Top Tip, How to get a really flat finish on daub.

[robgil]

You know when the daub is a good week or so old and is dry like a hard plasticine, still workable but not sticky?
This is when cracks start to appear , so , it needs compressed.
I did think a rolling pin would work but then i had a bright idea.

How about an ink roller?

 

[Penners]

Won't a plasterer's trowel work, Rob? I've never used one on daub, but I was wondering whether the standard plasterer's wetting down technique (ie: flipping water on the surface with a brush and then "polishing" with the trowel) might create enough slurry on the surface to fill the beginnings of cracks. You could certainly apply plenty of pressure to the daub.

Make sure it's a qood quality trowel with nicely rounded edges and corners.

 

[fjpdesigns]

I think you will have trouble with the roller . I can se the daub sticking to the rubber and being pulled off the wall. If you leave it till it's nearly dry I don't think it will compress and stay adhered. As Penners says you will be much better off using a float.

 

[robgil]

Ah but this daub has gone beyond a float, I used a float and sometimes a trowel to get a decent finish and then the daub dries, but as it dries it looses a lot of volume and cracks appear, if you press it with your thumb it can be compressed, so , I figure one of these would be ideal as a tool compress semi hard/almost dry daub.

 

[Penners]

I still think you'd be best to "reactivate" the surface by wetting it and then polishing it with a trowel.