HomePlastering costs
What plastering costs, and what moves the price
We do not publish a price list, and this page explains why — along with what actually changes the number, so you can read your quotes properly whoever ends up doing the work.
Why there is no price per square metre here
Plastering is priced by what is there, not by how big it is. A sound wall that needs a skim and a wall that has blown and has to come off are the same size and nowhere near the same job. An Artex ceiling that can be skimmed over costs far less than one that needs boarding first. A rate per square metre would either be too high for the easy work or too low for the hard work, and the second one is how jobs get abandoned halfway through.
So how do you get a real number?
Sean comes and looks, usually within a day or two, and gives you a fixed price for the job in front of him. The visit and the quote are free, there is no pressure at the end of it, and the price you are given is the price you pay. One Checkatrade customer wrote that the quote was kept to "to the penny".
What actually changes the price
Roughly in the order they move the number, on the jobs we do most weeks.
- 01
Skim, or take it off and start again
This is the biggest single difference. A skim is a thin finishing coat over plaster that is still sound — it takes out cracks, patches, and the mess old wallpaper leaves. If the plaster has blown, come loose or is crumbling, it has to be hacked off and the wall built back up with a backing coat before the finish goes on. That is more labour, more material and more mess to clear, so it costs more. You often cannot tell which you need from a photograph, which is the honest reason we come and look.
- 02
Ceilings cost more than walls
Working overhead is slower and harder than working at chest height, and a ceiling has to be sheeted under as well as around. Old lath and plaster ceilings are the slowest of all: sometimes they are worth saving, sometimes the sensible answer is to take them down and board them, and that is a conversation on the visit, not a surprise on the invoice.
- 03
Artex, and whether it needs testing
Textured ceilings are usually skimmed flat over the top, which is the cheaper route and the one we recommend where the ceiling allows it. If the house is old enough for the Artex to contain asbestos we will tell you to have it tested first. Where it is confirmed, it is either sealed and plastered over without being disturbed, or removed by a licensed company before we board and skim — and that second route is a different price, because it is a different job.
- 04
How much of it there is
Several rooms at once is usually better value per room than the same rooms one at a time. Mixing, sheeting, setting up and cleaning down happen once rather than four times, and the plaster is being worked while it is in its window. If you are planning to do the whole upstairs eventually, it is worth saying so at the quote stage.
- 05
What has to happen before a trowel goes near it
Old tiles coming off, walls squared up ready for a tiler, a chased-out wall after a rewire, kitchen units taken out, damp sorted first. Preparation is real work and it is in the quote, which is one of the reasons two quotes for the same room can look nothing like each other.
- 06
Getting to it
A stairwell, a landing over a half-turn stair, a high hallway or a vaulted ceiling all need staging and take longer than a flat bedroom wall. Outside, rendering is priced on the same logic: the wall, the preparation, and how easily we can reach it.
What is in the price when we quote
- The visit and the quote, always free
- Sheeting the floors, and covering what stays in the room
- Materials, and taking the waste away with us
- Making good around sockets, switches and edges
- A fixed price, given in writing before anything starts
- A 12-month guarantee on the work
Comparing two quotes that do not match
If one price is well under another, it is usually one of these rather than a bargain.
- Is it a skim, or is it hacking off and replastering? Ask which they have priced.
- Is making good included, or is that extra once they find it?
- Who is clearing the waste, and is that in the price?
- Is it a fixed price or a day rate? A day rate is open-ended by design.
- Are they insured, and is there a guarantee you could actually call on?
- Has anyone been to look? A price given from photographs can only ever be a guess.
Prices are quoted the same way for:
Questions about price
How much does it cost to plaster or skim a room?
It depends on the state of what is there more than the size of the room: a sound wall that needs a skim costs far less than one that has to be hacked off and built back up. We come and look for free and give you a fixed price. Customers tell us we kept to it, one of them to the penny.
Do you charge for the quote?
No. The visit and the quote are free, wherever you are in the area we cover, and there is no pressure at the end of it. If you would rather get three prices before you decide, that is a sensible thing to do.
Can you price it from photographs?
We can tell you whether it sounds like a skim or a replaster, and roughly what is involved, but we will not hold a price to a photograph. A picture does not show whether plaster has blown, what is behind it, or how it sounds when you tap it. Every price we give is given after someone has stood in the room.
Will the price change once you have started?
The price we give is fixed. If something genuinely unexpected turns up behind the old plaster, we stop and tell you what it is and what it means before any extra work happens, so the decision is yours and nothing lands on the invoice that you have not agreed to.
Is it cheaper to do several rooms at once?
Usually, per room. Setting up, mixing and cleaning down happen once instead of several times. If you are working through a house, tell us the whole plan at the quote stage and we will price it in the order that makes sense.
Is skimming over Artex cheaper than taking it off?
Almost always, and where the ceiling allows it that is what we recommend. Removal means either a licensed company taking it out first, if asbestos is confirmed, or the ceiling being boarded and skimmed, and both are more work than a skim over the top.
Still not sure? Ring Sean on 07470 866 809 and describe the room — he will tell you straight whether it sounds like a skim or a replaster.
Need a wall or a ceiling sorting?
Tell us what needs doing and we will come and look, usually within a day or two. The visit and the quote are free, and there is no pressure at the end of it.
- Free quote, usually within a day or two
- A fixed price for the job, not a drifting day rate
- Everything sheeted up and swept before we go
- Fully insured, with a 12-month guarantee
