Knowing What Work You Actually Need
If you’ve had two or three plasterers quote for the same job, you’ve probably had two or three different recommendations. Plastering scope depends on what’s already on the wall, and there are four main routes:
- Skim over the existing — the lightest option. Works when the existing plaster is sound, flat, and clean. Adds 2–3mm and refreshes the surface for redecoration.
- Overboard and skim — plasterboard fixed over the existing surface, then skimmed. Useful when the wall or ceiling is in poor condition but hack-off is too disruptive — artex with potential asbestos, lath-and-plaster ceilings that shouldn’t be disturbed.
- Full hack-off and replaster — the most invasive option. Needed when the plaster is blown, when there’s damp damage, or when incompatible plasters have been layered over each other.
- Patch repair — viable only for isolated damage, but comes with an honest caveat. Patches in smooth painted walls are notoriously difficult to make invisible. Sometimes the honest answer is to replaster to the nearest natural break for an invisible finish.
I’ll tell you which one you actually need when I come and look. The tap test is a quick first check: a solid thud means the plaster is still bonded, while a hollow sound means it’s detached and needs hacking off. The rest comes from the site visit.
No shortcuts taken. Making sure we made the right choices throughout, and accommodating delays without any fuss. Two stunning rooms now; couldn’t be happier.
Ian E (Google)
What a Proper Plastering Job Involves
A properly finished wall is smooth, with no visible trowel marks, ridges, or hollows. No bumps where plasterboard joints sit underneath. Ready for painting without excessive sanding or filling, and a uniform pale pink colour once fully dried.
Drying time is the part most underplanned on any plastering job. Plaster sets in one to three hours, but setting isn’t drying. In good conditions, plaster is dry enough for a mist coat — a watered-down first coat of paint — in around two weeks. Cold, damp, or poorly ventilated rooms take longer.
Two things to avoid. Forced heat drying, like pointing a heater at fresh plaster, causes surface cracking and doesn’t actually speed up the bond. Painting too soon traps moisture under a skin of paint, which then bubbles and peels later.
The mist coat isn’t optional. A 50/50 or 70/30 water-to-emulsion mix lets the plaster absorb paint evenly. Skip it, and the raw plaster drinks the topcoat unevenly, leaving patchy absorption that’s visible for years. I’ll talk you through this before I leave the job, so the redecoration goes well, whether you’re doing it yourself or bringing in a decorator.
Plastering in Older Properties
Older homes often have plastering issues that don’t appear in modern properties. Here’s what you need to know before you start.
Artex and textured ceilings. If your home was built or refurbished before 1985, the artex ceiling in it may contain low levels of chrysotile, a form of white asbestos. Undisturbed artex poses no health risk. The risk only emerges when it’s cut, drilled, sanded, or scraped dry. For most pre-1985 properties, overboarding the artex without disturbing it is the sensible choice. If you’d rather know for sure first, a sample test costs £25 to £50 from a UKAS-accredited lab.
Lime plaster in period properties. Pre-1919 homes typically have solid brick walls and lime plaster, which is vapour-permeable. Moisture passes through it, which suits walls that absorb and release damp seasonally. Modern gypsum plaster traps moisture, leading to salt damage and damp problems over time. In Nailsea, this matters specifically for the period homes around Old Church Road, Silver Street, and the village centre. These properties require lime plasterwork or careful matching; gypsum is the wrong product for breathable walls.
Blown plaster and damp damage. Plaster that sounds hollow when tapped has detached from its substrate. The cause is almost always moisture, such as a historic leak, rising damp, or condensation behind furniture. The source of the damp has to be identified and fixed before any new plaster is applied. Replastering over an unresolved damp problem is the most expensive way to confirm it’s still there.
Cracks. Not all cracks mean the same thing. Cracks at wall-to-ceiling junctions usually indicate that the scrim tape has failed at the plasterboard joints. Cracks around windows and doors are typically due to thermal movement and require flexible filler, not rigid. Hairline cracking in fresh plaster within the first year is common and usually cosmetic, caused by drying movement, not workmanship failure.