Plastering Costs - Is this mega expensive?!

[Konstantine]

Hi everyone. I'm hoping to get a bit of feedback on a plastering quote we have received. We have just bought a new house which has not been touched since the 50s and the entire place needs replastering and ceilings need either replacing or the Artex needs skimming over. The original plaster is in a bad way and there are huge nails sticking out of it all over which held on the picture rails.

We have had a real issue getting quotes for the job... nobody seems to want to quote for it! I met with one plasterer who has wonderful reviews and is a truly lovely older chap who works with his sons. He has quoted us £5k inc. VAT for the following. We are in the Cotswolds, (near Bourton-on-the-Water) and it is a small 3 bed cottage.

Ground floor Living Room and Kitchen

1. Living room. Ceiling cut out damaged area, patch area and overskim complete ceiling. Patch walls after electrician, Unibond and overskim all walls.

1. Kitchen Ceiling overboard and skim. Walls as living room .

1. Bedroom 1. Ceiling overboard and skim. Walls as living room. Form new cupboard in corner of bedroom. Block existing doorway in landing and skim.

1. Stairway and landing - Ceiling and walls Unibond and skim complete areas. Also remove wallpaper from high area.

1. Bedroom 2 - Ceiling, overboard and skim walls. Unibond and skim.

1. Bedroom 3 - Ceiling, overboard and skim walls. Unibond and skim.

1. Entrance hall. Walls, Unibond and skim.

I'd love to hear your thoughts. Thanks so much.

It's hard to say for sure but 5k looks steep to me.

Do you have to have the artex ceilings overboarded first? Can't they just be skimmed over? Ours have just been skimmed over. We paid £280 for the artex to be skimmed over a large room (30 ft x approx. 10'6 ins) where we knocked a wall down in between. It was only a ceiling skim though.

We've just paid the same people (who I would recommend but you're a bit far away though not a million miles) £140 to skim over the artex in our hall ceiling. It is a spacious hall about 16ft x 7ft.

Not sure that info helps, sorry.

Based on £280k to skim a ceiling, you have 7 rooms, with ceiling and walls to do as well as blocking the door, making a cupboard and making good after rewiring. . It is quite a reasonable quote. I would question whether overboarding is the right decision but it might add sound insulation between the floors.

It sounds about right to me. We paid around £500 for overboarding a ceiling and damaged walls + skimming in a bedroom (in London).

Sounds about right to me

We paid just over £2k to have 2 ceilings boarded/skimmed, 1 ceiling just skimmed 1 room walls skimmed and 1 room 3 walls skimmed 1 wall boarded/skimmed. I think you’re in the right ballpark.

Sounds about right to me too. We paid £1200 for the hallway, stairs and landing including ceilings to be skimmed

I'd snap him up. Price is right (I know your area) and if he's a genuinely good tradesman then .. Well, gold dust springs to mind!

I’m very jealous of where you live, what a beautiful part of the world.

I also think that sounds reasonable as it sounds like quite a lot of work and not just plain old plastering.

Sounds like a lot of work and reasonable price.

If you are still unsure I would advice getting more traders from checkatrade to come and quote

Sounds reasonable to me. Could you offer cash or part cash to avoid some VAT?

For that amount of work that sounds like a good price.

Well it’s a lot more than plastering Isn’t it ? You want a fair bit of joinery work too - building a cupboard, removing a doorway.

Do you have any idea why the original plasterwork is in such poor condition ? How old is the house and is plaster on the hard or lathe and plaster ? Why has it failed everywhere ?

Nails can easily be pulled out ( by you! ) and small areas patched , I don’t see why it all needs redone. Ditto the raggling of walls by electrician .

And I don’t understand why you don’t just have the artex ceilings skimmed . I assume it’s not about sound insulation if it’s a detached house.

If stripping wallpaper in the “ High” areas requires the hire of a tower then that will be expensive. You will also be a fair amount in materials for all that plasterboarding.

Thank you so much everyone - all very much appreciated! I've booked him in and we are just going to decide whether to do everything all in one go or space it out a bit to spread the cost.

With regard to the state of the house - it is terrible. It is a mid-terrace and had only one previous owner who did not 'believe' in central heating and as such had all radiators boarded over and did not open windows to ventilate the house. There have been various leaks from the bathroom which is over the kitchen and the ceiling has buckled and been patched several times, hence the repairs needed. The bedroom ceilings are uneven and very cracked. When taking off the skirting and picture rails, the plaster has all come away from the floor boards and there are now big gaps and holes, and the nails which attached them are huge and I just don't have the strength to get them out myself. I am doing this pretty much on my own and there are just some things which I need to delegate to someone else.

The cupboard is actually just knocking a hole through the wall into the old airing cupboard and then boarding up the original doorway. It is not a huge job and we were quoted a couple of hundred quid by another builder.

I trust the plasterer and his opinion - he is an older chap who has been doing this a long time and has great reviews about how hardworking and honest he is.

Anyway, thank you all very much for your input!