Plastering and Skimming in Woodford Green and East London
Skimming tired walls, replastering after a rewire, and bringing ceilings back flat. It is most of what we do, and it is what the bulk of our 200+ reviews are for.
Skim or replaster: which does your wall need?
If the plaster underneath is sound, a skim is enough: a thin finishing coat over the top that takes out cracks, patches and the marks old wallpaper leaves behind. If it has blown, come loose or started to crumble, it has to come off first, and the wall is built back up with a backing coat before the finish goes on. You cannot always tell which from a photograph, which is why we come and look before we price it, and the quote is for the job your wall actually needs.
After a rewire, a new kitchen or a bathroom strip-out
A lot of our work follows other trades. Chases and holes left after a rewire, walls bonded and skimmed ready for new kitchen units, and bathroom walls squared up so the tiler has something straight to work to. We fit around the rest of the job, and customers regularly mention being booked in within a few days so the kitchen fitter or the tiler was not left waiting.
Period houses, lath and plaster, and original coving
Older houses need a lighter hand. We have replaced a collapsing lath and plaster ceiling, replastered a bay and a lath and plaster wall in a 1920s house, and replaced two old ceilings while saving the original coving. Where there is a ceiling rose or coving worth keeping, we work around it rather than through it.
Putting right somebody else's plastering
Several of our customers came to us after another plasterer. A kitchen extension in Chingford that had to be redone, and an entrance hall and two landings in Ongar for a customer whose first plasterer had left the lounge and bedrooms in a poor state. It is worth getting an honest look before anyone starts skimming over a problem.
What is included
- A free visit, then a fixed price for the job
- Floors, furniture and doorways sheeted before anything starts
- Walls and ceilings skimmed over sound plaster
- Blown or crumbling plaster hacked off and replastered
- Making good after rewires and fireplace removals
- Walls bonded and skimmed ready for kitchens and tiling
- Small jobs too: a patch, a socket, a single ceiling
- Swept and cleared before we leave, with a 12-month guarantee
Some of our work
What customers say
In their own words, from verified reviews. Read more reviews.
“Very impressed with the quality and speed of the work carried out, plus the care taken and cleaning up after the job. Sean communicated with me every step of the way.”
Verified customerLoughton, IG10March 2025 
“Had a previous plasterer that did a bad job. ST Plastering came in and re-did the job. They were quick, tidy and with a top quality finish.”
Verified customerChingford, E4June 2020
Common questions about plastering & skimming
What is the difference between skimming and plastering?
Skimming is a thin finishing coat applied over walls or ceilings that are already sound. Replastering means taking off plaster that has failed and building the wall back up with a backing coat before the finish goes on. A skim is quicker and cheaper; replastering is what a wall needs when the old plaster has blown or come loose. We tell you which on the visit.
How long does it take to plaster a room?
Most single rooms take a day or two, and a ceiling can be a morning. Bigger jobs, like several rooms or a whole floor after a rewire, we give you a timescale for once we have seen them. Then allow at least a week for the plaster to dry before you decorate, and longer in winter.
Can you plaster over painted walls or old wallpaper?
Wallpaper has to come off first, because plaster will not hold to it. Painted walls can usually be skimmed once we have checked the old surface is sound and prepared it so the new plaster bonds. Anywhere it is flaking or blown underneath, that part comes off.
Do you take on small plastering jobs?
Yes. Filling where a double socket has been taken out, repairing a ceiling after a leak, one wall before a kitchen goes in. Some of our reviews are for an hour's work, and we would rather do it than turn you away.
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.
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
Rather talk it through?
Tell us what needs doing and Sean will come and look. The visit and the quote are free, and the price you are given is the price you pay.
