A few months ago on The Plasterers Forum a thread was started about the finish plaster offered by Knauf and there was a lot of interest from plasterers all over the country and so seeing as Knauf are sponsors of The Plasterers Forum I figured it would make a great day out for the interested members to have a go with “MPFinish”.
I stayed in a local hotel the night before the event to make sure that I was awake and refreshed for the abnormally early start for me, and it all looked like a good idea at the time but the duvet in the hotel was a bit small, and I had to make the decision, whether I wanted warm feet or warm shoulders and not both. It made for a restless night but none the less I still did not have a 3 odd hour drive to Sittingbourne so that was great.
I arrived at the training center for around 08:30 via the Fed Ex building which is where all the sat navs take you if you don’t know where the training center is as it can be a bit of a pain to find. I did had a couple of phone calls from lost plasterers but after a bit of guidance, we were all stood chatting and putting usernames to faces. I managed to bring mugs down for everybody, but I think a lot where left at the training center but thats no problem as they wont go to waste.
The general plan for the Knauf day was to go with the flow and see what the majority wanted to do, and I think a lot of the plasterers were a bit shy at first but the micky taking soon got under way, and then you couldn’t shut them up.
The day was hosted by Rachel from Knauf, and she got off to a cracking start and got the ball rolling, and we were soon stood watching Paul (instructor) spraying MP Finish and giving us a demonstration on application using the PFT Ritmo. Once this was on, and a few guys had a go at spraying we were all left to spread some walls for ourselves. Well I was out getting bad photos with my new SLR camera 🙂
I don’t know about you, but I like my plaster mixed up in a certain way, and I like it a bit wetter than some so when one person was mixing up, and everybody was sharing I thought this was not going to be ideal as myself and Rachel think it would have been better if everybody mixed up their own. However, everyone seemed happy to do it that way so that is what happened.
The walls were put on, and some of the plasterers questioned about the thickness of the mix and what not, but as I said, you can decide how thick or wet you want it when you mix it up very much like British Gypsum Multi Finish.
The Currier Plasterers put on a fairly big wall near the entrance to the training school and showed us all how they work the one coat method using SpeedSkims etc and a lot of the other plasterers in the group were very interested in the method and the outcome.
Once we all had the walls on and what not we headed up into the gods of the training center and watched a video about MP finish and the benefits of it being machine applied compared to hand applied. This video has been seen by many plasterers and is quite amusing its a must watch so take a look below.
After the video, we went back downstairs and flattened in and tidied up the walls and then pizza arrived 🙂 The pizza went down so well with everybody it was fantastic what a great choice it is much much better than the normal buffet especially on a a cold winters day.
After lunch, we had a demonstration of the Airless Plaster system, and I am a little scared about the impact this product is going to have on the plastering industry. I think when people get to see how easy and how effective this method of plastering is and the fact that the only wast it produces is the bag it comes in it is going to be hugely popular, and I think maybe taken on by non plasterers but still its a great product, and it has its place within the industry and a lot of the plasterers on this trip were keen to see it in action.
After this demonstration and a few of the plasterers had a play with the spray and showed how it’s done they returned to their walls and finished toweling up and finishing off.
There was a lot of chatter around the spray demo wall as the finish on the wall was that of an orange peel and so a few of the guys were asking why this was, and they got a few answers, and they weren’t exactly what they wanted to hear. Thankfully, there were a lot of people who had finished the walls to really good standard, and you could see how good the finish can be and this was a bit of a saviour for MP Finish as you can see its a great product.
After we had finished our walls, we then headed to the “Cube” and started the Knauf factory tour, and although it sounded really geeky every single plasterer on the Plasterers Forum day out wanted to go around and see where the plasterboard was made along with visiting the bagging plant.
There were lots of wide eyed chaps amazed at the 10,000 meter rolls of plasterboard paper and the 400 meter long length of plasterboard. You just stared and stared at what was in front of you. It was almost mind boggling and the numbers they were talking were just too big to comprehend.
When we got to the bagging plant, we got to see the bags get filled with dust and it was mesmerising to watch it work away and also see how little man power was needed to keep this factory working. I think there was a maximum of five people working at any one time, and it was just bizarre.
After the tour, we all met in the “Cube” again and those that wanted some MP finish to take away went off and picked it up, and the rest of guys disappear back around the country. I decided I wanted one last look at the walls that were done and to thank all the Knauf team for what was a great day.
I was back in the training center and looking around, and I have to say I was really pleased with what was achieved bearing in mind a lot of the guys had never heard of MP Finish let alone used it and the quality of their finish was good. Furthermore, the demo wall that had like an orange peel effect even came out pretty good as well, its a shame that the others did not see it after it had been trowelled up, it was not perfect, but it was good.
This was the first ever event that I have organised for The Plasterers Forum and its the first one that Knauf have done, so we knew it was going to have been teething issues, but I can honestly say a lot of people have emailed me today thanking me for the day. I am already being pestered for the next event which I hope is going to be a success as well.
I would like to thank Rachel for organising the day and also Paul and Kevin for showing everybody the equipment and machines but also for Knauf in general for supporting our ever growing plastering community.
We will be orgainising more days out for members and readers of Plasterers News and The Plasterers Forum. So please stay tuned for more news and information on these days.
If you have any questions or problems get in touch with me, and I will do my best to help.
One last thing… A quote that was said that stuck in my mind and for obvious reasons I wont disclose who said it but quite funny
“Using MP Finish makes me feel strange, it feels like it does when I am cheating on my wife”
