How much to plaster a room in the UK

Anyone building, redecorating or renovating a property will likely need to plaster a wall at some point. It's a key part of the building and maintenance process. But for many people, figuring out how to add plastering jobs into the budget can be difficult, as there is no one size fits all answer when it comes to how much it'll cost for a professional plasterer.

What is plaster?

Put simply, plaster is a building material used for protective or decorative coatings on walls and ceilings. It can be used for moulding and casting decorative elements too.

What influences plastering cost?

No two walls are the same, so it can be hard to figure out exactly how much it'll cost to plaster a room. If you're trying to add a plastering job to your budget, here are the things that will likely impact the cost to plaster a room according to Top Notch Walls in Darlington.

Type of plastering job

There are a number of different types of plastering jobs, and each type will require different skills. As a result, each may need a different specialist, different equipment, and have different timescales. All of these will affect how much a plasterer may charge.

Size of area

The most obvious one, the size of the room you're plastering is crucial. A medium sized room is obviously going to cost more than a small room, as there is more surface area and thus more plaster needed.

Accessibility

Not all walls and ceilings are easy to get to. If you've got high ceilings or you're looking to plaster external walls rather than internal walls and the job requires ladders or scaffolding, you are likely to find that your plastering job will cost more.

Time required

For plastering jobs that take longer, either because of the state of the existing plaster, the weather, the condition of the wall, accessibility or type of plaster used, you will find that the plastering costs are higher. This is because the labour costs will need to be higher to cover the hours spent plastering the entire wall.

Condition of existing plaster

If you've got plaster on your walls already, then the state of the old plaster plays a large part in the cost you'll face to plaster a room. In some situations, where the old plaster is mostly in tact, you might opt to skim plaster a room rather than wet plastering. This will cost much less.

For plastering jobs where the old plaster needs removing, you may find that you pay more per square metre as the professional plasterer has to remove the old stuff first.

What different types of plastering jobs are there?

As mentioned above, there are different types of plastering. Each type will cost a different amount.

Wet plastering

This is the traditional method of plastering a room. Wet plastering is great for sound proofing and damp proofing. However, it has a long drying time and wet plaster is more prone to cracking than other kinds of plaster.

Dry plastering

Dry plastering is simpler and usually faster than wet plastering. It uses plasterboard nailed to a wall and covered in a layer of plaster. It's great for extra insulation and is preferred by many for its speed.

Skim plastering

Skim plastering simply involves adding another layer. The skim coat plaster creates a smooth and clean surface that is easy for paint to adhere to. It is a good way to lower the plastering cost.

Rendering

Plastering external walls is known as rendering and is often the most expensive cost to plaster since it takes numerous coats, relies on the mercy of the weather, and often needs ladders and/or scaffolding.

Average cost to plaster a room

So with all of those influences in mind, what are the average costs to plaster a room in the UK? What can you expect to pay if you wanted to plaster a room?

For a small room, on average, it will cost around £450 to £650.

A medium sized room will cost between £650 and £850 to plaster.

A large room will cost between £850 and £1500.

These prices will all be impacted by everything listed above. The cost to plaster will also be higher if you're including the ceilings or any decorative items in your plastering cost.

Can you plaster a room yourself?

In theory, you can absolutely plaster a room yourself. We covered this in more detail over on this post entitled “DIY vs professional plastering”. You can buy gypsum plaster and all the equipment, or lime plaster. You can follow instructions online to find out how exactly to do the plastering job.

It is worth noting that some plastering techniques are quit extensive, and as a result a lot of the time it makes sense to hire someone trained to do it. They will give you a fair cost to plaster per square metre. Getting a professional plasterer to do the work for you not only guarantees that you know you'll get a good job, but also that you'll have plaster that lasts.

If badly done, plaster can dry out and crack. This then ruins the smooth surface that you were going for and can ruin the paint coat on top of the plaster. It can also prevent the plaster from acting as a proper insulator.

Once you have damaged plaster, the room plastering cost will increase. Blown plaster will have to be removed and redone. Completely new plaster will need to be installed to create a flat surface, which will cost you additional money.

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