Plaster


It's the end of June in 2002. The shell was done almost a year ago, and the intervening months were spent landscaping and preparing for plaster. The New England winter accounted for about 4 of those months. The plaster truck arrived just before 8 in the morning, and they were done around 3 in the afternoon. Everything fit on just one truck!	As they unpacked, there were a bewildering array of tools, these crates of sponges, and a huge collection of some very odd looking boots...	VERY odd looking booths! They had plates with spikes on the bottom! The plates were permanently attached to the boots, and there were LOTS of them!	One of the guys starts to set up the staging in the pond. While the Shotcrete was applied from the bottom up, it turns out that plaster is done from the top down.


"The day before the plasterers arrived, 2 other team members came to do a preparation of the shell. They removed all the lights, and carefully plugged all the pipes and sealed any area that was not to be plastered."	They start at the very top and use a nozzle on a long hose, similar to the Shotcrete guys, to pump and spray a thin coat of plaster on the walls.	While one man is spraying, the others follow behind and smooth the plaster.	They call what comes out of the nozzle 'mud', and given that it was black - and that the pigment was permanent - it certainly was at least as messy!


They used all sorts of tools to smooth the mud, which was already pretty dry when it exited the nozzle.	The real skill in in carving out the details and making sure the plaster is sealed to any pipes or edges. Here, the owner does the final shaping of a skimmer while his apprentice looks on.	"The men all worked in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. They were very efficient, but extremely careful with each detail."	One man was on the truck - creating the mix. Unlike Shotcrete - the plaster is mixed on the truck from sand, concrete, color and additives. Each job has it's own mix. Because the batches were small, they had no trouble with the hose clogging, although they always had one person to make sure the hose didn't hang up on the scaffolding.


After the top 1/2 was coated and smoothed once, they did the bottom, then the whole thing AGAIN! Each of the 2 coats was 1/4" thick, making the final plaster 1/2" thick.	"It takes a lot of skill to apply the plaster without having the overspray get on everything and turn it black!"	While the plaster was smoothed after the first coat, it was nothing like the attention lavished on each small detail after the second coat! Some of the tools used to achieve the perfect final surface were the plastic lids from margarine tubs!	"The smoothing was very time consuming. The shell was made to look like one smooth basin. These guys are obviously used to doing perfectly smooth swimming pools rather than fish ponds!"


While the main shell was being finished, another team started applying mud to the basins and bogs. Here, the upper waterfall basin gets its first coat of plaster.	Here, Dave the owner, applies the first coat to the big bog - again starting on the walls, and then lastly doing the bottom. Can you see the odd looking boots? They only leave pin pricks in the plaster. Because the spikes are longer than the plaster is thick - they are really walking on the Shotcrete.	Controlling the overspray and directing the powerful blast of plaster takes a master touch! Especially when you need to coat right up to and between rocks.	Standing on your head is also a useful skill when working on the edge next to the rocks.


"The work proceeded very quickly, taking much less time than the Shotcrete. Each skimmer opening was turned from rough to perfectly symmetrical."	Final smoothing of the walls.	"The pictures don't really capture the amazingly perfect final coat."	First smoothing of the bottom.


Carving out a bog, standing on spiked boots.	Here, one team member uses a kneeling board - with, you guessed it, spikes on the bottom. This was much easier when working under overhanging rocks in small spaces for a long time.	Crouching in the little bog. This was the smallest space of all, and the hardest to finish. You can't see from the pictures, but there's a whopping big slope to the floor - so debris - and plasterers tend to slide into the pond!	Kneeling in the small bog doing the final finish work. This job takes a combination of strength and tremendous attention to detail. All of the crew were very artistic, and viewed the project like a canvas to showcase their skills!


Shot of the completed top waterfall basin taken from the side. Water enters from the Bioreactor through the huge pipes on either side of the underwater light (right side of the picture). The pipes with the valve return water from a filter either to this bog, or to the bypass, depending which way the handle is turned.	"The waterfall is completely plumbed with bypasses for each water source, so that the falls can be turned off when the air temperature is cooler than the water temperature. This is common in the spring and fall in CT."	Shot of the completed bottom waterfall basin. Here, a 4" T pipe directs flow from 2 large waterfall pumps. When these pumps are on, about 40,000 gallons an hour goes over the falls. Without those pumps, only 15,000 gallons an hour goes over the falls.	"These waterfall basins are so huge - each one holds enough water for a quarantine tank! Not very practical for keeping fish - but they might make nice Jacuzzis?"


