Plaster, p4
Lessons Learned
One soon discovers when spraying plaster it is both a messy and laborious affair, though not without enjoyment. Experience has revealed a few things that can lessen the enjoyment, the first being a sufficiently stiff mix that won't depart the sprayer. At this point the only solution is to place the entire batch back in to the mixer, add water, and continue to mix to the proper consistency. Hopefully there is not another batch already spinning in the mixer. Tape that fails under the load of overspray-laden plastic sheeting can also increase the work load. Plaster must now be applied to the walls near the affected area with a trowel, or risk overspray on door or window areas where it might be difficult to remove.
The scratch coat applied and scarified, and tape and plastic removed. The windows are open to facilitate drying.
With difficulties overcome, the scratch coat was completed, applied to a thickness of approximately 5/8's of an inch. We then troweled it with some force to maximize adhesion to the straw, and ran a scarifier over the surface to provide keying for the brown coat. The plaster was allowed to cure overnight, then all of the tape and plastic sheeting was removed. After curing for two weeks, we filled in the low spots on the wall in a process called "daubing out"...