Float and Set

Float and set is a two-stage plastering system built for walls that need more than a thin skim. The float coat is a thicker base layer, built up and ruled off level to correct unevenness in blockwork, brickwork, or badly damaged old plaster. Once it has firmed up, the set coat goes on as a thin, smooth finishing layer over the top.

This is the system Russ reaches for on new-build blockwork, extensions, and any wall where the substrate itself is out of true. Rather than trying to disguise dips and bows with a single thin skim, float and set physically corrects the wall's line and level before the finishing coat ever goes on, which is why it lasts.

It is also the right call for solid masonry walls in older properties where the original lime plaster has failed and been hacked off back to brick or stone. A proper float coat rebuilds a flat, structurally sound base that a skim alone could never achieve.