Hello everyone, my name is Jeremy Kemp and I am 23yrs old. I have been doing VP for about a year now. I first learned of VP from a painter that I worked for a couple years ago. He had just returned from a trip to Italy and wouldn't stop raving about this type of finish he had seen. After doing some research, he started experimenting with some samples of his own. The first time that I saw one of his samples, I became very intrigued (and a little jeleous!) at what he had done. For the next six months, I locked myself in my garage at night with some sheetrock and Behr brand VP. Because this was all so knew to me, I had no idea what brands to by, however Behr was affordable and available to me at the time, so it would have to do. Well, needless to say, the results were not great, but they werent bad either. This led me to do a lot more research, which resulted in me finding the School of Italian Plasters. After reading over the talk forums and seeing the beautiful projects that all of you have done, I feel that VP is something that I can enjoy doing for a long time to come. So, just recently I moved to Rockville, MD to start my own business. Not many people here are familiar with VP, and I am hoping to introduce it to the area. Although I cannot afford to attend the Italian Plaster school right now, you can bet that the minute I save enough money, I will be there! In the mean time however, I was hoping someone could give me some advice on a couple of things. First, because of my painting backround, I know Behrs' product quality is for Do-it yourself people. I do not want to do any projects using there cheap VP imitation. What would be a good brand to start out with? I have McClosky brand, as well as Modern Masters brand of VP available to me. If neither of those two, which brand? Also, is there a website or brand available that I can find quality trowels for application? This would help me get by until I can get out to Atlanta and learn from the best! The last thing I want to do is create cheap imitations of something so beautiful. Any other advice would be greatly appreciated as well. Thanks in advance for your help and I look forward to hearing from you all and to attending classes.

Jeremy Kemp
East Coast Finishes

Hi Jeremy,



Welcome to Plaster Talk and the beauty of Italian plasters!



For smooth (non-gritty) plaster, you should use beveled edge trowels. An 8" PAVAN inox trapezoid Venetian trowel (small) is the top choice, and is used at SOIP. Behr--VP is an example of smooth plaster.



For gritty plasters (Marmorino and others with marble dust or larger aggregates) use a non-beveled edge trowel. I prefer an 8"x3" Marshalltown Mighty Midget Golden Stainless steel trowel with Durasoft handle for these types of plasters. (An excellent tool)



Both of these are first class tools using first rate steel, excellent finishes, and are comfortable to use with rubberized handles for a surer grip.



There are a few on-line suppliers of the Pavan trowels. I have listed one of the better ones in the links below.



Pavan Trowels:

fauxfinishingshoppe.com/fauxfintool.html



For the Marshalltown I recommend Warehousebay.com

1-866-850-8544

Stock #13-13106 $19.95



Tools are a great investment toward rewarding results in the art of plastering. Do not hold back in purchasing high quality tools. Please keep in mind though that no tool, no matter how high it's quality, is a substitute for excellent instruction, first rate plaster products and a desire to be diligent in the pursuit of excellence in the plaster arts.



BTW, my wife Gail and I have both attended SOIP and believe it rates at the top of the Italian Plaster schools in the US today.



David Ivey

Jeremy, I like to buy all of my tools from the School of Italian Plasters
they are the best and I like to keep my
money going to my supplier. I am not sure but you can ask
Doyle if he will sell you some tools. You cannot purchase
the plaster until you are trained to apply it which makes
allot of sense with these plasters.

Also you can develop alot of bad troweling habits if you
are not trained. I started with behr and was doing things
wrong and have used other Italian plasters but with little
success. All of the plasters made by different companies
have different drying times application methods and formulas
to apply them. I have used the Stucco Antico before and
it required 4 coats of plaster and 2 coats of wax plus you
had to paint the walls first with the same color as the plaster.
The Safra plasters have primers, bonding agents,
and specific applications for each plaster that lends to the
performance and freedom of expresion to each applicator.
What I mean is that you will be able to have alot more
confidence and ability to advance to the level that you
want to achieve.

I don't think you can purchase the tools here without taking
the course either, but if you have not been trained to
properly finish a trowel or sand the bevel correctly
you could be wasting your time with it. David knows alot
of websites so you can try the ones he mentioned too.
Alot of little things with plastering that make your jobs turn out nice.
I will always be learning but will never run out of
creativity with the Safra plasters or the confidence
of knowing that I am doing the application correctly.
The art of plastering is to have the freedom of application
without the limitations of the product.

Good Luck and Sell the house you can take the course and
make the money back on the first job!

Vallie

Hey everybody!
Thank you for your help so far. The suggestions on trowels have worked out great, however I am still looking for a brand of VP that I can use until I can attend the SOIP and have Safra products available to me(which will be soon!). I have seen McCloskys and Modern Masters at the local Benjamin Moore dealer in my area, but I am not against ordering online if neccessary. Thank you again for your help, and please keep the suggestions coming!!
Jeremy

Hi Jeremy,

I have not used either of the two brands that you are considering, but have seen them discussed on forums.

Plasters, like other products, come in different qualities. Some are made for DIY, others for high end, with others in between the two extremes.

If you are looking for better quality recomendations, I would suggest that you consider--Texston--and--Adicolor.

You can find them both on line. I have some experience with them and believe them better for your purpose than the two you have mentioned. Others may have different brands to consider.

Experimenting with different brands will give you a better idea of the advantages or disadvantages of each one.

Hope you find what you need.

David

Thanks for the replies. I know a couple people said they have used products such as Behr and Modern Masters. Did anyone ever try using a wax? Can you use REAL VP wax on these types of plaster. I know that Behr is synthetic, so will it still work. Behr offers a product called Topcoat, which is suppose to seal the plaster, as well as give it more depth, however it is not a wax, you apply it the same way as the plaster before you burnish. Has anyone used this product, or a product like it. I would really like to use the real wax, but I dont want it to affect the plaster. Love to hear any input!
Thanks again
Jeremy

Do a sample

Hi Jeremy,

I'm based just out of Manassas, VA. about an hour away from you. If you would like to see some of our products on walls, I just finished doing the master bedroom in the NSO Decorator's Show house on River Road in Potomac MD. I did a yellow Veneziano Bi-colore. It turned out beautiful. I think the doors open Oct 3rd. Also next weekend I will have a booth at the Capital Home Show in Chantilly where you can see some of my sample boards. I will also being doing live presentations of the bi-colore technique at my booth.

Lynn

Lynn
Sounds Great, I would love to come and check it out. Please send me some more info. What weekend is the home show? I hope it wasn't this last weekend! To everyone else, thanks for all your help. I think that I am leaning towards not taking on any VP projects until I can attend the SOIP in a couple of months. I want to learn the right way with the best plasters. Till then, I will just keep it simple!
Thanks again
Jeremy Kemp
East Coast Finishes

The home show is the 24-26 at the Dulles Expo center in Chantilly. The NSO house opens Oct. 3rd and runs through the 31st. The address is 9121 River Road Potomac MD.

Lynn