Plastering is one of those jobs where quotes can vary wildly, and it is hard to know what is fair until you understand what you are actually paying for. As a rough guide, skimming a standard room in the UK typically costs somewhere between £400 and £900, while full reboarding and plastering can run to £1,500 or more. Here is an honest breakdown of what drives the price, based on what we see day to day working across Pontypridd and the South Wales valleys.
The biggest factor is whether you need a skim coat over existing plaster or a full replaster. Skimming is a thin finishing layer, usually 2 to 3mm, applied over sound existing plaster or fresh plasterboard. A full replaster means hacking off the old material back to brick or removing failed boards, then boarding or rendering before the skim goes on. The second job involves far more labour, materials and mess, which is why the price can be double or triple.
Ceilings tend to cost a little more per square metre than walls because working overhead is slower and harder on the plasterer. If a ceiling has old lath and plaster, as many Valleys terraces do, expect the quote to reflect the extra work of pulling it down and disposing of it.
Condition is everything. If your existing plaster is blown, meaning it sounds hollow when you tap it, or it is crumbling around windows and skirting, a skim will not save it and any decent plasterer will tell you so. Damp is the other big one. Plastering over an unresolved damp problem wastes your money, because the new plaster will fail within months. The source of the damp needs sorting first, and damp affected walls often need a renovating plaster or membrane system, which costs more.
Access and prep also matter. An empty room with floors protected is quicker than one full of furniture. High ceilings, stairwells and awkward alcoves add time. In older stone built houses common around Pontypridd, walls are rarely flat or square, so getting a true finish takes longer than it would in a modern estate house with plasterboard throughout.
Most plasterers price per job rather than per square metre for domestic work, though the underlying maths is usually £12 to £20 per square metre for skimming and £25 to £45 for replastering, plus materials. Day rates in South Wales typically sit between £150 and £250, which is a touch below London and the South East, so national online price guides can overstate what you should pay locally.
A written quote should state exactly what is included: hacking off, boarding, beading around corners and windows, waste removal, and whether making good around sockets and switches is covered. If one quote is much cheaper than the others, check what has been left out rather than assuming you have found a bargain.
Fresh plaster needs to dry fully before painting, which usually takes at least a week for a skim and considerably longer for a full replaster, depending on the season and how well the room is ventilated. Painting too soon traps moisture and causes peeling. The first coat should always be a mist coat, which is watered down emulsion that soaks into the surface, before normal coats go on.
If you are planning to redecorate anyway, it is worth pricing the plastering and decorating together. One firm handling both means the plasterer knows the finish the decorator needs, there is no gap between trades, and you are not left with a beautifully smooth room that sits unpainted for a month while you find someone to finish it.
Sometimes, yes. Overboarding a bad ceiling or dot and dabbing boards onto a rough wall can work out cheaper than hacking everything off, but it reduces room size slightly and is not suitable where there is damp. A good plasterer will advise which route makes sense for your walls.
Skimming a typical room is usually done in a day, occasionally two if the ceiling is included. A full replaster with boarding normally takes two to four days, plus drying time before you can decorate.
Fine hairline cracks can often be filled and painted over, but cracks that keep returning, hollow sounding patches or flaking around edges usually mean the plaster itself has failed. Filling those is a short term fix and skimming or replastering will save money in the long run.