Questions from and for plastering apprentices.
I feel like all I do is sand and carry sheets. When do I actually learn to stop?
Sooner than you think, if you play it right. Every crew starts apprentices on the grunt work because a bad stopper costs the boss real money in callbacks. Ask to do the closets, garages and ceilings nobody sees, that is where first years learn. Watch how the tradesmen load their knife and the angle they pull at, then copy it on scrap board at lunch. The apprentices who get moved onto joints early are the ones who asked for the ugly rooms, not the ones who sulked on the pole sander.
Answered by a qualified tradieQualified plasterer
My joints keep showing after paint. Flat when I sand, but you can see every recess under the hallway light. What am I doing wrong?
Glancing light finds everything, so do not feel special. Usual causes: not filling the recess properly in the first coat, coats too thin then over sanded, or topping feathered too narrow. Go wider than feels right, a recess wants your widest knife on the final coat, and check your work with a straight edge and a torch held flat against the wall before the painter does. Also make sure you are sanding with a light on a stand raking across the wall, not the ceiling batten light behind you.
Answered by a qualified tradieQualified plasterer
Boss wants me on stilts for ceilings. Am I even allowed as an apprentice?
Depends where you are and on your employer's safety system, so do not just strap in because someone chucked them at you. Stilts are treated as height work: some states and plenty of builders restrict or ban them, and others allow them with training, a clean floor and the right heights. Trestles and platforms do the same job while you learn. Tell the boss you want to be trained properly first, any decent employer respects that, and if they push back hard, mention it at TAFE and they will set it straight.
Answered by a qualified tradieQualified plasterer
Second year now and my shoulders are cooked by Thursday. Is this just the trade?
Some soreness is normal early, cooked by Thursday every week is not, it means your technique or setup needs fixing before it becomes an injury. Team lift every ceiling sheet, use the panel lifter even when the older blokes scoff, keep work between waist and shoulder height where you can, and swap tasks through the day instead of stopping ceilings for six hours straight. Warm up, and tell your boss and your TAFE teacher if it is not settling. Plasterers who last thirty years are the ones who sorted this at your stage, not the tough ones.
Answered by a qualified tradieQualified plasterer
I am on the dry side but I keep seeing rendering work around. Should I switch to solid plastering?
You do not have to pick forever, but they are separate tickets: wall and ceiling lining is CPC31220 and solid plastering is CPC31020, so switching mid apprenticeship means changing your training contract, talk to your apprenticeship provider before you jump. Smarter play for most: finish the ticket you are on, then pick up rendering skills after, plenty of plasterers cross over and being handy at both makes you very employable. If your heart is really in render and texture, better to move early than resent four years of sheeting, just line up an employer on the solid side first.
Answered by a qualified tradieQualified plasterer
