VENETIAN PLASTER TECHNIQUESOne of the most desirable wall decorating project for a home is the application of venetian plaster techniques. With that said, keep in mind venetian plastering is not a do it your self idea that one would consider to be easy for the average person to try. One of the best investments to make is in your home. Click the above link if you're looking at remodeling, buying a home or are refinancing your mortgage, check out the loans page of this site. Whether you have good or bad credit. I give details for the top quality American, United Kingdom, Canadian and Australian online lending institutions. Once you decide to do an application of venetian plaster, be sure to buy yourself some drywall boards to practice on. Proper trowel angle, stroke length, and variation of application are necessary to accomplish a good job. Another thing you might want to do, after you have practiced is to apply the venetian plaster to a feature wall or some other smaller projects to keep the cost down. Remember to follow all product instructions when doing venetian plaster techniques along with adhering to any application advice you may receive from your local home improvement center regarding venetian plastering. Plaster (your choice of color/s) 4" Plastering Knife, (or steel joint compound trowel) 100 and 400 Grit Sand Paper Paint Tray/Roller/Cover Paint Brush Gloves Drop Cloths Painters Tape Primer Goggles (if doing the ceiling) Dust Mask Hawk (or tray for the plaster) Prior to beginning venetian plaster techniques, be sure to dress yourself properly for the job at hand (goggles, mask, gloves, old clothes etc). Remove any furniture from the room that you can (cover what you can’t) and place drop clothes (or old bed sheets)on the floors. Use painters tape and plastic to protect surfaces and items that you don't want coated in paint or plaster. Clean, patch, level and sand or prime the walls if needed. Shinny, dirty, or bumpy walls will cause problems. Smooth, clean and dull walls are best. Place some plaster onto your trowel. With the trowel held at a 15 to 30 degree angle (depending on the look you want) spread the plaster onto the wall. Since you practiced on a throw away piece of drywall you should have a good idea as to the amount of mud to use and the trowel angle that works best for you. As you apply the plaster use different strokes, angles, and lengths while randomly spreading on the mud. Having a little bit of wall show threw will also add to your plastering effect. Keep your trowel very clean, or you will end up with little pieces of dried plaster in your handy work. After mudding on your first coat, it will need to dry (four or more hours). A second coat can be done once the first application of your venetian plaster techniques is dry. For the second coat, angle the trowel a little more (60 to 90 degrees). Cover areas that where covered with the initial coat and fill in some of the sections that may not have been covered in the first coating. Very your strokes and the randomness of your applications. Remove any edge marks that may appear. Once you have let the second coat dry, you can if you wish, apply a third. Let your project dry for at least twenty four hours, then to look after it, apply a protective seal over top. Inquire at your local home improvement center regarding what type of coating to use with the plaster you applied. Some walls don’t have moisture concerns and receive little traffic. Walls of this type will not need a protective coating and can be burnished. Burnishing is a way to add a professional look to your venetian plaster project. With a 400 to 600 piece of sand paper and a circular motion sand your dried walls. Some pros will use a clean trowel rubbed across the plaster to give it a polished look. No mater what technique you use be sure to practice on a throw away piece of drywall that you have practiced your venetian plaster techniques on. To remove dust that may occur while burnishing use a damp cloth. You can use a paint roller/tray/ and thick cover to apply the plaster, then use your trowel to knock it down. As with the above technique, be sure to practice before doing this to your walls. Also remember not to roll on to much at one time and always work with wet plaster into wet plaster. If you have an older steel trowel and your using a light color for your venetian plaster techniques, you may notice the trowel leaving black or rust markings on the plaster. To avoid this use a new trowel and keep it shinny and clean. Steel trowels have very sharp corners, some pro plasterers will dull them up with sand paper so that they don’t leave a sharp edge or line in the mud. Most venetian plaster techniques require you to apply wet material on wet material, a technique you may want to try is to let the mud dry for a while then use a trowel on it. By doing so, and with different times between applying the plaster and toweling it down you will get a variation of effects. Venetian plaster comes in a number of pre tinted colors and can be color matched to the shade that you want if needed. When doing venetian plaster techniques, remember that the thinness or thickness of the plaster job is the key. With practice you should be able to find what works best for you. For me I find that the thinner I spread the plaster on the wall the better it looks. If your looking for solutions other than venetian plaster techniques, click the home link. You should be able to find what you need by reading the text. 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