Skim coating

[Historic Bessemer]

Are you sure your not working with Plaster? Sounds like some of the same problems we have had with our 108 yr old house.........plaster walls ceilings and all!

[Cecilia_Rose]

Ive skim coated with topping compound for years. Thats how long I been workin on this old house of mine. One of these days Ill be done. HAH. Im not an expert . This is just what Ive done to my old house. Some of its been up for years and it hasnt fell off yet so I must be doing okay. .

Some people say you should use joint compound for the heavy stuff cause its thicker and topping compound for the finish coat cause its thinner. I usually just do all topping compound but I do lots of thin coats. I use the biggest dry wall knife I can handle. Wider is better cause it bridges any dips and fills them in.

Its a skill that comes with practice. But once you get the hang of it. Its so easy. And the nice thing is you can stop and start whenever you want. You can wrk a half hour or all day. And clean up is a breeze.

Not sure if I can explain this right. When you skim you want to use the high points as the "high points" and skim a little hard but so hard you take everything off. The high points get just a little and the low areas get built up to match the high points. Dont try to do it all at once. You wont get it smooth the first time. But always try to keep your high points smooth. If you have a choice between a dip and a hill take the dip. Dips can be filled in on the next pass. Hills have to be sanded. I hate sanding. I do very little of it.

This is something new Im trying. Im having good results with big areas that need just a lttle help or as a finnish coat. But boy is it messy. Good thing this stuff washes out of my hair. Thin topping compound with water and mix it to a thick pancake batter. I use a drill mixer attatchment. Roll it on a 3x3 squarel with a roller. Skim off with a 24 inch window squeegee. Dries fast with a glass finish once you master the technique.