Walls and Ceilings - Plaster coat in bathroom

I'm preparing to finish my walls in my bathroom addition. I currently have greenboard up on all walls. When finished, the lower half of the wall will be beadboard, and the upper half will be painted.

I considered a plaster coat on the upper half of the walls. However, I've recently read that a plaster coat is not recommended over greenboard--apparently the moisture-resistant properties of the greenboard don't allow the plaster coat to dry or adhere properly.

Can anybody verify that this is true? I really only considered it because a friend had a room of his house done in plaster coat and was very happy with it. Also, this is the only work in the room that I won't do myself. I despise taping/sanding drywall, so I'll have it done.

Thoughts? Thanks...

Brian

Greenboard is finished the same as all other types of drywall. If I were doing this I'd mud, tape, & float out all the seams & joints, apply a skim coat on the upper half that is to be finish painted. At that point I'd advise you to paint a good primer on the entire surface, put on your finish paint and nail up your beaddoard.

Good luck with the bath.

Here's an article on blueboard and plastering over it:

http://www.bobvila.com/ArticleLibrary/Task/Building/Blueboard.html

In this article, it mentions that you can plaster over regular drywall, but you must use a special orange primer first. Do you agree with this?

If I hire somebody to do this process in my bathroom, should I insist that they use this primer... or some type of primer? Or, is this a given that they'll use a primer?

Thanks for all of your help...

Brian

To tell you the truth, I'm not a fan of or installer of traditional plaster. I do get calls from folks want to have their walls replastered, I refer them to a local company that specializes in it.

USG has some good info on traditional plaster in their Const. Handbook.

Here's a link to it (http://www.usg.com/Expert_Advice/const_handbook.asp?vChapter=Chapter_6&menu=)

Another member here Chris, sorry I can't remember his exact screen name, has previously posted this link on historical plaster. You might want to take a look at this also.http://www2.cr.nps.gov/tps/briefs/brief21.htm

To answer your specific question about the primer, never take anything for granted when dealing with a contractor. All work to be performed should be spelled out in writing & signed off on by yourself & the contractor. And I would say yes you need a primer coat prior to applying tradition plaster.

As to the Villa article, I was told to play nice here, so I won't propogate my opinion of Mr. Villa, but anyway what he's talking about there is not the same stuff as your greenboard, which is what as known as MR Board or WR board, moisture resistant, water resistant sheetrock. Actually I've never seen the blue board used in this part of the country, but then again I don't usually bid on the half million dollar restorations like Mr V does, of course I also actually know how to do anything that I've got a man workin for me doing. ;)

Yeah, it's called plaster bonder and it's basically diluted PVA (aka "white glue"). You can use ordinary concrete bonder instead, or you can buy Weldbond and dilute it a bit with water. Use a paint roller to apply to the bare green board. Let dry until clear, then veneer plaster with something like USG's Diamond finish plaster. Use mesh on the drywall joints, and double up over them with the plaster. Texture the surface with some kind of float. I prefer a sponge float for a textured finish. Do the plaster work after the wainscot is installed. Once the plaster is dry, prime and paint as usual. Hope this helps.

Thanks for the assist dirk