Gauging plaster is rarely used by itself. It is normally mixed with lime putty. Lime putty has a very long hardening time (it combines with CO2 from the air and can take months to harden). By mixing gauging plaster with lime putty a relatively short hardening time is created that is longer than plain plaster, but shorter than the months of lime putty alone. One use of straight gauging plaster is to set dots (gauges) on a substrate to mark the finished height of the wall. The gauging plaster sets up quickly enough to allow work to proceed with a plaster/lime mix within a very few minutes. Even the typical Âpatching plaster available today sets up to quickly for any but the smallest patches (like cracks). Durabond is a modern version of plaster with a controlled setting time and makes an excellent patch material for lime-plaster walls.

The type of grinding down that will require is not pleasant to entertain. The high spots look so extreme I think you would have to float the surface out 3ft in each direction to make it disappear by _adding_ material, which Is why i would try to grind it down first, then make it smooth again. When you take away old partitions you are left with features like this; you can see how the original plasterer built the corners out too thick. At least there is not a 1/2" change in plane; I had one of those to deal with in my kitchen after removing a closet wall. Casey

Tape for what? The cork thing sounds like a bad idea and extra work. Although it does sound like a good idea for wood siding since the expansion rates would be similiar. The pre mixed joint compound in the 5 gallon bucket is garbage. Do not use that... I suggested this product: http://www.homedepot.com/p/BEADEX-Brand-18-lb-Silver-Set-40-Setting-Type-Joint-Compound-385268/202329688 It's less than 10 dollars. This is Plaster of Paris with some other ingredients to retard set time. Read the label on it. Or you could just use straight plaster of Paris. Whether your straight PoP or "setting type" joint compound you do not want to mix it for four or five minutes. Especially not PoP. That will drastically reduce your working time. Will add air bubbles, and reduce how well the product tools out. If you go the plaster of paris route, use as cold of water as possible (maybe even refrigerated) Add water to your container first. Then slowly add the plaster to it so the plaster is just slightly peaking above the water level. Let the plaster slowly hydrate itself for a minute or two. Then slowly incorporate it with what ever you have to mix it with to ensure the product is evenly mixed. Make it thick. With the size of the holes you are patching, nothing needs to be added as a backer. In fact, you want the plaster to push through the back and droop down to really lock it in place. No matter though, it will stick to the sides of the hole well enough. Fill holes. Let cure. Sand. Final level coat. Sand again. Prime and paint.

Before painting anything or adding color anywhere I would pick my color pallet. Figure out everything in the house that has to stay. (Not changing the flooring/countertops/ tile in bathrooms . . .) Figure out what you are bringing into the home that you love and will not change for a long time. Look at everything you own, art, clothing, jewlery, makeup, bed linens . What are the colors that you love? Everyone has a few favorites. You want your home to reflect your personality. Are you a jeans and tshirt gal or a pearls and lace kind of girl? Do you love bright, bold colors, or pastels or deep sultry colors? Which colors? Now examine your home. When are you going to use each room and how will you use it? What kind of energy do you want to experience in that room. Do you throw formal cocktail parties or football bbqs or simple family gatherings? Do you like to relax in the tub at the end of a long day or grab a quick shower to wake you up in the morning. Do you want a sultry sexy bedroom or a relaxing retreat? Now you can put all the pieces together. Lay out the colors that have to stay, lay out the colors that you want to stay. Lay then out in the order that you will see each room. If you can see your dining room from the kitchen you want these next to each other and the colors you pick will need to work together, but the colors you pick for the master bath don't have to work well with the kitchen, but need to work with the master bedroom, which has to work with the hall, witch has to work with the stairs, which have to work with the living room, which has to work with the dining room which we already established, has to work with the kitchen. Add the colors that you love. If you pick purple and lime for the kitchen you will want to bring those colors into the dining room, but maybe just a touch of the lime and more concentrated on the purple, then the livingroom needs to have purple, but doesn't have to have lime, and you may decide to introduce some red. Move from room to room, bringing colors that you love into the pallet, sometimes in a deep or bright version and other times in softer forms, making sure that the shades and versions of the colors make you feel the way you need to feel in each room. My colors are teal, purple and burgundy and my foyer happens to have red/purple/green slate flooring. I am using those 3 colors with taupe as my neutral throughout the main part of my home. Teal walls in my guest bedroom, guest bath and master bath and a deep smokey purple in my bedroom. I have a lot of the deep reds in my upholstry and art and things. I also happen to love lime green, but it won't work with teal, so I am continuing the taupe and purple into the basement where I will be doing a deep purple taupe and lime green accents. Basement will mainly be used as a game room, and it will be a place to hang some of the art that I have from a trip to Costa Rica that is brighter and greener than the decor I have elsewhere. I really think that every woman should feel like a 10 in every room of her home. The colors that make you feel wonderful about yourself and about life should surround you.