I have been a professional decorator for almost 20 years. During the warmer months, I tend to specialise in exterior work, as this is the type of work I enjoy doing.
There is a lot of painted masonry in the area I live and I’m a bit of a perfectionist, so where I can, I like to get everything as smooth as possible.
I was sent a load of exterior filler to try out from the guys at Toupret. They asked me to use it on a few jobs, live with it a while, then publish my thoughts. Manufacturers only tend to do this when they have absolute confidence in a product’s performance!! This is my Toupret Exterior Skimcoat filler review, I hope you find it useful!!
Toupret Skimcoat technical Information
Toupret Skimcoat filler comes in ready mixed and as a powder. You can use this product on external masonry, but only on blemishes up to 5mm deep. The filler has high adhesion, dries hard, remains flexible and can be applied to damp surfaces without any issues as it allows a surface to breathe. Recoat time is between 24 and 48 hours.
My Review
The powder filler is extremely easy to mix, and both powder and ready mixed are silky smooth and amazingly easy to use. You can apply this product using an airless sprayer, trowel or filling knife. Toupret Skimcoat is the ideal product for spreading over large areas with a spatula. It just spreads and spreads, leaving you with a perfectly flat surface.
You must adhere to the 5mm depth restriction, or you’ll find the filler takes an age to dry and it will most likely crack by the next day. Same with the 24 hours recoat time!! I tend to do my sanding as soon as its dry, but the actual painting needs to be left overnight, or longer if the conditions are poor.
I found the working time for the powder filler to be around 2 hours, which makes life that little bit easier. Working time for the ready mixed is basically unlimited. We found you can use the filler out of the bucket all day without having issues with it setting.
I always think there’s a balance to be met with exterior fillers. They need to dry hard enough to last as long as the stone around them, but just soft enough to be sanded. This is another area Toupret Skimcoat has mastered. You won’t need to sand it back too much anyway as there’s no sagging and it’s so smooth and easy to apply. But it’s nice to know your roll of 120 will have an effect on it when needed.
The adhesion is spot on too! It’ll stick to unprepped, previously painted masonry without an issue.
If you have the choice between the ready mixed and the powder filler, go for a bucket of the ready mixed. The consistency is perfect, and it’ll last an age without drying on the sides of the bucket. It seems to go for miles too, meaning it is also great value for money.
I know this product is new, but I don’t see a world where every decorator in the UK isn’t going to love this stuff. I think we’ll all have a bucket of this in our van by next summer!!
Massive win for Toupret, I’m very impressed.
For a full exterior filler review click here.
Toupret Exterior Skimcoat Filler Review – by Mike Gregory
Can I get this in the uk?
yes
Where?!!! I’ve only seen the interior stuff
So this is the new gear to use to smooth off / flush fill broken edges where we have scraped. It will level off unsightly surfaces but we can sand it down ? Some fillers are a bastard to sand. I try and use a damp sponge just as it’s setting off to try and reduce sanding. Good to read your review we could have the ideal filler. Sandtex fkexiplast was not bad. Don’t think they make it anymore. Thanks for review.
It’s a shame Sandtex stopped making Flexiplast as it ‘filled’ a nice little gap in the market. It was ‘grittier/sandier’ than the Toupret fillers. Toupret are excellent but smooth and exterior renders are ‘gritty’ by their nature rather than smooth so it’s an absolute pain (nigh on impossible) tyring to stipple/sponge and match textures between new repairs and old painted render.
* I meant Sandtex Easiplast, not ‘Flexiplast’
I am sorry to say this product as a skim coat filler is a waste of time. Absolutely no way to get a decent finish on it without sanding. I am talking about the ready mixed coating system, not the cement based product. It will skin up and then drag, it has to be left to go hard before finishing, there is no in between.
Strange. We found it very easy to use. Very smooth, great for larger areas
The issue is that the ready mixed is air hardening. If you go on to a surface with little or no absorbancy then the material remains soft underneath, drying from the outside in. This causes the material to drag. If the substrate had been more absorbant it may have faired better. If I were to try it again I would use the cement based product to avoid this problem.