Plastering can seem like a bit of a daunting DIY experience, but it doesn’t have to be. Corner beads are an essential bit of plastering you’ll need to know but with some easy tips it shifts from a hard task to a simple one. Let have a look at if you can plaster straight onto beads with our top plastering tips and advice.
What’s a skim bead?
A skim angle bead is a thin piece of metal with a straight edge running along its edge. It sits with a 45 degree angle.
Why use a skim bead?
The idea is that you apply this bead to plaster or working background for a clean, precise flush corner finish. The issue is, it can sometimes be quite hard to apply these beads – with angles often causing all sorts of plastering chaos. To avoid this, you’ll want to know what you are doing.
Applying a skim bead
You can apply some plaster beading in 7 simple steps. These can seem tricky at first but with practice you’ll be able to nail it in no time:
- Mix up your plaster – make sure that you are getting the right consistency.
- Cut the beading to size – a snipping tool such as the stanley aviation snip is best used here.
- Prepare your hawk – drying in plaster before starting application.
- Apply the bonding – you’ll want to make sure you apply it thick but even throughout.
- Set the beading – do not press in the middle, whilst also making sure the top and bottom have enough adhesion to avoid any hairline cracks.
- Remove any excess – smooth over the finish.
- Check work and level off – make sure you use a level.
How to get the perfect plastered corner
The most important thing to remember here is that you can and should plaster straight onto beads. Once you have bonded the beading to the corner of any background you will want to apply the plaster for the perfect flush finish.
Many will advise using clout nails or other adhesives but we believe that the best results you can get from corner beads is to purely use plaster. Clout nails often ruin the plaster below and are unreliable resulting in beading that is actually hanging off.
Instead, the best way to apply angle beads in the plaster them straight to the wall and then use your second layer of plaster straight onto the bead, making sure to keep it all level and fill in the holes that the beading inevitably gives – you’ll want to make sure that you have filled them in right to avoid any unwanted bumps on your wall. The second application is where you can fill in the blanks and create that solid fixed, flushed angle for the best plaster corner finish.
Whilst many come up with other ways to attach and then finish angle beads, we have to disagree with them and argue that for the best plastering results, plastering straight onto beads is the best option.
Conclusion
That’s our quick run down to plastering corner beads. It can sometimes be tough at first but if you follow the tips and advice to a tee you will be plastering like an expert in no time.
