WALL FINISHES

 The choice of a floor finish depends on the exposure of the wall to the
weather elements
 There are various types of wall finishes e.g.
a) Plaster render
b) Pointing and jointing
c) Rough cast or pebble dash
d) Tiling

 The purposes of a wall finish are:

i. Provide resistance to moisture penetration.
ii. To protect the structural wall from driving rain and sand storms.
iii. To give a more pleasant appearance
iv. Increase the fire resistance, sound and thermal insulation properties of the
wall.

Plastering (internal surfaces)

 Most dwelling houses are plastered internally using sand-cement mortar or
lime-cement sand mortar.

 Plaster is easy to apply although it requires skilled workmanship to produce

a smooth and even surface.
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Preparing the surface to be plastered

 The preparation of the surface to be plastered is necessary in order to

ensure a good bond between the surface and the plaster.

 The surfaces of concrete blocks are usually sufficiently rough to provide a

good key and no special preparation is necessary.
  However if the blocks are dense and close textured, the joints should be
racked to a depth of 13mm during the process of laying them.

Old work may require hacking and cleaning down before the plastered
coats are applied.

 A spatter-dash coat is often applied to dense blocks and to walls that

absorb moisture quickly.

 Minor irregularities such as crevices, deformations on blocks, open joints

etc are first made good.

Methods of application

 The method of applying mortar mix to the wall is by using plastering trowel
or steel float to collect the mortar from the hawk and pressing it on to the
wall in a sweeping stroke.

 Then spread the mortar in an almost even thickness.

 Another method is throwing the mortar to the wall surface using block-
laying trowel.

 The mortar is picked up from the mortar board and the plasterer standing
side-ways to the wall, throws the mortar with an upward stroke to the wall.

Procedure of plastering
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i. Clean the surface thoroughly.

ii. Spray the background with water and apply cement slurry spatter-dash.

iii. Apply the first coat of plaster.

iv. Roughen the first coat using metal comb or lath-scratcher to provide agood
key for the second coat.

v. Cure the first coat for at least 48hours

 vi. Place plaster screed dots at convenient distances to form guides for
straightening the surface.

 Theses dots are plumbed down and intermediate ones fixed.

 The spaces in between the dots are then connected with plastering
material to form horizontal or vertical bands about 75mm wide.

vii. Fill in the spaces between the screeds and rule off with a straight edge to a
straight and even surface.

viii. Use the wooden float to work the surface to a sandy gritty finish.

For rendering this forms the final finish.

ix. Clean up the working place.

Tools for the job

 Plastering requires these tools:

i. A bucket/karai to carry the plaster mixture.

ii. A mixing board and shovel.

iii. A hawk which is a small board to hold the plaster while you put it on a wall
or ceiling.

iv. A wood float to apply the plaster and smooth render coats.
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v. A steel float to smoothen the final coat.

vi. A creed board which is a straight piece of timber to level the plaster
between screed dots.

vii. A builder’s level.

viii. Trestles and scaffolds to make a platform for working on the top of the
walls and on the ceiling.
 Rendering (external surfaces)

 Rendering is similar to rendering but it is applied externally.

Mixes used for rendering are usually denser than for plastering because of
the protective role it plays.

 Rendered surfaces may also be painted to improve appearance.

 Plastering or rendering mortar should not be stronger than the material to

be plastered on base.

If the mortar is stronger than the base, the plastered surface will tend to
crack.

 The typical mix ratio for plaster and rendering are either 1:3 or 1:4 cement
and sand respectively.

For internal work lime may beaded to increase the workability to form 1:1:4
cement-lime sand mortar.

 The surface to be rendered should normally be straight and plumb. This is

achieved by the use of a straight edge and plumb-bob.

 The dots are placed on the wall surface in such a way that the horizontal
dots are in the same plane and the vertical ones are plumb.
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 Defects in rendered surfaces

 The main defects in rendered surfaces are:

i. Cracking
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ii. Crazing

iii. Loss of adhesion

 a) Cracks

 Cracks appear on render because:

i. The mix is too rich in cement which causes shrinkage cracks when the
render dries.

ii. The mix dries up quickly (rapidly).

This is difficult to avoid in hot sun, so the application of render should be

done on a dull day or late in the day.

iii. The background wall moves or settles .this can cause cracks or loss of
adhesion.

iv. The finishing coat is stronger than the background or render coat.

b) Crazing

c) Crazing is fine cracking at the top surface of the render.

This is caused by:

i. Too much trowelling which bring neat cement to the surface.

ii. Too much suction in the backing coat which draws water from the top coat.
You should put water on the backing coat before applying the top coat.

iii. The render drying too quickly in the sunlight.

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 C) Loss of adhesion

 Loss of adhesion is obvious if you hear a hollow sound when you tap the
surface of the render.

 Adhesion is lost when:

i. The key is inadequate

ii. The background is too porous or is not wetted before rendering.

iii. Water penetrates the render through cracks.

