Best product for plaster board repair?

sol26 · 31-05-2008, 8:00 PM

Hi all,
I am midway through a project to put my LCD onto a plasterboard wall (dot &dab) which is secured to a breeze block wall behind it.
I have cut out the channels and put in all my required cables, I'm a little unsure of what the best product is to use to fill/repair the channels. The channels are approx 25mm deep and about 40mm wide, I was going to use standard filler till I realised it will all just gloop into the voids behind the plasterboard!!
any suggestions much appreciated.

RobJackson85 · 31-05-2008, 8:06 PM

Hmm - maybe cut small strips of plasterboard and slowly build them up to the required depth, then fill in the gaps. Its quite a tough job of filling holes in plasterboard.

sol26 · 31-05-2008, 8:31 PM

only problem with that is the total depth is 25mm but its substantially less than that where the cables are.

Polycell do a plaster repair filler, has anyone used this?

27neth · 31-05-2008, 8:37 PM

use a tin of expanding foam. When it dries break some off until it is just below the plaster surface then cover with standard polyfilla.

john.

sol26 · 31-05-2008, 8:43 PM

Thanks John. I did think about that but i thought that the filler would crack or come loose once on top of the foam when dry . How solid does the foam set??

27neth · 31-05-2008, 8:49 PM

Hi,
The foam sets very well, you can hold windows and door frames in with it

You could put a flexible filler on top but i would say standard filler would be fine.

John.

Badger0-0 · 31-05-2008, 8:57 PM

I'd go along with the foam

Then fill it to just below the surface, allow to properly dry (and yes it may crack) and then skim and sand to finish.

sol26 · 31-05-2008, 9:06 PM

t.b.f thinking about it , its not to bigger issue if it cracks as it will be getting wallpapered over! Off to B&Q in the morning then and buy myself a tin of foam. how far does a tin go, bearing in mind i have about 13ft of channels to fill!?

thanks

27neth · 31-05-2008, 9:21 PM

It goes a long way, be very careful with it. Dont try to break it off until it is fully cured. it is a absolute pain to wash of your hands

It does expand a lot, one tin will do it, just dont get carried away

by spraying a lot in the channel.
I would also masking tape your skirting boards and carpets underneath where you are filling and wear the provided gloves

John.

sol26 · 31-05-2008, 9:26 PM

ok , thanks for the advice

Badger0-0 · 31-05-2008, 9:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 27neth

It goes a long way, be very careful with it. Dont try to break it off until it is fully cured. it is a absolute pain to wash of your hands

It does expand a lot, one tin will do it, just dont get carried away

by spraying a lot in the channel.
I would also masking tape your skirting boards and carpets underneath where you are filling and wear the provided gloves

John.

All good advice, IMO

I'm just reaffirming that it expands a lot.

Spray a small blob first to get an idea

RobJackson85 · 31-05-2008, 9:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sol26

only problem with that is the total depth is 25mm but its substantially less than that where the cables are.

Polycell do a plaster repair filler, has anyone used this?

I forgot about that bit! The expanding foam will certainly do the trick, but as mentioned above expands alot!

It's also a real pain to clean off! Whether it be your hands, wall or any textile surface. Make sure you use the supplied gloves, or if handy a pair of marigolds as the gloves that are supplied tend to be abit on the small size.

Badger0-0 · 31-05-2008, 10:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sol26

t.b.f thinking about it , its not to bigger issue if it cracks as it will be getting wallpapered over! Off to B&Q in the morning then and buy myself a tin of foam. how far does a tin go, bearing in mind i have about 13ft of channels to fill!?

thanks

You could always do what a cheapskate mate of mine did (to be fair, times were hard 27 years ago).

Masking tape and then wallpapered over it

To be fair, it actually looked ok

27neth · 31-05-2008, 10:03 PM

As a few people have said its a pain to remove from your hands. The last time i had it on my hands i had to clean it off with petrol and sharp sand (on a building site)

soap does not work....

john.

lord-dudester · 31-05-2008, 10:36 PM

i've just done this but i used some dry wall, and just mixed it really thick. it worked a treat.

lazarusr · 01-06-2008, 1:32 AM

I did a very similar project (see here) and used expanding foam. It does do the trick. However, I would agree with what everyone else has said.

I would suggest you try playing around with it first somewhere it doesn't matter making a mess, so you can get a feel for how it behaves.
I found that after you let go of the trigger it keeps coming out of the nozzle for a few seconds. If you pull the nozzle away from the wall it just spills everywhere and makes a mess.
As everyone says, it expands a lot!!
Make sure you pare it down to below the level of the wall so you can put a few millimetres thick layer of plaster over it. Whilst you can sand the dry foam down, if you paint directly over it it doesn't look or feel right. However, if you are just going to wallpaper, then it will be fine.
Wear gloves. I didn't and three weeks later I am still picking the stuff off my finger nails.

Good luck.

lazarusr · 01-06-2008, 1:37 AM

BTW, have you just put bare cables in the channels? If you have, I would strongly urge you to re-consider. My channel was only 25mm deep and I managed to fit some trunking in. If you run the cables through trunking it means that it is (very) easy to change them at a later stage.

John7 · 01-06-2008, 3:07 AM

Also, you should dampen the area where you are going to foam, helps it cure faster (use plant mister spray or simiar).

Would definately second the coment regarding installing trunking.

Instead of foam, why not cut some strips of plasterboard and glue those in place? Less messy and easier to fill after with some standard filler paste.

Fieldling86 · 02-06-2008, 11:49 AM

Personally, I'd cut a piece of plasterboard a tiny bit smaller than the hole, and then screw a piece (or several, depending on size of/lenght of hole) to hold the repair patch level with the surface of the plasterboard, and then I'd used something like no-nails of gripfill and glue in the piece(s). Once dried, unscrew the batten holding it in place and fill any small holes or gaps with polyfilla.

p15574 · 04-06-2008, 1:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fieldling86

Personally, I'd cut a piece of plasterboard a tiny bit smaller than the hole, and then screw a piece (or several, depending on size of/lenght of hole) to hold the repair patch level with the surface of the plasterboard, and then I'd used something like no-nails of gripfill and glue in the piece(s). Once dried, unscrew the batten holding it in place and fill any small holes or gaps with polyfilla.

Yes, or put some battens behind the replacement piece so the new plasterboard remains fixxed to the old one, then just repeair the border and the screws into the battens. This also means it's easy enough to open it up again.

Steve.

PulsarPilot · 04-06-2008, 8:52 PM

I'm no expert, but why dont you just get a bag of bonding (similar to "plaster"), but specifically made as a first coat to stick to stuff.Then use a second coat of something like multi finish, or one coat.You could also try using easy sand or joint filler, this goes on very easy, and is very easy to sand, although it is very soft when dry, so you have to be carefull where you use it, and how deep a hole you fill.
Pop into your local builders merchant, they should be able to advise you.

Plastering is not nearly as easy as it looks, but just make sure that you have everything you need to hand before you start, and do a bit at a time, and you should be fine

Also the advice to use strips of plasterboard to pack out the holes is sound, gripfill is cheap, and very good if used correctly.