THE PLASTERER AND WHITEWASHER.
WHITEWASHER AND PLASTERER.
When the walls, or what is called the carcase of the house, have been built, the roof made, the inner walls and partitions set up, and the joists and woodwork of the floors laid down, the work of the Plasterer begins. He covers the brickwork and bare timbers of walls, ceilings, and partitions with plaster, to prepare them for painting or papering: he also forms the cornices for ceilings, and the mouldings and decorations, which are usually made in plaster or cement.
The materials which the Plasterer uses for these purposes are:—1st. Coarse stuff, or a paste made with lime, much in the same way as common mortar, and afterwards mixed with hair, which is obtained from the tanner’s yard, after it has been removed from the skins, which are there made into leather. This hair is raked together, and mixed with the mortar, with the hair hook, and a sort of three pronged rake called the drag.
Hair Hook. Fine Sieve.
2d. Fine stuff is made from pure lime, slaked with a small quantity of water, after which enough water is added to bring it to a state in which it resembles cream; it is then left to settle, the superfluous water is poured off, and the mixture is left in a tub, till still more of the water has evaporated, and it is thick enough to use. This stuff is often used for ceilings, and then a small quantity of white hair is mixed with it, to help to make it firmer and more binding. For these finer kinds of plaster it is necessary to use the fine sieve, in order to sift the lime and other ingredients, that only the portion which has been reduced to powder may be retained.
3d. Stucco, which is made by mixing fine stuff with cleaned-washed sand. Stucco is used for house fronts, or other finishing work, which is intended to be painted.
4th. Gauged stuff is used for forming cornices, which run round a ceiling, and for mouldings; it is made by mixing fine stuff with plaster of Paris, which is a fine white powder easily made into a paste, and drying very quickly.