{"id":824,"date":"2014-08-22T08:15:13","date_gmt":"2014-08-22T08:15:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.azipit.co.za\/mica2014\/?p=824"},"modified":"2019-10-18T11:39:25","modified_gmt":"2019-10-18T09:39:25","slug":"cement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\/mica-new\/cement\/","title":{"rendered":"Cement Tips"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Get Great Results when Using Cement<\/h2>\n<p>Plastering a wall, whether old or new, is not as difficult as it may seem. With practice, you will achieve good results. Following are a few hints and tips.<\/p>\n<h3>Equipment:<\/h3>\n<p>When purchasing the plaster mix at your local Mica store, make sure that you get advice on the correct water-to-mix ratio. Plaster mixes pretty much in the same way as concrete does so make up your plaster mix until it has the consistency of a very thick paste; you may need to experiment a little before you get the consistency that you want. Bear in mind that depending on the thickness of the final layer, you may need to apply more than one layer. You will need: a flat masonry trowel; a plastering hawk (a flat tray for holding the plaster) and a notched trowel if you are going to apply more than one layer. If the area to be plastered is large, also have a length of straight wood available about a metre long.<\/p>\n<h3>Method:<\/h3>\n<ul class=\"listStyles\">\n<li>Make your mix into a workable consistency.<\/li>\n<li>Load some plaster onto the hawk and use the steel masonry trowel to apply the basecoat.<\/li>\n<li>Work it on in broad arches to evenly distribute the plaster over the surface. You do not need to push the plaster onto the wall; simply sweep it on using gentle pressure to work from one corner outward, covering the entire wall. Apply the first coat with sufficient material and pressure to form a good bond to the base and then double-back to level the thickness. Leave the first coat rough to receive the finish coat. If it is not rough, then use the notched trowel to roughen the surface; the surface needs to be rough so that the next layer has something to \u2018key\u2019 onto.<\/li>\n<li>To ensure that the surface is flat, use the length of wood to screed the surface: pull it down the wall in a zigzag fashion so that high areas are removed and low ones revealed. Fill and re-screed as necessary.<\/li>\n<li>Use a smaller plastic or wood float for the final layer, which should be mixed with additional water to provide a thinner mix and a finer topcoat.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>A Tip or Two on Mixing Plaster, or Indeed, Cement<\/h3>\n<ul class=\"listStyles\">\n<li>Working according to the instructions on the bag, make a pile of the sand required for your mix, make a crater in the middle and then pour half the amount of cement into the crater. Now, start mixing  don\u2019t add water yet. Once the cement is mixed in, add the other half and repeat. Keep mixing with the spade until the mix is a uniform colour.<\/li>\n<li>Make another crater, add a little water and start mixing again. Add the water little bit by little bit until you reach a stage where the mix can be \u2018cut\u2019 with the spade: it will retain its shape when you cut the blade through it.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>Shopping List<\/h3>\n<ul class=\"listStyles\">\n<li>Plaster mix<\/li>\n<li>Plastering Hawk<\/li>\n<li>Flat masonry trowel<\/li>\n<li>Notched trowel<\/li>\n<li>Plastering hawk (flat hand held pan)<\/li>\n<li>Length of straight wood (1 metre)<\/li>\n<li>Plastic or wood float<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.azipit.co.za\/mica2014\/wp-content\/themes\/mica-theme\/hints-and-tips\/cement.pdf\" target=\"blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Click here to download this PDF<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Cement is an excellent material for plastering walls, paving or gelling surfaces together. Read more here for tips on mixing cement, using it and what kind of equipment you will need.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":39034,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_vp_format_video_url":"","_vp_image_focal_point":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,15,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-824","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-building-tips","category-home-maintenance-tips","category-how-to"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Cement | Learn How To Correctly Mix And Correctly Use Cement<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Mica Hardware shows you how to mix and correctly use cement in DIY projects and home improvement jobs. Cement like a pro thanks to Mica.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\/mica-new\/cement\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Cement | Learn How To Correctly Mix And Correctly Use Cement\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Mica Hardware shows you how to mix and correctly use cement in DIY projects and home improvement jobs. Cement like a pro thanks to Mica.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\/mica-new\/cement\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Mica Hardware\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2014-08-22T08:15:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-10-18T09:39:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\/mica-new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/cement-tips-1.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"720\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"480\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Russell\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Russell\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\\\/mica-new\\\/cement\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\\\/mica-new\\\/cement\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Russell\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\\\/mica-new\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/dc5df5896b186076e4ec44ec356b0e3f\"},\"headline\":\"Cement Tips\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-08-22T08:15:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-10-18T09:39:25+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\\\/mica-new\\\/cement\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":524,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\\\/mica-new\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\\\/mica-new\\\/cement\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\\\/mica-new\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/08\\\/cement-tips-1.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Building Tips\",\"Home Maintenance Tips\",\"How to\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\\\/mica-new\\\/cement\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\\\/mica-new\\\/cement\\\/\",\"name\":\"Cement | Learn How To Correctly Mix And Correctly Use Cement\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\\\/mica-new\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\\\/mica-new\\\/cement\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\\\/mica-new\\\/cement\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\\\/mica-new\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/08\\\/cement-tips-1.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2014-08-22T08:15:13+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2019-10-18T09:39:25+00:00\",\"description\":\"Mica Hardware shows you how to mix and correctly use cement in DIY projects and home improvement jobs. Cement like a pro thanks to Mica.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\\\/mica-new\\\/cement\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\\\/mica-new\\\/cement\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\\\/mica-new\\\/cement\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\\\/mica-new\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/08\\\/cement-tips-1.