Trowelling And Hawking

On another day on which rivulets slalomed among raindrops on window panes, Martin Paulley, master plasterer, completed his post- Kitchen Makers refurbishment work on our walls.

Having laid the foundation undercoat two days ago, Martin spent his time smoothing and cleaning the surfaces.

After mixing his plaster,

always keeping his tools clean,

he made two applications of the final coat by means of his

variously shaped trowels and hawk,

cleaning up the edges with water-loaded paintbrushes.

The hawk is a flat board with a short handle that can be held in one hand to carry the mixed material to the wall. The other hand is then used to apply this to the required surface, with the appropriate flat trowel.

Martin kept everything clean and tidy, although it appears that his photographer may have trodden in some plaster on a dust sheet and spread it about a bit.

This evening we dined on Jackie’s savoury rice topped with omelette, and tempura prawns with Sweet Chilli sauce. The Culinary Queen drank Hoegaarden while I drank more of the Comté Tolosan Rouge.

79 comments

  1. How does Martin feel about all this publicity? After dealing with various contractors around Florida – he could make a fortune here!!!!

  2. … I’m glad you explained the hawking too – I was thinking that perhaps a trader had called to sell his or her wares – I should have known that it would be a Master Craftsman though! Really interesting to see Martin at work 🙂

  3. Martin is a great worker and does a beautiful job! YAY Martin! 🙂
    Trowelling and Hawking…In the look-out-the-window-panes photo I saw Raindropping and Owling! HA! 😀
    (((HUGS))) 🙂

  4. I enjoy see a master craftsman ply his trade with such fluid and exact movements. And the tools are simple and practical. My father was a painter/paperer who used the same tools. Now, I have them but mainly for sentimental reasons. Nice post, Derrick.

  5. A good job for a rainy day. Martin did an excellent job, as did the photographer. I remember when plaster was popular here. Some rooms were smoothly plastered. Others used a textured design. Now sheet rock and paint is the most common.

    1. We had a phase for the textured work which I don’t like at all. We inherited it on our ceilings – known as Artex it is very difficult to remove. We prefer plain painted walls on which to hang pictures. Thanks very much, Nikki

  6. Now I know what that kind of hawk is – while I have seen them, I didn’t know that a plastering hawk existed. If that sounds strange, I see it as an illustration of how important vocabulary is in our understanding of the world. The more names we know for things the better we ‘see’ them 🙂

    1. So true, Anne. I didn’t know that implement was a hawk until Martin told me. I looked it up but couldn’t determine that particular etymology. Thanks very much

  7. Always a joy to watch a master plasterer. My son assures me that it is really quite easy and that he taught himself using a youtube video. He made a pretty good job of it too I have to say.

  8. Your description of Jackie’s tempura prawns with Sweet Chilli sauce makes my mouth water! I can see that you are making great progress in your kitchen remodel. Our floor man is doing a great job with the renovation in our house in our absence. He sent pictures yesterday, So nice! I’m so glad you’ve found such a skilled workman. He looks like a fun guy to be around.

      1. Probably not until we get back from Mayo Clinic end of January. Meantime, we’ll go back to MT as soon as we are well enough and roads/weather are favorable… hopefully by this week’s end. And we’ll live in our neighbor’s house for a week until we go to Rochester, Minn, for Bob’s continued issues – finding resolution and remedy for the heart problems.

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