
#Plaster vs joint compound free#
This would lead to having trouble achieving a smooth finish, free of trowel marks, voids, catfaces and other imperfections. Some have resorted to semi-skilled tradesmen to keep up with schedules. Unfortunately, many wall and ceiling contractors and tradespeople may have overstated their abilities to provide a smooth veneer plaster system. There is a combination of items that created a perfect storm that has occurred in the world of interior plaster, namely, the creation of lightweight joint compounds and an increase loss of skilled interior plasterers. Since perfection is not obtainable, plasterers would often have to go back and touch-up minor imperfections after the plaster set and dried. The fat is then used to fill small blemishes and voids, sometimes called "catfaces." This process is the key to a good, smooth trowel finish veneer plaster system. The idea behind hard water troweling is to bring the "fat" out of the plaster while compacting the surface. (The true two-coat system with an aggregate basecoat is more abuse resistant and allows the plaster crew some additional time to work the material.) A one-coat system is the finish coat applied in two passes. Two-coat systems use a veneer plaster basecoat that has some aggregate in the plaster.

Veneer plaster can be one- or two-coat systems. When properly installed, they will get a system that is hard to beat when you consider the service life of a building. In both systems, architects specify veneer plaster to provide their clients a lower maintenance to the walls.
#Plaster vs joint compound upgrade#
Most designers think of this type of veneer plaster as an upgrade to a conventional gypsum board system.

The residential type of veneer plaster is a little easier to trowel to a smooth finish and still provides a finish surface much harder than traditional gypsum board finish.

The institutional type is very hard, dense and provides a finished surface that has proven to stand up to the everyday abuses common in buildings such as police stations, schools and hospitals. The NWCB refers to them often as the residential type and then the institutional/commercial type. There are two basic types of veneer plaster systems.
