# Forum Home Renovation Plastering  Cornice cement vs Base Coat used with perlite

## JamesKeen

Hi All, 
Just in the midst of patching all the areas of plaster throughout the house on a double brick home. Whilst I had a carpenter installing some robes he asked me why i was using cornice cement + perlite and not base coat + perlite and I basically said that's what Rod recommends  :Smilie:   
I know Cornice cement is actually an adhesive but a quick look at the pds for both products show very little difference, with Base Coat having Mica and Calcium Hydroxide (lime) which i guess it to aid in the work-ability of the compound. My question being is it better to use Base Coat + Perlite or is there no real difference? 
Would that also mean cornice cement is fine for small areas of plasterboard taping? 
Thanks for any replies! 
Jason

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## phild01

Never hesitated using cornice cement where basecoat is more suitable.  Basecoat gives you various extended working times.  Cornice cement is great for quick fixes as it sets more quickly.

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## JamesKeen

> Never hesitated using cornice cement where basecoat is more suitable.  Basecoat gives you various extended working times.  Cornice cement is great for quick fixes as it sets more quickly.

  With Cornice cement having 60 or 45 initial setting time I have done pretty big patches and still had time to have a coffee before it sets. I found Base Coat a tiny bit easier to work with and a little bit finer texture but that's it. I am a complete layman though, well at least I don't have to sand cornice cement anymore  :Smilie:

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## Rod Dyson

There is not a lot of difference between boral basecoat and cornice cement as far as setting is concerned.  The benefit of cornice adhesive over basecoat was always the ability to manipulate the setting time and the "work back" qualities.  Boral base coat have the same qualities now, which I must say makes it a bit less user friendly as a base coat. 
60 45 initial setting time matters little if you are using accelerator to speed things up, you just need a bit more with the 60 than the 45.  
But to answer your original question there is not a lot of difference.  Cornice cement has more of a "sticking" quality that I would consider reasonably important when filling deep holes.  I still use cornice cement exclusively for patch work.  Even though basecoat can be manipulated better than it used to, I can still manipulate the setting time of cornice adhesive better. 
BTW the perlite scrapes back nice if you catch it right.  Don't let it go too long before the scape back.

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