Plaster is a building material used for the protective or decorative coating of walls and ceilings and for moulding and casting decorative elements. In English, "plaster" usually means a material used for the interiors of buildings, while "render" commonly refers to external applications. The term stucco refers to plasterwork that is worked in some way to produce relief decoration, rather than flat surfaces.
Grout is a dense fluid that hardens used to fill gaps or as reinforcement in existing structures. Grout is generally a mixture of water, cement, and sand, and is employed in pressure grouting, embedding rebar in masonry walls, connecting sections of precast concrete, filling voids, and sealing joints such as those between tiles. Common uses for grout in the household include filling in tiles of shower floors and kitchen tiles. It is often color tinted when it has to be kept visible and sometimes includes fine gravel when being used to fill large spaces. Unlike other structural pastes such as plaster or joint compound, correctly mixed and applied grout forms a water-resistant seal.
A trowel is a small hand tool used for digging, applying, smoothing, or moving small amounts of viscous or particulate material. Common varieties include the masonry trowel, garden trowel, and float trowel.
Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and artistic material in architecture. Stucco can be applied on construction materials such as metal, expanded metal lath, concrete, cinder block, or clay brick and adobe for decorative and structural purposes.
The hawk is a predatory bird.
Lime plaster is a type of plaster composed of sand, water, and lime, usually non-hydraulic hydrated lime. Ancient lime plaster often contained horse hair for reinforcement and pozzolan additives to reduce the working time.
Plasterwork is construction or ornamentation done with plaster, such as a layer of plaster on an interior or exterior wall structure, or plaster decorative moldings on ceilings or walls. This is also sometimes called pargeting. The process of creating plasterwork, called plastering or rendering, has been used in building construction for centuries. For the art history of three-dimensional plaster, see stucco.
A plasterer is a tradesman or tradesperson who works with plaster, such as forming a layer of plaster on an interior wall or plaster decorative moldings on ceilings or walls. The process of creating plasterwork, called plastering, has been used in building construction for centuries. A plasterer is someone who does a full 4 or 2 years apprenticeship to be fully qualified.
Lime mortar or torching is a masonry mortar composed of lime and an aggregate such as sand, mixed with water. It is one of the oldest known types of mortar, used in ancient Rome and Greece, when it largely replaced the clay and gypsum mortars common to ancient Egyptian construction.
This glossary of woodworking lists a number of specialized terms and concepts used in woodworking, carpentry, and related disciplines.
Plaster veneer or plaster skim is a construction methodology for surfacing interior walls, by applying a thin layer of plaster over a substrate—typically over specially formulated gypsum board base, similar in nature to drywall.
Tuckpointing is a way of using two contrasting colours of mortar in the mortar joints of brickwork, with one colour matching the bricks themselves to give an artificial impression that very fine joints have been made. In some parts of the United States and Canada, some confusion may result as the term is often used interchangeably with pointing and repointing.
The Masonry trowel is a hand trowel used in brickwork or stonework for levelling, spreading and shaping mortar or concrete. They come in several shapes and sizes depending on the task. The following is a list of the more common masonry trowels:
Screed has three meanings in building construction:
- A flat board or a purpose-made aluminium tool used to smooth and to "true" materials like concrete, stucco and plaster after they have been placed on a surface or to assist in flattening;
- A strip of plaster or wood applied to a surface to act as a guide for a screed tool ;
- The material itself which has been flattened with a screed. In the UK, screed has also come to describe a thin, top layer of material, poured in situ on top of the structural concrete or insulation, on top of which other finishing materials can be applied, or the structural material can be left bare to achieve a raw effect.
Cement render or cement plaster is the application of a mortar mix of sand and cement, and water to brick, concrete, stone, or mud brick. It is often textured, colored, or painted after application. It is generally used on exterior walls but can be used to feature an interior wall. Depending on the 'look' required, rendering can be fine or coarse, textured or smooth, natural or colored, pigmented or painted.
Plaster spraying allows a plasterer to skim a drywall more than five times faster than using a hand float to apply it. Although classic gypsum-based plaster can be sprayed if it is "spray grade," most plaster sprayers prefer the organic-based pre-mixed plaster packaged in a plastic bag because the plaster spraying machine does not need to be cleaned out after the job is finished, providing that plaster is kept moist. The pre-mixed plaster also has the advantage that any surplus can be recycled, almost eliminating waste, and plasterers do not need to haul water and mix the plaster from powder. A drywall skimmed with pre-mixed plaster can be painted in less than 24 hours, depending on the ambient temperature and humidity.
An oscillating multi-tool or oscillating saw is a multitool and power tool that oscillates, powered by battery or mains. The name "multi-tool" is a reference to the many functions that this tool can perform with the range of attachments available. "Master Tool" is also a trade name used in North America, short for the original tool by Fein called the Multi-Master. Attachments are available for sawing, sanding, rasping, grinding, scraping, cutting, and polishing.
A grouted roof is a form of slate roof. It has developed as a form of vernacular architecture associated with the West coast of the British Isles.
An external render is, in its most basic form, a coating applied to the walls of a building, to provide a protective coating which would prevent rain penetration. It also acts as a decorative finish to enhance the appearance of a building.
