Inside work
Plastering in Southport
Everything that happens inside the house, from a single skimmed ceiling to a full float and set after a rewire. This page is the overview: each job has its own page with what it involves and what moves the price.
What customers said about this work
Had this guy do some plastering while he was working on a contract near mine. The finish was fantastic and I would highly recommend him to anyone in need of any and all plastering.
I was very lucky to come across Anthony at Birkdale Plastering I was looking for a craftsman that could be trusted to replace a damaged ceiling with care and attention to detail! I certainly wasn't disappointed Arriving on time and produced a perfect finish! Highly recommended for both Quality and Value
Absolutely delighted with the work. I would certainly recommend Anthony Thompson for anyone looking for a plasterer. Great job, prompt, tidy, highly recommended!
MyBuilderPlastering
What plastering covers, and which page you want
Plastering is not one job. What a wall needs depends on what is behind it, and the four or five things that get called plastering are priced and sequenced differently. This is the short version of each, with the page that goes into it properly.
Skimming is a two-coat finish over a background that is already sound and flat. It is the cheapest way to a decorating-ready wall and it is most of what we do.
Internal plastering is the bigger version: float and set back to a bare wall, whole rooms, and making good after a rewire, a removed wall or a leak.
Dry lining is plasterboard rather than wet plaster, on studs or bonded to the wall, taped and beaded and then skimmed.
Artex is its own decision, because on a pre-2000 ceiling the coating is usually covered rather than taken off, and there is a reason for that which is worth reading before anyone puts a scraper near it.
Decorative plasterwork is cornice, coving, ceiling roses and the period detail that Southport has a lot of, run in place or restored rather than replaced.
Get a price for plastering
Where most jobs start
The tap test, and why it sets the price
- Sound background
Rings solid, no movement, reasonably flat. That is a skim: two coats of finish, beaded and taped where it needs it, ready to decorate.
- Failed background
Hollow when tapped, blown around a chimney breast, or bulging under paper. That is a float and set, which builds the wall back out first and costs more.
- A ceiling that moves
Old lath and plaster that flexes when you push it is not a skimming job. It gets overboarded and skimmed, which is also how an artex ceiling is usually dealt with.
- Something new to line
A stud wall, a boxed beam, an insulated lining or a new opening. That is dry lining, set out square and skimmed to match everything around it.
What you get either way
How the work runs
- Sheeted before anything starts
Floors, radiators and anything staying in the room, with doorways taped, because plaster dust travels further than people expect.
- Cleared down daily
Swept and cleared at the end of each day rather than at the end of the job.
- One person, start to finish
The man who priced it is the man on your walls. When you ring, that is who answers.
- A written price after a look
Not a rate over the phone, because what a wall needs is decided by what is behind it and you cannot tap a wall down a telephone.
What moves the number
What affects the price of plastering
- Surface area, not room count. Walls and ceilings are measured, not bedrooms.
- Skim or float and set. A failed background is roughly double the work of a skim.
- Ceilings. Overhead work is slower than a flat wall, and messier.
- What comes off first. Paper, coving, tile adhesive, old textured coatings.
- Access and clearing. An empty room is quicker than one worked around.
- Detailing. Reveals, arches, bulkheads, curves and any period detail to match.
No square metre price is published here, because one that ignored all of the above would be a guess with a number attached. You get a written estimate after a look at the actual job.
Frequently asked questions
Questions people ask about plastering
If the answer you want is not here, ring and ask.
Is plastering the same as skimming?
Skimming is one kind of plastering: the finish coat, over something already flat and sound. When people say "the room needs plastering" they sometimes mean a skim and sometimes mean float and set back to the brick, which is a different job at a different price. Tapping the walls at the estimate is how that gets settled.
How long does a room take?
A single room skimmed is usually a day, sometimes two with the preparation. Float and set is longer because the backing coat has to go on and firm up first. Then drying time before it can be painted, which is three to seven days as a rough guide and is judged by the colour rather than the calendar.
Do you do one wall, or only whole rooms?
One wall, one ceiling, or a whole house. A patch after a leak or a rewire is normal work, not an inconvenience, and it is worth having done properly rather than filled.
Will you take the old plaster off?
Only where it has failed. Hacking off sound plaster is work you are paying for and mess you are living with for no benefit. Where it is hollow or blown it has to come off, and you will be told which walls those are before it is priced.
Do you decorate afterwards?
No, we plaster. You get a flat surface, cleared down, and a straight answer on when it is dry enough for a mist coat so whoever is decorating is not painting wet plaster.
Get a price for plastering
Call or send a photo on WhatsApp. Free written estimate after a look at the job.
About plastering in Southport
The inside work in this town splits by the age of the house. Victorian and Edwardian terraces in Churchtown and central Southport have lime plaster on lath, cornice worth keeping and ceilings that have taken a century of movement. Inter-war semis in Birkdale and Ainsdale usually have sound walls and tired lath ceilings. Newer houses off the coast road have nothing wrong with them at all and simply want flat walls to decorate.
Those three need different answers and the same care, and the difference is invisible until somebody taps the wall and pulls a corner of the paper back.
For the outside of the house, see external rendering and silicone renderingPlastering. We work across Southport, the Sefton coast, Liverpool and West Lancashire.