Now that the construction of water tank is completed, we’ll let it dry and test it in a few days for any leaks or cracks. In the meantime, we can start working on our next task, i.e. cement plastering.
As we are already on the second floor, we can start cement plastering here. Plastering the parapet (walls) will be easier as they are just 3 feet in height. We can start with the (relatively) easy walls and gradually move down to the lower floors.
What is Cement Plastering
Cement plastering, as we all know, is the application of cement, sand and water mixture to the walls. It gives the walls a smooth finish that not only look pretty but are also easier to paint on. It also makes the grey structure ‘truly grey’ as it hides all the brick colors in a grey coat. Some even say that the cement plastering is the final stage of a grey structure.
We started plastering on the top floor and moved down from there. It is a slow process, slower then the brick wall construction. Our team selects a room and start plastering a wall, then the second wall. Once all four walls are done, they move on to next room.
We planned not to plaster the ceiling of our rooms, because we’ll install false ceiling. What is false ceiling, we’ll discuss it in a later post. For now, we’re plastering four walls and then moving on to next room.
Its a slow process because it requires attention to details. Cement plastering should result in a smooth finish. Putting the mixture on wall and then smoothing it down takes time. Once the wall is finished, the whole wall is checked again for any cracks or coarse surfaces. This process takes time.
While you’re plastering the walls
You also want to put-in the door frame at this stage. Before plastering the wall with door opening, put-in the door frame and then do the plastering. If you don’t put the door frame now and delay it, you’ll need to break the plastered walls to install the door frame, which will waste your time and resources, so it’s better to plan ahead.
It took us about 7-8 days to cement plaster the walls of our rooms from the inside. See the images below for our progress so far.
Now our team will start plastering the walls from the outside. Every wall of our house, i.e. front, back and sides, back alley, porch, terrace etc will be plastered. We’ll also plaster the ceiling of our porch and terrace, because we’ll not install false-ceiling there.
This process will take some time, at-least same as plastering the walls from inside (if not more). We’ll keep you posted on our progress.
Let us know if you have any questions/suggestions in the comment section below.
