One of the ancient handicrafts related to building construction is the plasterwork. During the early Vedic period evidence shows that their dwellings were erected simply by using stick and mud or slime as plaster. Later on, the more suitable and efficient method of plastering was invented.  For any building after the foundation has been laid, plastering is the most important element. Therefore, an efficient and professional plasterer is essential for a proper building construction. Plasterers can build your home and they can install some concrete substances in your building such as floor, walls, ceiling, and roof. So, if you want to build your home with concrete membranes then you must hire a professional plasterer.

History of the Plastering works:

The ancient civilizations, such as the Egyptian civilization used a kind of plaster for the pyramids that are still hard and durable. Researchers have found that there were not many differences in the tools of plaster used in that period from the present time. They were almost identical in design, shape, and purpose with that used in this century. For their finest works, the Egyptian plasterers used a material called Calcined Gypsum, which is similar to the plaster of Paris of the present time. Not only the material but their methods of plastering resemble the modern time.  Even the ancient Greek architecture shows the use of plaster made of fine white lime stucco.

Tools and Materials Used for Plastering:

Usually, in operations of plastering few tools and materials are used but a more efficient plasterer requires more implementation than that of a normal workman.

The materials used for Plastering are:

  • Laths:

    these are basically made of narrow strips of some straight-grained wood, generally of Baltic and American fir. They possess a length of two to five feet to suit the distances at which the timbers of the floor or partition are kept. Laths are made up of mainly three types of thickness. One is a single lath, another is a lath and a half, and the third variety is double lath. The thicker laths are used to make the ceilings and the thinner to make the walls or partitions.

  • Lime:

    it is another important material for building plastering. The lime that is used for internal plastering is the Calcined from chalk, oyster shells or other limestones. Hydraulic lime is used mainly for external use. Due to time constraint, hydrated lime is used with plaster in modern times.

  • Hair: 

    Plasterers use hair in building construction as a medium for binding to provide tenacity to the material. Traditionally horsehair was used for binding. Hair functions as the strands of fiberglass resin, controlling and containing the small cracks within the mortar while it dries.

Methods of Plastering:

For fine plaster sand work, special sands are used like silver sand or fine foundry sand. This is used when light color and fine texture is required. Another essential element required is Barium. The methods of proper plastering include:

  • Internal plastering on surfaces of brick and concrete: after cleaning the surface where plaster is to be done the level pegs on the walls are fixed. Then the brick walls are watered before plastering mortar. After this coat of mortar are applied on the walls and columns and a final touch is given to the embedded lines and provisions.
  • External wall plastering: after the projections on the wall surfaces are chipped off and cleaned the plaster coat filling is done by the workman.
  • Soffit finishing with cement based easy plaster
  • Improving joint of the brick wall and structural concrete
  • Quality controlling and quality assurance

So now you can search such plasters online and choose the best one for your construction.