PL A

308

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| 1 in this kind of work, to render the plaster sound and even,! none but skilful workmen should be employed upon it.

7 . The set to floated work is performed in a mode similarto that already prescribed for laying ; only, as it is employedfor best rooms, it is done with more care. There is also

! added to it about one-sixth of plaster of Paris , to make it setmore expeditiously, and give it a closer and more compactappearance, as well as to render it more Arm, and bettercalculated to receive the white-wash, or colour, when dry.For floated stucco work, the pricking-up coat cannot be toodry ; but, if the floating that is to receive the setting coat betoo dry before the set is laid on, there will be danger of itspeeling off, or of its assuming the appearance of little cracks,

: or shells, which would disfigure the work. Particular atten-1 tion is therefore to be paid to have the under-coats in a duestate of dryness when the exterior surface is laid on. Andhere it may also be remarked, that cracks and other unpleasantappearances in ceilings are more frequently the effect ofweakness in the laths, covered with too much plaster; or, onthe contrary, of too little plaster upon strong laths, than ofany sagging, or other inadequacy in the timbers of the build-ing. If the laths be properly attended to, and tbe plasteringlaid on by a judicious careful workman, no cracks are likelyto appear.

8 . Rendering and set , or rendering, floated, and set, com-bines both the foregoing processes, only it requires no lath-ing. Rendering is to be understood of a wall, whether of

j brick or stone, being covered with a coat of lime and hair ;and by set is denoted a superficial coat, upon the renderingof fine stuff, or putty. These operations are similar to those1 described for setting of ceilings and partitions ; and thefloated and set is laid on the rendering in the same mannerI 1 as on partitions, &c., as above explained for the best kind ofwork

9 . Troweled stucco, which is a very neat kind of work,

| used in dining-rooms, halls, &c., when the walls are proposed; to be painted, must be worked upon a floated ground, and! the floating should be as dry as possible before the stucco isi applied. In this process, the plasterer is provided with ai wooden tool, called a float, consisting of a piece of half-inchi deal, about nine inches long and three wide, planed smooth,

j 1 with its lower edges a little rounded off, and having a handlej , on the upper surface. The stucco is prepared as describedabove, and afterwards well beaten and tempered, with cleanwater, for use. The ground intended to be stuccoed is firstprepared with the large trowel, and made as smooth and level! as possible ; and when the stucco has been spread upon it, to: the extent of four or five feet square, the workman, with thefloat in his right hand, and a brush in his left, begins to rub! 1 it smooth with the former, having first sprinkled it with! ! water from the latter : this he does in small portions at a| I time, and proceeds, alternately sprinkling and rubbing tbe! face of the stucco, till the whole is reduced to a fine eveni surface. He then prepares another square of the ground,

I and proceeds as before, till the whole is completed. Thei water has the effect of hardening the face of the stucco, and,when the floating is well performed, it will feel as smooth asglass.

Rough-casting, or rough-walling, is an exterior finishing,

! much cheaper than stucco, and therefore more frequentlyemployed on cottages, farm-houses, &c.,than on buildings ofa higher class. The wall intended to be rough-cast is firstpricked-up with a coat of lime and hair; and when this istolerably dry, a second coat is laid on, of the same materialsas the first, but as smooth as it can possibly be spread. Asfast as the workman finishes this surface, he is followed byanother with a pail-full of rough-cast, with which he bespat-

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tors the new plastering, and the whole dries together 9 llrough-cast is composed of fine gravel, clean washed & ^ tl ,eearthy particles, and mixed with pure lime and water,whole is of a semi-fluid consistency. This is thro"' 91*the pail, upon the wall, with a wooden float, about nj , ja“inches long, and as many wide, made of half-inch ® ^ tl' e

fitted with a round deal handle. While, with thisplasterer throws on the rough-cast with his rig* 11 dip'lie holds in his left a common white washer’s bru ’ a piiped in tbe rough-cast also, with which he hruscolours the mortar and the rough-cast he has alie a< v ^

A

to give them, when finished, a regular uniform col° uappearance. , . (in 1

Cornices .—These are either plain or ornament• g gfSjsometimes they embrace a portion of both classes. s> (in‘‘thing here to be attended to, is to examine the dra" 1 ° ,oi6

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measure tbe projections of the members : if they P r °Jthan seven or eight inches, bracketing must be r ®? c [9n ceThis consists in fixing up pieces of wood, at ^ u nd

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about eleven or twelve inches from each other, anplace proposed for the cornice, nailing laths to

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in

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covering the whole with a coat of plaster, allo"| n ® ren er* , jbrackets for the stuff necessary to form the cornice: ® D , u iii

about one inch and a quarter is sufficient. A f{l \ce,

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is next to be made of the profile of tbe intended c0 ^ c ^ s> ’the carpenter, of about a quarter of an inch sl )!l1 ^

who

pin”

with the quirks, or small sinkings, of brass. _

edges are to be carefully removed by the plasterer,also open, with his knife, all the points that he l ’|j l0 ip» rl<Jpetent to receive the plaster freely. These P r ^ 0 fpu* 1 '’being adjusted, two workmen, provided with a tu^ cO rn'0^and a quantity of plaster of Paris , proceed to run „ gang 6Before they begin, however, to use the mould, and <5screed upon the wall and ceiling, of putty to p 0 ^covering so much of each as will correspond wit 1 0ll e of l "ybottom of the intended cornice. On this scree jya'v

slight deal straight-edges are nailed, adapter w0 ,-k u P anotches, or chases, made in the mould, for it . f( j 0 fThe putty is then to be mixed with about one* add'^ eter of Paris , and brought to a semi-fluid state y ^ 0 r 1 |j 9of clean water. One of the workmen, with j, e Ii®^trowelfuls of this composition upon his hawk, ' v ^ ge jntei 1 ^in his left hand, begins to plaster over the sur a ppb eSfor the cornice, with his trowel, while his partn joa^y jjmould, to ascertain the parts where more 0 jj 8 s be eI>wanted. When a sufficient quantity of pi 9 ® 1 ® gte addy ^on, the workman with the mould, holding 1 ve g itfirmly against both the ceiling and tbe wal, ,.guoU 9 , S )te r-wards and forwards, which removes the ® U P n the p' 1 ' t ],t;and leaves an exact impression of the mould up ^ yv«rk # ,i/This is not indeed effected at once, but w 11 ^ Qt [ e e u i

mould to and fro, the other workman takes 9 upP 1 p e etdeficiencies, and fills them up, by adding * to t" el ' d e*'plaster. In this manner, a cornice of from - )e ; ind® ein length, may be formed in a very short 1 ^ J>iin 9 (b -pedition is essentially requisite, as the pl as . a ndsions a very great tendency in the putty t0 9 ,-y to S Pthis taking place too rapidly, it is nec _ y, r u?'' : 8

vent this

, brush; 8 jyoes.

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the composition frequently with water 1100 a ^g f or r

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hetween^aify twoT^ i to fu " sli all the ieng»-»the truth and cn rea ^ s , or projections, at one time, . r yand correctness of thecornice. In cornice*

•where the orders 01 J*

moulds, are req^ ,

large proportions, and in cases _ w

ture are to be applied, three or four mo® ^ t i,e P 8 ^ S) o {which are applied in the same manner, ti fl jj re 1 ®,. »»formed. Internal and external mitres, an ^y h abreaks, are afterwards modelled and fit e