Blocking up an archway and skiming over

[alex_rsa]

I am blocking up the archway between the lounge and dining room at the weekend. I will be using plasterboard in case we ever want to open it up again.

The existing walls around the archway are brick and are plastered.

My question is how far back do I recess the plasterboard from the front of the wall so that the whole lot (existing wall and archway) can be skimmed in one go. The plasterer is only coming next week otherwise I would of asked him!

I was thinking a few millimeters recess would be better than being flush?

[BigTom85]

2 coat plaster skim is 3-4mm.

Make sure you tape the join though otherwise it'll crack within weeks.

[dickymint]

Surely it should be flush if you're going over the lot?

Edited: Of course it should.

[UnderTheRadar]

I've had a couple of windows bricked up and plasterboarded and plastered on the inside. The boarding was 1cm back from the face and I thought they had made a mistake but it looks perfect - you wouldn't know anything had been there. No cracking a couple of months on.

[dickymint]

UnderTheRadar said:

I've had a couple of windows bricked up and plasterboarded and plastered on the inside. The boarding was 1cm back from the face and I thought they had made a mistake but it looks perfect - you wouldn't know anything had been there. No cracking a couple of months on.

I doubt if the plasterer was amused at having to fill a 10mm gap then having to come back another day to skim it!

[alex_rsa]

There will be plenty of other plastering as the top of the current wall is back to brick (the coving was VERY well attached) so the skim coat will not be done on day one.

I am not a fan of plasterboard so if 10mm of plaster before the skim would be possible if that improved the finish.