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How to Trim with Venetian Wall Plaster And Chair Rail Molding (page 2 of 2)

Part One: Venetian Plaster Instructions

Fill The Voids With The Second Coat
Wait for the first coat to dry, from two to four hours, then apply the second. Load your knife and fill in the voids with strokes of your knife. Repeat the randomness of the first coat and the combination of the two coats will add up to a great-looking, varied texture later. Hold the drywall knife at a bit steeper angle, at least 45 degrees to the wall. Look for the spots where the first coat didn't cover and apply plaster in those areas. Again, after each 6-ft. section, go back and check your work, making sure the wall is adequately covered and the wall color behind doesn't show through. The plaster should be about 1/8 in. thick in the thicker areas and thinner elsewhere, so judge your job accordingly. Remember, the finished job will have more visual texture than actual texture.

You'll find that outside corners can build up quickly, so try to keep them as even as the rest of the wall. If the plaster is too thin, you can always go back and dab corners with a small paint brush later. When you've finished the room, let this coat dry for 24 hours before moving to the next step. The job will look a bit sloppy at this stage, so don't be disappointed. The final steps will bring the walls to life.

Sanding And Burnishing Create A Visual Depth
Sand the walls with 400-grit sandpaper clamped into a stiff rubber sanding block. Just fold a full sheet into thirds and then put it into the block. As you sand (wear a dust mask), you'll see the character in the finish develop as the foreground appears lighter and the background stays a bit darker. Keep sanding until you get a uniform appearance. Don't worry about sanding through the plaster finish, because the paper is very fine. Change sandpaper as the sheets wear out or clog. You'll need about four sheets for an entire room. Wipe all the sanded areas with clean, dry cloths to remove the residue and then vacuum the floor and sanded areas with the brush attachment.

Now it's time to burnish the surface with your steel drywall knife. Start anywhere, holding the knife at about a 30-degree angle to the wall. Pull the knife blade along the wall firmly with long, bold strokes. The direction isn't particularly important; just be sure you go over each square foot of wall several times. The high spots of the thin texture will get a bit darker and polished as you move along the wall from one end to the other. You'll start to see three distinct levels of color from the background to the foreground. Once you've finished the wall, remove the masking tape slowly and get ready to apply your chair rail molding.

Venetian plaster is available in gallon containers, which cover approximately 150 sq. ft. for the two coats shown. You can choose from more than 20 stock colors to fit almost any decorating scheme. For our project, we chose Italian Cypress, color No. VP40. For more information on Behr Venetian Plaster, go to behr.com and look under 'Faux Finishes." For added durability in high-traffic areas, you can apply a water-based polyurethane topcoat.

Part Two: Urethane Chair Rail
Urethane Chair Rail And Moldings
Urethane moldings are both lightweight and easy to apply, making them a great alternative to wood molding. In this story, we used them for chair rail and window trim.

The manufacturer recommends cutting the molding about 1/4 in. overlong for long runs (12 to 16 ft.) to help make up for seasonal wall expansion. It'll compress slightly and snap into place. Shorter lengths to 8 ft. should be cut about 1/8 in. overlong and anything less than 4 ft. should be cut to fit. The company also recommends butting crosscut ends together when splicing long lengths instead of bevel-cutting moldings at mid-wall joints. The molding is applied just like wood molding except that it cuts and nails easier.

Set the molding into your miter box (screw the miter box down to your sawhorse or work table) and cut it on your mark with slow, steady strokes as you hold the molding firmly with your other hand. Support long ends with additional sawhorses. Don't bother coping joints in corners; just lay the molding on its backside and cut at 45 degrees for inside and outside corners. Nails alone won't do—you must use the polyurethane adhesive caulk to bond it to the wall surface to make up for its low density. Fill nail holes with spackling compound and then wipe the surface clean with a damp rag. This process will take two coats. Sand urethane molding as little as possible because unlike wood, the factory finish on the urethane molding is thin. Because you'll be painting the molding, you can touch up joints with acrylic caulk and wipe the excess away with a damp rag. You can save yourself a lot of time by prepainting the molding and then touching it up after you've cut and installed it.

TIP
To widen your miter box, use a hammer to tap the sides free of the original base. Drill pilot holes and screw the sides to the new base. With the wider base, you'll be able to crosscut and bevel-cut the moldings. However, the other miter operations won't be possible, since the precut slots will no longer line up. This won't be a problem for cutting the moldings we show here.

Buying Urethane Moldings
Home centers and lumberyards carry a limited selection of urethane moldings. They come in a wide variety of preprimed profiles and sizes for windows, doors, crown moldings and decorative panels. They're expensive but cost less than decorative wood moldings with the same profiles. To see all your options, go to the help desk. There you can order moldings to suit your taste. The moldings shown here are only a small sample.

For more information on urethane molding options, go to www.stylesolutionsinc.com or call (800)446-3040. Also check with www.focalpointap.com or call (800)662-5550 to find a dealer in your area.