Starting figures
A single ceiling re-skim starts at £200. A full room, walls and ceiling, starts at £650. Boarding and skimming is from £28 per square metre. A hall, stairs and landing redecoration starts at £1,450, and a media wall built from scratch at £2,900. Our day rate for one tradesman on site is £240.
Those are starting figures, not averages. Most jobs land near them; older and more awkward properties land above.
What pushes a price up
- Old plaster that has to come off. Stripping back to brick doubles the preparation and creates waste that has to be carried out and taken away.
- Height and access. A stairwell is three storeys of wall reached from a staircase. It takes proper access equipment and far longer per square metre than a bedroom.
- Period detail. Coving, picture rails and ceiling roses have to be cut around by hand rather than run past with a trowel.
- Damp. If the wall is wet, plastering it is the last step, not the first. The cause has to be dealt with or the new plaster fails.
- Small jobs. One patch costs more per square metre than a whole room, because setting up, mixing and cleaning down take the same time either way.
Why the cheapest quote is usually cheaper
Almost always one of three things. Preparation skipped — blown plaster skimmed over instead of taken off. One coat where there should be two. Or a subcontractor nobody has worked with before, brought in to hit a date.
None of those show on the day the invoice is paid. All three show within two years.
What should be in a written quote
The rooms and surfaces covered, what preparation is included, how many coats, who supplies materials and at what price, the start date, and what happens if something unexpected turns up behind the wall. If a quote is a single figure on a text message, you have no way to compare it with anything.
Questions we get asked about this
Do you charge for a quote?
No. The visit is free and there is nothing to sign at the end of it.
Is it cheaper to do several rooms at once?
Usually yes, per room. Setting up, protecting the house and cleaning down happen once rather than three times.
Why is a small patch so expensive per square metre?
Because the day is priced, not the area. Travel, setting up, mixing and cleaning down take the same time for one patch as for a whole wall.