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\\\/mica-new\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2014\\\/08\\\/cement-tips-1.png\",\"width\":720,\"height\":480},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\\\/mica-new\\\/cement\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\\\/mica-new\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Cement Tips\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\\\/mica-new\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\\\/mica-new\\\/\",\"name\":\"Mica Hardware\",\"description\":\"A franchise that grows from strength to strength, Mica is one of the largest hardware groups in Africa with 140 stores Nationwide\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\\\/mica-new\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\\\/mica-new\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\\\/mica-new\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Mica Hardware\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\\\/mica-new\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\\\/mica-new\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\\\/mica-new\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/09\\\/cropped-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\\\/mica-new\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2020\\\/09\\\/cropped-logo.png\",\"width\":242,\"height\":119,\"caption\":\"Mica Hardware\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\\\/mica-new\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\\\/mica-new\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/dc5df5896b186076e4ec44ec356b0e3f\",\"name\":\"Russell\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/6992d65cdcd1eff2764004892aaf097decff4d86b9f8b78665664ed822fceeb6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/6992d65cdcd1eff2764004892aaf097decff4d86b9f8b78665664ed822fceeb6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/6992d65cdcd1eff2764004892aaf097decff4d86b9f8b78665664ed822fceeb6?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Russell\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\\\/mica-new\\\/author\\\/redscootscoot-rus\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Cement | Learn How To Correctly Mix And Correctly Use Cement","description":"Mica Hardware shows you how to mix and correctly use cement in DIY projects and home improvement jobs. Cement like a pro thanks to Mica.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\/mica-new\/cement\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Cement | Learn How To Correctly Mix And Correctly Use Cement","og_description":"Mica Hardware shows you how to mix and correctly use cement in DIY projects and home improvement jobs. Cement like a pro thanks to Mica.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\/mica-new\/cement\/","og_site_name":"Mica Hardware","article_published_time":"2014-08-22T08:15:13+00:00","article_modified_time":"2019-10-18T09:39:25+00:00","og_image":[{"width":720,"height":480,"url":"https:\/\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\/mica-new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/cement-tips-1.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"Russell","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Russell","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\/mica-new\/cement\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\/mica-new\/cement\/"},"author":{"name":"Russell","@id":"https:\/\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\/mica-new\/#\/schema\/person\/dc5df5896b186076e4ec44ec356b0e3f"},"headline":"Cement Tips","datePublished":"2014-08-22T08:15:13+00:00","dateModified":"2019-10-18T09:39:25+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\/mica-new\/cement\/"},"wordCount":524,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\/mica-new\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\/mica-new\/cement\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\/mica-new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/cement-tips-1.png","articleSection":["Building Tips","Home Maintenance Tips","How to"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\/mica-new\/cement\/","url":"https:\/\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\/mica-new\/cement\/","name":"Cement | Learn How To Correctly Mix And Correctly Use Cement","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\/mica-new\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\/mica-new\/cement\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\/mica-new\/cement\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\/mica-new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/cement-tips-1.png","datePublished":"2014-08-22T08:15:13+00:00","dateModified":"2019-10-18T09:39:25+00:00","description":"Mica Hardware shows you how to mix and correctly use cement in DIY projects and home improvement jobs. Cement like a pro thanks to Mica.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\/mica-new\/cement\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\/mica-new\/cement\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\/mica-new\/cement\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\/mica-new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/cement-tips-1.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\/mica-new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/cement-tips-1.png","width":720,"height":480},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\/mica-new\/cement\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\/mica-new\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Cement Tips"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\/mica-new\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\/mica-new\/","name":"Mica Hardware","description":"A franchise that grows from strength to strength, Mica is one of the largest hardware groups in Africa with 140 stores Nationwide","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\/mica-new\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\/mica-new\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\/mica-new\/#organization","name":"Mica Hardware","url":"https:\/\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\/mica-new\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\/mica-new\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\/mica-new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/cropped-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\/mica-new\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/cropped-logo.png","width":242,"height":119,"caption":"Mica Hardware"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\/mica-new\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\/mica-new\/#\/schema\/person\/dc5df5896b186076e4ec44ec356b0e3f","name":"Russell","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6992d65cdcd1eff2764004892aaf097decff4d86b9f8b78665664ed822fceeb6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6992d65cdcd1eff2764004892aaf097decff4d86b9f8b78665664ed822fceeb6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6992d65cdcd1eff2764004892aaf097decff4d86b9f8b78665664ed822fceeb6?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Russell"},"url":"https:\/\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\/mica-new\/author\/redscootscoot-rus\/"}]}},"toolset-meta":{"faq-fields":{"question":{"type":"textfield","raw":""},"answer":{"type":"textarea","raw":""}},"tips-field":[]},"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-11-06 12:33:38","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\/mica-new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/824","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\/mica-new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\/mica-new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\/mica-new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\/mica-new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=824"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\/mica-new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/824\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39042,"href":"https:\/\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\/mica-new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/824\/revisions\/39042"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\/mica-new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39034"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\/mica-new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=824"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\/mica-new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=824"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lion-test-sites.co.za\/mica-new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}