Cost of plastering ceilings only

Lb3416

Hi

This is my first post here so hope someone can help me

We're in the process of purchasing a new 3 bedroom house, which needs a considerable amount of work including an extension, and we're just trying to get an idea of how much everything is going to cost in advance.

Unfortunately all the ceilings have 70's style artex (although house only built - 1991!!) so we'd like to get them all replastered before we move in, but from the guide prices I've seen online it seems we can expect to pay up to £700 per room, which is a pretty scary thought with all the other costs we've got looming!

Can anyone advise if this is about the right price, and if not what I could expect to pay? We're in West Sussex if that helps at all.

Thank you. :j

pinkshoes

We paid £400 for a small double bedroom in Oxfordshire.

It depends on the state of the ceiling. Our lounge and kitchen both need plastering as they currently have artex with holes in. As the artex might contain asbestos, it would be easier for us to overboard (which we would do ourselves) then get it plastered.

Not all artex can be easily plastered over.

Also, not all plasterers are good at it!! Get one who comes with genuine references!!

EmmyLou30

We paid under £2k (in 2014) for a 4 bed 1990’s house. Scraped off the knobbled bits, skimmed over the top in all the rooms. We did let him have free rein on an empty house though so he could come and go and fit us in around other jobs so he gave us a good price as he did our house on his down time between other work nearby.

The bigger the job the cheaper it’ll be as there waiting time to let the bonding stuff dry before the skim. So if you just get one ceiling done it’s very pricey. But if you’re having the whole house done it’ll be cost effective.

FreeBear

EmmyLou30 wrote: »

The bigger the job the cheaper it’ll be as there waiting time to let the bonding stuff dry before the skim. So if you just get one ceiling done it’s very pricey. But if you’re having the whole house done it’ll be cost effective.

I would expect to pay a team of two something in the region of £400-500 per day. In this time, they should be able skim two or three rooms quite comfortably. Material costs would be minimal.

Lb3416

Thank you for all your responses, that makes me feel a little better!

ceredigion

FreeBear wrote: »

I would expect to pay a team of two something in the region of £400-500 per day. In this time, they should be able skim two or three rooms quite comfortably. Material costs would be minimal.

New build sit work maybe.
But over setting in a domestic, no hope.

benjus

We're paying around £200 per room in SE London to have the ceilings skimmed. We had the main bedroom done a couple of years ago, getting the same guy back to do the living room later this week. It's a flat in an old Edwardian building that was completely refurbished in the 1990s, so I guess the ceilings date from then.

cybervic

£700 per room probably includes walls not jus the ceiling.
I'm in East Sussex coast, most plasterers charges £200-£250 per day per person plus materials, I got to know a painter/decorator that also does plastering and only charge £160 per day for plastering (soletrader, no Vat too). Your plaster should tell you how long it will take for each room/wall/ceiling, thus giving a quote for overall working time.

If you have a big room with huge ceiling then they have to get a 2nd person in so the plaster can be coated in one go before it's set.

For long lasting finishes (ie, no crack or bulge area in future), make sure your ceiling is cleaned and free of dusts before plastering, and use zombie mix as 1st coat plaster to help it stick better.

If you want to save some money, you can scrape off the artex yourself, either use elbow grease, or X-Tex artex removal. If you are lucky you might find the surface to be pretty smooth underneath the artex and no need for plastering.

ceredigion

cybervic wrote: »

£700 per room probably includes walls not jus the ceiling.
I'm in east sussex coast, most plasterers charges £200-£250 per day per person plus materials, i got to know a painter/decorator that also does plastering and only charge £160 per day for plastering (soletrader, no vat too). Your plaster should tell you how long it will take for each room/wall/ceiling, thus giving a quote for overall working time.

If you have a big room with huge ceiling then they have to get a 2nd person in so the plaster can be coated in one go before it's set.
how big is "huge" and needs 2 men ?

for long lasting finishes (ie, no crack or bulge area in future), make sure your ceiling is cleaned and free of dusts before plastering, and use zombie mix as 1st coat plaster to help it stick better.
what is a "zombie mix"

if you want to save some money, you can scrape off the artex yourself, either use elbow grease, or x-tex artex removal. If you are lucky you might find the surface to be pretty smooth underneath the artex and no need for plastering.

…………...…...

PasturesNew

Lb3416 wrote: »

....although house only built - 1991!!....

We still liked artex in the 1990s you know

It'd tamed down a lot by then - and was usually just a plain ripple of knobbles with a 1/2" straight strip round the edges.

cybervic

ceredigion wrote: »

how big is "huge" and needs 2 men ?

what is a "zombie mix"

One of my ceiling is 6.5m x5m and my plasterer told me he can't do it in one go without a helper. If I don't want to pay for 2nd person, then I'd have to accept there'll be a break line in the ceiling.

Zombie mix also called magic mix, it's basically a mixture of bonding and multi so that skim coat can stick to artex better, less change of bubbles and cracks. Ratio is usually 2 buckets bondings to 1 bag of multi but if the artex is heavy then it can go up to 4 or 5 buckets of bonding to 1 bag of multi.