Plastering Tools

Most plastering on an extension is done by a plasterer or tiler, but understanding the tools helps you check the work, set up the spot board correctly, and tackle small skim repairs yourself. The kit is small but the choices matter: a new trowel that has not been broken in leaves fine tramlines on every pull, the wrong notch size starves a tile of adhesive, and the wrong paddle beats air into plaster and leaves pinholes in the finish.

These guides cover the six tools that do most of the work in a plastering or tiling phase: a finishing trowel, a sponge float, a notched trowel, a grout float, a spot board, and a mixing paddle. Each page explains what to buy across budget, mid, and pro tiers, how to break the tool in where it matters, and the technique that separates a flat wall from one you keep noticing every time the light hits it.

Where to start

If you are going to skim a patch yourself, start with the plastering trowel and the spot board: the trowel decides the finish, and a board at hip height is what lets you get through a whole mix before it goes off. If the kitchen or a floor is being tiled, read the notched trowel guide before the tiler starts, because the notch size sets the adhesive bed and a bed that is too thin is the usual cause of hollow, cracked tiles.

The guides, grouped by job

Mixing and setting up. The mixing paddle covers which helix suits plaster, adhesive and mortar and how much drill you need to turn it. The spot board is where the mix sits while you work.

Skimming and render. The plastering trowel lays on, flattens and polishes the skim. The sponge float extends your working window on gypsum plaster and gives sand-and-cement render its textured finish. The plastering hawk and plastering float sit in the hand tools section but are part of the same kit.

Tiling. The notched trowel spreads and combs the adhesive, and the grout float packs the joints, worked diagonally across them so the grout goes in rather than being dragged out.

Where these fit in the build

Skimming happens at plastering in second fix, once the first fix services are in and the boards are up. The paddle comes out again for screeding, and the notched trowel and grout float do their work at tiling and around the worktops and splashback during kitchen installation.