge, should I use? I used 2 types of horeshair brushes…the effect was great, but horsehair kept getting pulled onto the plaster…a real mess. I finally went to using a mason’s paint brush ( yellow nylon type bristles). I cut the bristles down to about 2-1/2 inches long with my razor knife and a straight edge. This brush worked OK until it started getting too gummed up and I rinsed it out… it seemed to keep getting gummed up too much and rinsing it out was also adding more water to the mix.

In the end, this wall turned out OK…The Owners were very pleased. Yet I feel like an amatuer.  I felt like I had to work way too long to achieve the effect I was after.  I would like to know just what tool is appropiate for this type of job. Any tips on where I should start on a wall ( ie..corner, top, bottom?) and which direction for a right-hander ( I went left to right… started at top left corner and proceeded across and downward…is this correct method?)would be highly appreciated. Anyone know of a good video on the subject?

Thanks.

Davo