Plastering Costs and Types, Compared

The five methods you will be quoted for

Almost all domestic plastering falls into one of five categories, and each answers a different condition of wall.

Skim coat: a two to three millimetre finish over sound existing plaster or new boards · Float and set: a backing coat plus a skim, used on bare masonry · Dry lining: plasterboard fixed to dabs or battens, then taped or skimmed · Lime plaster: breathable, used on solid-wall and period properties · Venetian and polished finishes: decorative, specialist, priced by the day

Indicative UK plastering rates

Rates below reflect typical South East pricing in 2026 for a competent, insured plasterer including materials, and assume reasonable access and a clear room.

Indicative plastering rates, South East England (2026). Work | Indicative range | Typical duration. Skim one average ceiling — £200 – £350 — Half a day; Skim an average room (walls and ceiling) — £500 – £900 — 1 – 2 days; Float and set an average room — £900 – £1,600 — 2 – 4 days; Dry line and skim an average room — £900 – £1,700 — 2 – 3 days; Lime plaster, per m² — £70 – £120 — Multiple coats, weeks of curing; Plaster a three-bed house throughout — £4,500 – £9,000 — 2 – 4 weeks; Patch repair — £150 – £400 — Half a day Ranges exclude removal of old plaster, waste disposal, scaffolding and decoration.

Does the old plaster need to come off?

Tap the wall with your knuckles. A solid, dull sound means the plaster is bonded and can usually be skimmed. A hollow, drummy sound means it has separated from the masonry, and skimming over it simply buys a smooth surface that will crack and blow again within a year or two.

Blown plaster comes off, back to sound background, and gets floated and set. That is the honest answer, it costs more, and it is the difference between a repair and a deferral.

Older houses and the lime question

Solid-wall properties built before roughly 1919 were designed to breathe. Moisture enters, moves through the fabric and evaporates. Sealing those walls with dense gypsum plaster and modern paint traps that moisture, and it emerges as damp patches, salting and perished skirtings.

On these buildings lime plaster is not nostalgia, it is building physics. It is slower and dearer, it must be applied in coats with curing time between them, and it must be finished with a breathable paint. Skipping the last step undoes the whole exercise.

Drying, decorating and the mistake everyone makes

Fresh gypsum plaster needs to dry before paint goes anywhere near it, typically four to seven days for a skim and up to two weeks or more for a float and set in cold weather. It is dry when the dark patches have gone and the whole surface is a uniform pale pink.

The first coat should be a watered-down mist coat of contract emulsion, roughly three parts paint to one part water. Applying vinyl silk straight onto new plaster seals the surface, and the paint peels off in sheets.

How to compare plastering quotes fairly

Ask each plasterer to state whether they are skimming or floating, whether existing plaster is being removed, who is taking the waste away, and whether the price includes making good around sockets, skirtings and reveals. Those four questions explain the majority of the spread between quotes.

Preparing the room, and what you are expected to do

Plastering is a wet, messy trade and preparation affects both the price and the finish. A plasterer arriving to a room full of furniture will either lose half a day moving it or work around it, and neither produces a good result.

Clear the room entirely where you can, lift carpets, and agree in advance who is removing radiators, sockets and skirting boards. Many plasterers will skim up to a radiator, but a wall skimmed behind a removed radiator is the only way to avoid a visible line later.

Access matters too. High ceilings, stairwells and landings need towers or hop-ups rather than a stepladder, and a stairwell skim is frequently priced as a separate item because of the time spent setting up safely.

Frequently asked questions

Can you plaster over artex?

Often yes, if it is a shallow pattern and sound: it is sealed with a bonding agent and skimmed. Deep patterns are scraped back first, and any artex predating the 2000s should be tested for asbestos before it is disturbed.

How long before I can paint new plaster?

Four to seven days for a skim, longer for backing coats or in winter. Wait for a uniform pale colour with no dark patches, then apply a diluted mist coat first.

Is dry lining worse than wet plaster?

No, just different. Dry lining is faster, drier and better for insulation upgrades. Wet plaster gives a denser, more solid wall and better sound performance. Both are correct in the right place.

Why is one quote half the price of another?

Almost always because one is a skim and the other is a re-plaster, or because one excludes stripping out and disposal. Compare the scope, not the total.