Plastering & Decorating

Plastering and decorating careers encompass many specialisms, from treating walls and fitting materials to creating stained glass windows.

What is plastering?

Plastering is a job that entails a great deal of dexterity and speed. It involves the coating of internal walls and ceilings with different types of plaster in order that they’re ready to be decorated, and the coating of external surfaces with appropriate materials, such as cement or sand. Maths plays a key role in knowing how much plaster to mix up and how much needs ordering to maintain the correct levels of work on different projects, so that nothing gets held up. There’s also an element of plastering that takes place in workshops: creating plasterwork to order, usually in differing shapes and sizes, and to request.

Professionals working in decorating pursue specialist practical roles that deal with the essential parts of building interiors, such as the ceilings, walls, windows, floors, and other fittings. Interiors and finishing professionals work in all kinds of construction environments, ranging from private homes and schools, to hospitals and power stations.

Dry liners, for example, deal with ‘dry finishes’, such as plasterboard and wallboard. These experts plan, measure and fit materials, so that they can be painted, varnished or decorated. A job in this field might involve general painting responsibilities, such as applying emulsion inside homes and offices, or even applying specialist heavy-duty paint to bridges and power stations. Alternatively, these careers may require people to do delicate decorative work with stencils or gold leaf.

Renderers are specialist painters who put the finishing touches to the outside of buildings. These professionals use specialist weather resistant paints and may even apply specialist finishes that use different textured effects.

What is decorating?

Those going into decorating could specialise in tiling. Specialist tiling careers are all about applying tiles to surfaces to protect and decorate them. They may need to arrange different coloured and textured tiles in systematic, yet decorative ways, working in private homes, offices and large industrial units.

Glaziers are window experts. These specialists cut glass and other window materials and fix them in the right place. They may also replace broken windows and substitute single glazed windows for double glazed alternatives. They may work on private homes, offices and supermarkets; some might even specialise in stained-glass windows and provide churches with an essential glass fitting service.