Pointing and jointing

 In jointing joints are finished as building of the wall proceeds, while in

pointing the joints are finished after the completion of the wall
construction.

 Pointing

 In pointing joints in masonry at exposed faces of the wall are first of all
raked out to a depth of 13mm.

 Raked joints are cleaned perfectly from dry loose raked mortar and wetted.

 The raked open spaces of joints are filled with suitable mortar and finished
in desired shape and appearance.
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Method of pointing

 Pointing is done in following stages:

i. The mortar joint of the surface to be pointed and raked out to a depth of
about 13mm.

ii. Raked joints are cleaned from loose mortar and thoroughly wetted.
 iii. With the help of a smooth trowel, mortar is forced into the open spaces of
the raked masonry joints.

The mortar is slightly pressed with trowel to bring it into close contact with
the masonry mortar of the joint.

iv. The pointing should be finished as per the required finishing with the help
of specific tool. Finishing is done when the mortar is still wet.

v. The pointed surface should be cured for at least three (3) days in case of
lime mortar and ten (10) days in case of cement mortar pointing.

Types of pointing

 Pointing are classified according to the finishing given to the surfaces of the
pointing:

i. Beaded pointing

 This pointing is very good in appearance.

It is formed with the help of steel rod having concave edge.

This pointing is difficult to maintain.

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 ii. Flush pointing

 In this pointing raked joints are finished flush with the face of the bricks of
the masonry.

 This pointing does not give a good appearance.

Being simple this pointing is very much in common use.

iii. Recessed pointing

 In this type of pointing, finished point of the pointing mortar is kept vertical
but it is not kept flush with the brick face.
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 iv. Keyed, rubbed, bucket handle or grooved pointing

 In this type of pointing grooves are formed on the finished pointing.

It gives improved appearance and is quite in common use.

v. Struck pointing

 In this pointing the face of pointing is finished inclined.

 The upper end of the pointing plaster is passed inside the masonry by
about 10mm and lower edge is finished level with the face of the masonry.

 If lower edge of the pointing is also pressed inside the masonry, but to
lesser extent than the upper edge , it is called overhung struck pointing .
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 But this type of pointing will not effectively discharge rain water.
 vi. Tuck pointing

 In this pointing a rectangular groove is formed at the centre of the joint.

This groove is lastly filled with white putty by keeping it slightly projecting
outside the finished surface of the pointing plaster.

 Finished surface of the pointing plaster may be flush with the masonry
surface or slightly pressed into the masonry.
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 vii. Vee pointing

 In this pointing v-shaped groove is engraved in the finished surface of the

pointing plaster when it is still green.
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 viii. Weather pointing

 In this case v-shaped projection is formed at the centre of the finished

surface of the pointing plaster.

ix. Projecting joints

 The inside face of walls to be plastered are sometimes left with the mortar
projecting slightly.
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  Rough cast or pebbledash
 Rough cast or pebble dash is a finish applied as a final render coat to the
external surface of walls.

 In rough cast the coarse aggregates usually gravel is mixed with the
material for second coat which is applied to the wall.

While pebble dashing .the chippings are thrown onto the second coat
before it hardens.

 The coarseness of the surface depends on the type of coarse aggregates

used; pigment may be added to the material to achieve the desired colour.

Fixing of wall tiles

 Tiles are fixed to the wall using adhesives or sand-cement mortar.

The binding material to be used depends on the nature of the background.

 The most common type of background is sand-cement surface which could

be either wood float finish or steel float finished.

 On a wood float surface finish, the tiles are bonded with a rich cement sand
mortar. While on steel float surface finish, adhesives are used.

 This type of background comprises 1:3 or 1:4 mixes of ordinary Portland

cement and sand.
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The rendering should not be thicker than 12mm.

When there are many coats, each coat should not be more than 10mm
thick.

Each of these cots should be allowed to dry out before the next coat is
applied.
  The final coat of the render should be allowed to dry up for seven to
fourteen days before the tiles are fixed to the wall.

Glazed clay tiles

To fix glazed clay tiles on a smooth plastered surface, the following steps
are followed:

i. The surface to be roughened to provide key for the adhesive.

ii. The surface is cleaned by brushing and sprayed with water to remove all
the dust.

iii. The height of the first coat is marked either from the top of the floor or
skirting.

iv. A level strip of timber is fixed along the wall at the marked height.

v. The tiles in the first course are placed dry on the strip of timber starting
from the centre of the wall.

This ensures that the cut pieces, if any, are placed at the ends of the wall.

vi. A thin layer of adhesive (approximately 3mm) is applied on the surface with
the tiles placed and firmly tapped in position

vii. The rest of the tiles above that course are fixed to match the set pattern
with a 15mmjoint around each tile.
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viii. The timber strip is then removed and the first course fixed in position with
the other tiles.

ix. All the joints are filled and the excess adhesive cleaned off the surface of
the tiles with an appropriate solvent.

x. Finally all the joints are filled with white cement and cleaned with a damp
piece of cloth.
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