I'm currently hanging the plaster board myself in my basement. I do plan on hiring out some guys to do the actual plastering since they are good friends of my original home contractor and since they are the pros, they would probably be the best choice to hide any mistakes of mine.

Since I know practically nothing about plastering. Do the seams get taped just like regular mudding and texturing of drywall? Also, I have a couple small seams where the but ends of the drywall did not end up getting put tight together. What would be considered an unacceptable size of a gap to work with. The couple seams I have right now not matching perfectly are about 3 in long and 1/8" wide or so. I know they shouldn't be this way, but I've never hung drywall before and doing the majority of my basement work as a learning experience so please bear with me.

This isn't plastering, its called joint compound or just mudding. Tape and jointcompound can cover mant of your mistakes but I'd leave all of it to your buddies. If they are pros they have seen worse.

Ok there are 2 types of finishing systems there is plaster and there is drywall. In drywall the seams are prefilled taped with paper tape the tape is imbeded with drywall compound a finish coat is applied to the joints and it can be sanded smooth or textured. With plaster you need blue board hung ,it is taped with mesh tape all the tape is imbeded with plaster after that gets hard a layer of plaster is applied over the whole sheet of blue board and it can be troweled smooth or it can be textured plaster can not be sanded it is a thin coat over the whole wall when you put a nail through it for a picture you end up with a bigger hole because it is very brittle.

Ok thanks. I have the blue board hung and learned from another friend about the applying of mesh tape before other finishing work. He also told me I could put some durabond 90 if needed in the gaps I was talking about earlier between the blue board sheets.

Correct plaster will stick to dura bond you could even use the 20, 45, or 90 remember that after it is plastered and painted any repairs can only be done with drywall compound or you have to apply and adhesive called lab to the plaster for it to stick. Why on earth would you want plaster it is garbage it cracks cause it is so brittle I have seen plaster crack in less than 2 weeks in homes. I am a drywaller and I guarantee my work

What is your going rate (I'm assuming it's per sheet) arby?

I charge about .45 a sqft depending on how much corner bead there is if they want every thing wrapped with drywall it takes more bead and time and if they want round corners also makes a difference

Thank you for the reply! I originally thought of going with round corner bead, but have begun hanging the drywall for just a straight 90. Total finished sq/ft is around 1400. When I get finished hanging the drywall, I will probably give you a call at that time to come out and give an estimate!

I charge by the sqft of board hung a
4 x 8 sheet is 32 sqft a 4 x12 sheet is 48 sqft

Hi I am a third generation plasterer and have been doing both plaster and drywall finish for 28 years don't let anyone scare you about plaster the modern day stuff is just as good as joint compound or better with an experienced applicator. If they are any good they should be able to repair gaps up to 1/2" I'v fixed way worse and .45 per sq. foot is an OK price but if you shop around it can get better

Hi rusty yes you can shop around and get a crap job I have seen plaster it CRACKS. Most of the plasters do a garbage job and if you look around plaster is only used in a few areas cause the builders got smart unlike the stupit ones in the fox river valley in wi.Most commercial building are drywalled because it is a better product

arby808 I am not try to get the job or take it away from you I am just keeping people truthfully informed. If you don't know plaster your opinion is one-sided this person is building a basement not a commercial bld. Good luck to you I hope the job works out for you