Difference Between Plastering and Skimming

Plastering

Contrary to popular belief, plastering is the term given to the whole trade. This means that skimming is actually a technique that a plasterer uses, rather than plastering and skimming being completely separate terms.

Plasterers carry out lots of different types of plastering and must be very knowledgeable in their trade. For example, some materials need more coats of plaster than others, and there are lots of different techniques involved in doing a perfect job.

There are different types of plasters

Cement plaster: 

Made from cement, sand and water and usually applied on walls where masonry work has been done

Lime plaster: 

Made of lime and water

Gypsum plaster: 

Made with water and calcium sulphate

Skimming

Skimming is the name given to a plastering technique where a wall is plastered with a layer of thin coat.

It is usually applied to an existing plaster to smooth the surface. It’s a very difficult task and shouldn’t be attempted by a novice DIYer as the wall or ceiling could end up looking worse than before!

The white layer of lime which is applied to rough cement is called a skim coat. The plasterer uses different techniques to make the surface smooth, and it could depend on the tradesman’s expertise. Then the skim coat can be painted to make it look much more attractive.

So overall, skimming is a subset of plastering. They are both used to decorate buildings and increase the durability of a wall, but skimming is done to upgrade an old building whereas plastering is done to a new one.

Another difference between skim and plaster is that plaster surfaces are always rough whereas a skimmed surface is smooth.

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