Plastering: is this normal?! (sorry this is in the wrong forum)

[Jo_b]

Hello, just a funny little 'they do things differently here' question!

We've been living in Wellington for a little under two years, and we are currently having our kitchen rennovated after a bit of a flood (the insurance is paying for most - yey!)

Yesterday, the plasterers came. They were very neat and tidy, and have done a good job, BUT, unlike plastering we've had done back in the UK where a total skim of the plasterboard is normal, all they have done is skimmed the joins in the gib.

Is this normal for NZ? I was a bit shocked at first (I mean it looks ok, but seems a bit half-a-job), but I'm assuming that's just what they do here....

[willsken]

Totally normal. Hubby is a Gib stopper over here and this is exactly what he spends his day doing. Just the joints and no skim over the rest of the plaster board.

[Moorf]

Yes, it threw us too when we had renovations done on our previous house. And getting gib stoppers was very hard, too, they are in demand (at least they were 3 yrs ago!).

Why is this - could it be that plastering walls in an earthquake country isn't a great idea?

[Jo_b]

Thanks! I suppose it makes sense....kind of!

[Jo_b]

Hadn't thought of that, maybe?

I now have a whole new list of terms in my vocab. Dwangs, gib stopper, square-stopping. One of the builders thought it was funny I refered to 'glassfibre insulation' instead of 'pink batts'. Luckily the other was from Manchester!

[Moorf]

Ok, gotta ask - what's a dwang!!

Plus, at least you didn't look quite as stupid as us when we were told, by an enthusiastic real estate agent pointing up into the open loft door, that the house had "pink bats" - I kid you not, we asked if they were rare... and could you move bats on in NZ (unlike the colony we had in our barn in Scotland!).

[Gar1]

Ok, gotta ask - what's a dwang!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dwang

[peebles16]

Ok, gotta ask - what's a dwang!!

Plus, at least you didn't look quite as stupid as us when we were told, by an enthusiastic real estate agent pointing up into the open loft door, that the house had "pink bats" - I kid you not, we asked if they were rare... and could you move bats on in NZ (unlike the colony we had in our barn in Scotland!).

Oh that's made my day

Karenx

[Tia Maria]

Plus, at least you didn't look quite as stupid as us when we were told, by an enthusiastic real estate agent pointing up into the open loft door, that the house had "pink bats" - I kid you not, we asked if they were rare... and could you move bats on in NZ (unlike the colony we had in our barn in Scotland!).

Cheered me right up too!

Cheers

Tia

[mylesdw]

Ok, gotta ask - what's a dwang!!.

You might know it as a noggin?

While we're on the subject of building terms:

- spouting

- wetback