Is this plastering quote reasonable please?

[RokaandRoll]

I've been quoted £3,500 to skim over artex ceilings in all rooms of a small 3 bedroom house (as in this floor plan, but not including the sunroom).

Is this reasonable do you think? It seems quite high to me but the plasterer has lots of good reviews and photos of his work on Facebook and elsewhere look good (not a guarantee, I know).

How long did he say it would take?

I would say that is high, get more quotes.

As a benchmark, I just had a 4m wall plastered for £150 and had my kitchen and living room ceilings done a couple of years ago for £350. I know materials have increased in price, but still.

He didn't give a timescale and I didn't ask for one. It's not something I'm too bothered about because the house will be vacant for a few months anyway while we get work carried out. He did say there would be two men on the job.

I'd be happy with that price.

The difference I would say is the artex already up on the ceilings.A thin couple of ciats of skim wont cover it.Ge may need to knock it/ sand if down first.That might be a lot of where the money is going

Depending on where you are a day rate for a qualified tradesman is around £200. Then you have materials.
It's useful to get an estimate on timescales. A day is a 7.5 to 8hour day

He is maybe boarding it and skimming over so that would increase the materials cost. It’s always worth getting another quote when it’s a bigger job.

He isn't boarding it, just skimming it. Thanks all, so it sounds like it's high but not ridiculous. He did say he isn't the cheapest but that I'd be paying for the quality of his work and his reviews do seem to back that up. But yes, I'll get another quote or two and go from there.

My DH would rather stick pins in his eyes than plaster over artex 😂 it's definitely a skill though my DH would propose boarding due to asbestos concerns.

It does seem like that much ceiling work would be really hard on your arms and shoulders! Highly unlikely to be any asbestos present as the house was built in the early 90s.

The use of asbestos wasn't fully stopped until 1999 so I'd be getting it tested to be sure if I was you.

My house was built in the 90s and when we had a refurb we had the ceilings boarded then plastered.

You're right there could be asbestos but skimming over asbestos is perfectly safe. Could I have any more opinions about the price quoted please? Thank you.

You need to test your ceilings for asbestos. It really isn't that expensive or difficult to arrange.

At least you can reassure the tradespeople who will work on them and you know it is fine to drill into them in the future. You might also get a cheaper quote then.

We just paid £1500 for hall, stairs and landing walls and (artex) ceiling. The hallway is quite big....size of an actual room). Took 3.5 days. He absolutely worked his socks off and it looks brilliant. I was happy to pay that. The cost of materials has shot up in the last few years I believe. We still have the living room to do (quote £900) and the cloakroom (quote £300).

This. I know its perfectly safe to skim over asbestos but you are hiding it from tradespeople or future owners who could unknowingly drill into it or disturb it and release fibres.

OK that makes sense.