Understanding Plaster Finishes for Decorative Painters

One cannot speak of plaster finishes without understanding the difference between the terms “finished plaster” and “plaster finish.” In the preparation trade, finished plaster would be a plaster topcoat that is often used as a substrate and leveling plaster for preparation, such as Diamond brand one-coat plaster and the like. Whereas the term plaster finish is commonly used as a general term to refer to any type of troweled or brush-applied lime plaster applied by the decorative painter, the main difference is that the “finished plaster” is meant to be covered with primer, paint and so forth, whereas the plaster finish is itself the decorative finish. 

This idea of applying plaster finishes, commonly referred to as polished plaster or venetian plaster, is a fairly recent trend that started in the 1990s to duplicate the effect of Old World plaster finishes found in Italy and all over Europe. Originally, these plaster finishes were used as decorative finishes over a mortar wall. Some of the earliest traces of these types of finishes date back to antiquity; everyone remembers the Pompeian wall and the grotesque walls found in Italy, which were made well over 2,000 years ago. An interesting fact is that the term venetian plaster, which has been broadly used for every type of troweled-applied plaster finish, comes from the 16th century.