New kitchen ceiling (Plasterboard) - Cost?

edmund_blackadder

Hi,

Unfortunately over the weekend we had an 'incident' where the bath water poured through the floorboards and through the kitchen ceiling. This resulted in a large section of it to eventually fall down!

This means I am going to need to get it completely replaced.

Any ideas how much this is likely to cost to get someone to do this for me? I don't want anything fancy, just plasterboard and it to be plastered.

I'm trying to weigh up whether to pay for it myself or claim on the house insurance (but pay the excess and lose the no claims bonus). It will also help when I am getting quotes so I'll know if the quotes are fair or not.

The ceiling measures 254cm x 400cm.

Thanks

keystone

Quotes will be given when the guy making the quote has seen the job. Noone on here can see it but I guess you are talking around £500 - £600 but thats my opinion based on the data you have given, Others will have different opinions.

Get 3 quotes by peeps who have seen it and then you can compare.

How much is your excess?

Cheers

edmund_blackadder

Thanks for the reply. My excess is £200.

ormus

20 quids worth of PB.

edmund_blackadder

Thanks Ormus ... but I'm not looking to do it myself (as I'll only mess it up).

So is £500-600 about average for a ceiling of that size then?

hwalkerh

We paid £400 for the walls and ceiling to be plasterboard and plastered in our kitchen which is 3.5 by 2m.

Paid £600 for walls and ceiling plasterboarded and plastered in dining room which is 3.5 by 3.5m

I would say it is a days work, they can screw it to the existing boarding, much less messy then taking it down.

considered that your insurance will be higher for a couple of years too.

latecomer

But also remember that claiming on your insurance costs more than just the excess, you also have increased premiums in the following years to factor in.

We just bought plasterboard a couple of weeks ago and its about £4 per 2.4x1.2m sheet for 12.5mm. 9.5mm which is better suited to ceilings as its lighter and hence easier to get up there was slightly more expensive. We get a good price due to the amount of materials we were buying (~£350 in total). Plaster is also cheap so the majority of any quote should be labour and it shouldn't take more than a day to do a ceiling unless its a huge room.

27col

I am having trouble getting my mind round the concept of whether a quote is "fair". The fairness or otherwise of a quote is irrelevant. Whether it is reasonable is quite another thing. The reasonableness of a quote can easily be determined by comparing it with other quotes for the same job.
As far as claiming on the insurance, if it were me, I would not bother. As latecomer says, you will end up paying for the whole job yourself, one way or the other. My idea of insurance cover is to guard against a really serious occurrence such as flood or fire, not for them to pick up the tab for every little misfortune. In any event I would be replacing the ceiling myself.

edmund_blackadder

Thanks for the replies. It has been most helpful.

27col wrote: »

I am having trouble getting my mind round the concept of whether a quote is "fair". The fairness or otherwise of a quote is irrelevant. Whether it is reasonable is quite another thing. The reasonableness of a quote can easily be determined by comparing it with other quotes for the same job.
As far as claiming on the insurance, if it were me, I would not bother. As latecomer says, you will end up paying for the whole job yourself, one way or the other. My idea of insurance cover is to guard against a really serious occurrence such as flood or fire, not for them to pick up the tab for every little misfortune. In any event I would be replacing the ceiling myself.

Really? There is an established board on here that uses exactly that terminology (Is this Quote Fair?) so am surprised that anyone would have trouble with the concept. Apologies for any misunderstanding you may have experienced. :A

tradesman_2

latecomer wrote: »

But also remember that claiming on your insurance costs more than just the excess, you also have increased premiums in the following years to factor in.

We just bought plasterboard a couple of weeks ago and its about £4 per 2.4x1.2m sheet for 12.5mm. 9.5mm which is better suited to ceilings as its lighter and hence easier to get up there was slightly more expensive. We get a good price due to the amount of materials we were buying (~£350 in total). Plaster is also cheap so the majority of any quote should be labour and it shouldn't take more than a day to do a ceiling unless its a huge room.

It's 'moneysaving' advice like this that really bothers me... " 9.5mm which is better suited to ceilings as its lighter". They don't make different thinknesses of plasterboard for fun...it's the minor detail of "FIRE REGULATIONS" :mad:. Go ahead and save 25p or whatever it is, I won't be. Most people I trust would recommend up to 25mm of board. Please people, for your own safety, if you need advice ask a competent tradesperson, not a clueless stranger.

And on the example quotes and prices people have paid in this thread, outrageous. Plasterers should be £120-140 a day, they're no more skilled than a carpenter and don't need the special qualifications of a sparky or gas fitter. And of course they do a ceiling in an hour, or a room in a day.. if you don't plaster quickly the plaster goes off..the only difference between a fast plasterer and a slow one is the length of their tea breaks or the amount of dawdling around between mixups.

dave82_2

Our plasterer boarded our kitchen ceiling 3m*2m for £100. It took him ages too as the beams are not evenly spaced! Old house! We got the whole room leveled with undercoat plaster and skimmed so I dont know how much the skimming of the ceiling was. But everything was £500 other rooms that didn't need leveled were much cheeper.