Dry Lining and Plastering

Dry lining, including taping and jointing, and wall plastering are the two most common ways to prepare the walls and ceiling for decoration.

Smooth walls and ceilings are essential in any construction project if you want the space to look good and professional. Smooth surfaces are not only appealing to the eye but give the property or site the final finish. 

We believe with a professional finish  it is easier to maintain the smart appearance. We are Dry lining and Plastering professionals and our work experience speaks volumes.  We are working on many various sized projects across the UK where we deliver top quality Dry lining and plastering services to our commercial and residential clients.

Plasterboard is available in a wide range of lengths, widths and thicknesses. The larger the plasterboard, the fewer joints, but the harder it is to handle and fit. Plasterboards have a core of plaster which provides good acoustic and fire insulation. Fibres can be added for extra strength and durability. Moisture resistant plasterboards are treated with wax and can be useful when dry lining bathrooms for example.

Plasterboard can be fixed directly to the internal face of a wall or ceiling, or can be fixed to a secondary framework of metal or timber attached to the internal face. Each material requires a different fixing technique.

Once the plasterboard is in place, a jointing tape can be applied over the joints between the boards and then the tape and recessed screw or nail heads can be filled over with a jointing compound. The joining compound for dry lining is usually supplied as a dry powder which requires water to achieve the correct consistency. The compound should then be allowed to dry and then may need to be sanded with a fine abrasive paper. The surface should then be sealed or primed, and once dry, can be decorated. RKND take care of all this.

Dry lining is generally faster and easier to install than wet plaster, and generally results in an overall construction that weighs less. Dry-lined walls are easier to change, making buildings more flexible to ongoing refurbishments. 

Dry lining can also be used to increase thermal insulation and to prevent condensation. Additional insulation may be installed behind the plasterboard, and a vapour barrier might also be installed.

However, care must be taken to ensure that barriers and insulation are correctly positioned.

Without a skim coat needed then a couple of additional layers of jointing compound are applied with a knife or trowel to create a seamless finish ready for painting or wallpapering.

As a result, it is important that the jointing compound is blended into the surface of the wall to ensure that the joints are flush with the surface of the plasterboard. This is achieved through a process known as ‘feathering’. Feathering involves blending each coat of compound into the plasterboard to make the joint disappear and create a smooth finish.

The jointing compound is moved away from the centre of the joint using taping knives of various sizes until it seamlessly merges with the surface of the plasterboard. 

This is where RKND bring skill into their profession and leave no edge unfinished or out of place.

The finished plaster releases water vapor when exposed to flame, acting to slow the spread of the fire, for as much as an hour or two depending on thickness. It also provides some insulation to retard heat flow into structural steel elements that would otherwise lose their strength and collapse in a fire.

Due to the consistency of plaster, it can be used to create ornaments or decorative mouldings on the walls or ceiling. This is done when authenticity is the key.

There are several types of plaster finishes, but the most popular ones are:

• Scrapped finish: To obtain scrapped finish, apply a final coat of 6 to 12 mm thickness and allow it to dry. After some time using steel blade or plate scrap the plastered layer up to 3mm depth. Scrapped finish is less liable to cracks.
• Depeter finish: This is also similar to pebble dash finish, but in this case pieces of gravel or flints are used in place of pebbles.
• Textured finish: Textured plaster is just that – any plastered surface which has a complex, non-polished texture. There are unlimited options when it comes to texturing a plaster wall.
• Smooth cast finish: Smooth texture, as the term implies, is an as-cast finish. This texture is a direct result of the quality of the formwork surface. It is the least aesthetically pleasing but the most economical of the surface textures, especially if the surface is to be field painted.
• Rough cast finish: Roughcast (also called ‘wet-dash’ in Cumbria and ‘harling’ in Scotland) is a render with a coarse finishing coat containing gravel thrown in a premixed state onto a wall. It is distinct from pebble dash (or ‘dry dash’) in which the aggregate is applied separately onto wet plaster.
• Sand faced finish: Sand-Faced Plaster: It is actually a layer of cement-sand mortar applied over brickwork and also serves as a damp-proof coat over the masonry. This type of plaster is used to give a finishing touch to a surface let’s say to walls and ceilings. To some extent it also serves as a sound and thermal insulation material.
• Pebble dash finish: Pebbledashing is the decorative gravel finish applied to a render coat on buildings to retain wall insulation, cover up blockwork and to give a decorative finish as part or full cover to a building.