Plastering over a doorway

Hi,

New to all this, so bare with me. I need some advice.

We want to plasterboard over a doorway which is on an external wall. I'm not concerned about the outside at the moment, as this will be packed and weatherboarded over at a later date.

The existing interior wall is lathe and plaster, which is about 30mm thick onto the existing frame. I am about to remove the existing architrave and door jamb and start building a new frame to attach my plasterboard.

1. Should I build my frame 20mm proud of the existing frame so that the 10mm plasterboard is flush with the existing lathe& plaster when attached?

2. Is there an easy method of getting a straight cut in lathe and plaster so that I can get a neat fit with my plasterboard sheet? (the current edge is pretty rough where it meets the existing door jamb).

I'm quite condfident in doing everything except finishing the joints, I would prefer to leave this to an expert. (I've had a go once before, and it looked great ... after a couch was put in front of it! )

Thanks is advance....

1) Yes

2)_ Don't bother too much. The plaster finishing will take care of making it all look nice and flat

Thanks Bob, I'll get to it!

DaveH.

A stanley knife will cut though the lathen plaster.

From a plasterers prospective the better you get the joint the easier it will be to get a good finish.

Make sure the plasterer fills the joins out wide to get rid of the bump that will be crated by applying the tape. You will be surprised at how many "tradesmen" wont fill them out wide enough!

Set the wall out so the plasterboard sheet sits level with the lathen plaster. Slightly in is better than slightly out! but level is best.

Cheers

Thanks for the advice Rod.

In your experience, do you reckon it will be easy to find a plasterer who would be interested in such a small job? (Just doing the finishing of the joints I mean).

I can ask one of our plasterers if they would do it for you. I have 2 guys in mind.

If you email me at [email protected] I will put you in touch with them. They are both fairlly busy over the next few weeks. But they may be able to do it on a weekend.

I am going away fishing in Darwin from the 18th to the 28th this month. I occasionally do small jobs for people when they are having trouble getting someone.

Cheers