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New introduction to the 2000 edition of

The Modern Plasterer

W Verrall

In the late 1920s and early 1930s Caxton Publishing brought out a series of books on the building trades, including The Modern Carpenter and Joiner, The Modern Painter and Decorator, The Modern Bricklayer and, of course, The Modern Plasterer. This was a significant period in the development of the building trade. There had been a shortage of labour since the end of the Great War, and there was a general view that it was no longer possible to rely just on site based learning to ensure tradesman were properly trained. Emphasis was being put on the need for some college teaching, with students being encouraged to take the City and Guilds examinations.

Caxton’s decision to publish a co-ordinated series of books was in response to the consequent need for reference material on the different trades. Along with these books they issued booklets of coupons which entitled the purchaser to write to an Information Bureau with enquiries about their particular trade. We don’t know to what extent Caxton’s Information Bureau was made use of, but its existence demonstrates a clear commitment to the furtherance of knowledge and skills in the building trades.

In recent years there has been a distinct lack of literature on plastering, generally, and on traditional materials and methods in particular. In 1998, Donhead, therefore, decided to republish William Millar’s 1897 book Plastering: Plain and Decorative, which records the skills and knowledge that existed at the end of the nineteenth century. This year, The Plasterers Craft Guild persuaded another publisher to update and re-issue the 1970s; Plastering – An Encyclopaedia by Stagg and Pegg. Verrall’s book. The Modern Plasterer stands as a very important bridge between these two definite works. Whereas Mr Millar’s book assumes a certain amount of existing experience and understanding, Verrall starts at a level which is more akin to the understanding of the modern reader. This really is, therefore, an excellent reference book for anyone wanting to rediscover and learn about traditional plastering.

The period when Caxton published their series was significant because, even though new methods and materials were being introduced, traditional materials and skills were still in common usage. The Modern Plasterer, for example, explains how to use cement in renders and mouldings, but gives just as much, if not more, emphasis to traditional materials such as lime plasters. The book also makes intriguing references to compositions like magnesium oxychloride floors, which appear to have been a relatively new invention, but have since disappeared.

The Modern Plasterer is a book that is always useful when trying to either understand or describe a traditional detail, or when needing to overcome particular technical problems. Whilst it may have been written with apprentice and trainee plasterers in mind it is clear, both from the level of information included in the book, and from publicity produced by Caxton’s, that the book was aimed at a wider audience of plasterers. It gives basic descriptions of the principles of plastering, but also goes into considerable detail about the intricacies of how to achieve particular finishes. We believe that it will prove to be useful to everybody from relative beginners through to experienced traditional plasterers. It should, also, we believe, provide a lot of invaluable information to designers and specifiers who want to understand plastering methods and materials better.

Mr Verrall had a great gift for explaining technical issues, in a way that is clear, without ever being simplistic. One of the most useful things is that, as far as possible, he illustrates everything he describes with a drawing or diagram. There are drawings of basic plasterers tools, through to illustrations of how to use a tramel to set out an ellipse.

The Modern Plasterer describes the characteristics of different types of plaster and their uses, and the varieties of lathing available, before describing how to apply and finish flat lime plaster. This includes a description of how to achieve a flat and level surface using dots and screeds and the best way to finish angles. Although the emphasis of the book is on quality, Verrall is always keen to discuss how best to make economic use of plant and the easiest ways to execute work.

The book goes into great detail explaining how to set up and run mouldings of different types, such as ellipses and segment arches, using different materials. It them explores the casting of mouldings and the uses of fibrous plaster. There are a lot of other materials and methods described, including exterior rendering and cement floors, and traditional materials like gesso and artificial marbles. The range of topics should mean that this book will be useful to a wide range of plasterers, not just those involved in conservation and repair work.

Verrall taught plastering at the North London Polytechnic and was committed, throughout his life, to the continuing education of plasterers. He wrote a number of smaller books on the subject, but The Modern Plasterer stands as his seminal work. It was a standard reference for the City and Guilds exams in plastering for decades, and is still held in high regard by those who teach on modern plastering courses. Its strength and appeal to those of us involved in repair and conservation work is that it is written by someone for whom traditional skills and materials were still common place. Verrall explains that the techniques and skills that he knew so well in a way that is accessible to modern readers. We hope that it will prove as useful to others as it has been to us.

Tim Ratcliffe (Architect) BA DipArch RIBA

Tim Ratcliffe is an architect working on historic buildings in and around the Midlands and North Wales. He joined Donald Insall Associates in 1997, having previously worked for Rodney Melville and Partners. In 1987 he was awarded a travelling scholarship by the Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings and has also worked as a labourer for a number of specialist plastering and conservation contractors. He sits on the Technical Panel of the SPAB.

Jeff Orton (Plasterer) CRP MPCG

Jeff Orton served a full plastering apprenticeship from 1963–1968 with a traditional family firm, and gained a distinction in the Advanced Craft City and Guilds Examination. He is registered with the Worshipful Company of Plasterers (CRP) and in 1981 he attended the San Servolo Architectural Conservation Course for Craftsmen in Venice. Since 1987 he has worked for Trumpers Ltd, repairing and reinstating plasterwork in historic buildings for private clients as well as The National Trust and English Heritage.

Tim Ratcliffe and Jeff Orton are both members of the Plasterers’ Craft Guild and the Building Limes Forum. They give lectures and demonstrations together on traditional plastering techniques. The Plasterers’ Craft Guild was established, almost 50 years ago, to pursue the ideal of craft excellence within the plastering trade; through education and the ongoing development of skills in the industry. The Building Limes Forum was formed in 1992 to encourage the development of expertise and understanding in the use of lime in building.

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