For the final bottom smoothing, the team has switched from spikes to sponges! They used grey tape to hold sponges on the bottoms of their feet, and to kneel on. The sponges left no mark at all on the drying plaster, and the men smoothed away every spike mark!	The crew, still wearing sponges on their feet, now removes all the scaffolding from the shell, and makes sure they don't gouge any of their perfect plaster.	"Right before the plasterers exit from the shell, all the openings are uncovered, and the pipes are unblocked. All the hardware is now remounted into the shell. All 8 lights are installed, and everything is double checked."	The last job before the first water truck arrives is to screw in the bottom drain covers. Each cover has an inset dome for air. The big compressor used to push the air down 12 feet lives in the garage - where it is kept quiet with shock mounts and flexible piping.

As they unpacked, there were a bewildering array of tools, these crates of sponges, and a huge collection of some very odd looking boots...

VERY odd looking booths! They had plates with spikes on the bottom! The plates were permanently attached to the boots, and there were LOTS of them!

One of the guys starts to set up the staging in the pond. While the Shotcrete was applied from the bottom up, it turns out that plaster is done from the top down.

"The day before the plasterers arrived, 2 other team members came to do a preparation of the shell. They removed all the lights, and carefully plugged all the pipes and sealed any area that was not to be plastered."

They start at the very top and use a nozzle on a long hose, similar to the Shotcrete guys, to pump and spray a thin coat of plaster on the walls.

While one man is spraying, the others follow behind and smooth the plaster.

They call what comes out of the nozzle 'mud', and given that it was black - and that the pigment was permanent - it certainly was at least as messy!

They used all sorts of tools to smooth the mud, which was already pretty dry when it exited the nozzle.

The real skill in in carving out the details and making sure the plaster is sealed to any pipes or edges. Here, the owner does the final shaping of a skimmer while his apprentice looks on.

"The men all worked in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere. They were very efficient, but extremely careful with each detail."

After the top 1/2 was coated and smoothed once, they did the bottom, then the whole thing AGAIN! Each of the 2 coats was 1/4" thick, making the final plaster 1/2" thick.

"It takes a lot of skill to apply the plaster without having the overspray get on everything and turn it black!"

While the plaster was smoothed after the first coat, it was nothing like the attention lavished on each small detail after the second coat! Some of the tools used to achieve the perfect final surface were the plastic lids from margarine tubs!

"The smoothing was very time consuming. The shell was made to look like one smooth basin. These guys are obviously used to doing perfectly smooth swimming pools rather than fish ponds!"

While the main shell was being finished, another team started applying mud to the basins and bogs. Here, the upper waterfall basin gets its first coat of plaster.

Controlling the overspray and directing the powerful blast of plaster takes a master touch! Especially when you need to coat right up to and between rocks.

Standing on your head is also a useful skill when working on the edge next to the rocks.

"The work proceeded very quickly, taking much less time than the Shotcrete. Each skimmer opening was turned from rough to perfectly symmetrical."

Final smoothing of the walls.

"The pictures don't really capture the amazingly perfect final coat."

First smoothing of the bottom.

Carving out a bog, standing on spiked boots.

Here, one team member uses a kneeling board - with, you guessed it, spikes on the bottom. This was much easier when working under overhanging rocks in small spaces for a long time.

Crouching in the little bog. This was the smallest space of all, and the hardest to finish. You can't see from the pictures, but there's a whopping big slope to the floor - so debris - and plasterers tend to slide into the pond!

Kneeling in the small bog doing the final finish work. This job takes a combination of strength and tremendous attention to detail. All of the crew were very artistic, and viewed the project like a canvas to showcase their skills!

"The waterfall is completely plumbed with bypasses for each water source, so that the falls can be turned off when the air temperature is cooler than the water temperature. This is common in the spring and fall in CT."

Shot of the completed bottom waterfall basin. Here, a 4" T pipe directs flow from 2 large waterfall pumps. When these pumps are on, about 40,000 gallons an hour goes over the falls. Without those pumps, only 15,000 gallons an hour goes over the falls.

"These waterfall basins are so huge - each one holds enough water for a quarantine tank! Not very practical for keeping fish - but they might make nice Jacuzzis?"

For the final bottom smoothing, the team has switched from spikes to sponges! They used grey tape to hold sponges on the bottoms of their feet, and to kneel on. The sponges left no mark at all on the drying plaster, and the men smoothed away every spike mark!

The crew, still wearing sponges on their feet, now removes all the scaffolding from the shell, and makes sure they don't gouge any of their perfect plaster.

"Right before the plasterers exit from the shell, all the openings are uncovered, and the pipes are unblocked. All the hardware is now remounted into the shell. All 8 lights are installed, and everything is double checked."

The last job before the first water truck arrives is to screw in the bottom drain covers. Each cover has an inset dome for air. The big compressor used to push the air down 12 feet lives in the garage - where it is kept quiet with shock mounts and flexible piping.