Cost of plastering

Rejusu

Hi,
We're having three bedrooms (two doubles, one box room) replastered in our Birmingham house. It's a 1930's house and while most of the underlying plaster is fairly solid there's some bigger cracks and also some big holes where we've ripped the picture rails out, we're also having electrical work done (new sockets) so there's that to make good as well. We've had two quotes so far. The first plasterers inspected everything pretty thoroughly and went through what needed doing and what they'd do. They recommended overboarding the ceiling if we wanted a good finish as the flaking paint on the previous plaster wouldn't key very well. They also recommended we put thermal boards in our bay windows as they currently don't have any insulation in the ceilings of the bays or the bays themselves.
They said it would be 5-7 days work and quoted £2350 plus an extra £500 per bay (we have two of them) if we wanted the thermal boards put in. They also mentioned that they'd take any waste they made with them and dispose of it themselves.
The other plasterer didn't seem to pay much attention to any of the underlying cracks and holes and just measured the rooms up and counted how many beads he'd need. He didn't have any suggestions like the other plasterers did and didn't even seem to note where the ceiling definitely needs overboarding (like over the bays, as the original plasterboard has lifted up and the underlying plaster fallen off). He also didn't seem to think any of the ceilings needed overboarding and that they could just be skimmed.
He quoted us around £900 (can't remember exactly) without overboarding, and £1230 if we did want the ceilings overboarded. He didn't give a time estimate or mention whether that would include the thermal boards we asked about.

I'm just struggling to figure out why there's such a dramatic difference in price. All the things I've looked up online seem to indicate that the first quote is around what you'd pay for a plastering job like this and I'm just not sure why the second guy quoted near half the price. Are the first plasterers trying to take us for a ride? Is the second plasterer so cheap because he cuts corners and does shoddy work? Right now we have a better feeling from our interactions with the first plasterers and are leaning towards going with them. But I'm also worried that we may end up significantly overpaying. But on the other hand I'm worried that if we go with the cheap guy we'll get a cheap job. And I know you should get 3 quotes but I'm worried a third will just leave me more confused.

P.S. I know that word of mouth is the best way to find people for jobs like this, but not much good when you don't know anyone that's needed plastering done.

Risteard

This is precisely why just two quotes cannot show you which is the correct ballpark.

That said if the first quote was so much more professional than the other then I would have much more confidence in it. Just because something's cheap doesn't mean it's good. I tell people that good electrical work isn't cheap, and that cheap electrical work is always a pile of crap. Unfortunately some still decide to learn the hard way but I certainly don't negotiate on price. I would suggest that good plastering won't be cheap either.

tacpot12

The first, more expensive quote, looks quite cheap for five days work + materials. I always assume that a tradesman says 5-7 days, they will be done in 5 days if they can be, because it makes sense to move onto the next job asap. Five days for two workers means you are paying about a lot less than £30/hr which is about the minimum you can earn and stay in business. 

The second quote is from someone who is not as careful about how they run their business, and so I would be wary of them. They might just work very cheap, but this is not good from your point of view - you want them to expect that they will be in business in two or three years time and so want their reputation to be solid. They should be charging more if they are any good. 

FreeBear

Insulating the bay is a job well worth doing - Did mine when I took the ceiling down (a real messy job). Over boarding the ceilings will stop any cracks showing through, but you do have to make sure the screws go in to the joists and not just the laths - Not easy to do.

I would also recommend using plastic corner beads rather than zinc coated steel - The latter can rust which will bleed through the plaster and stain it. In a bathroom or kitchen, there is higher levels of moisture, and steel beads will eventually rust. Might take 20 years..

Plastering, I usually budget £150-200 per man per day plus materials - Your first quote would be in that ballpark.

Doozergirl

£900 is insanely low.  If I had brand new plasterboard walls, I'd be surprised by it.  He needs kicking into touch.  

I think I'd also have that electrical work done before assuming the extent of the job.   Old plaster doesn't like to hang on the walls once it's seriously disturbed.