Replaster House Cost Example

bloke91

Hi all,

I need to do up a Victorian 1930’s 3 bedroom terrace property based in the midlands that has chip wall paper everywhere.   Not sure of the plaster type but it’s defiantly not plaster boarded.

I suspect upon removal of the chip wallpaper the walls will require a re-skim at the very least. There is also a couple of areas where the plaster is damaged and loose and will need replacing.

Wondered if anyone had any example quotes\cost indications to re-plaster the entire house? 

Someone mentioned it could be worth going back to brick and plaster boarding it rather than just patching and skimming.

Not sure of the benefit of doing so other than opportunity to fit plasterboard or maybe it’s better from an insulation perspective? Suspect this would increase the price dramatically, possible double it?

Thanks in advance for any thoughts and indicative example prices.

FreeBear

bloke91 said: I need to do up a Victorian 1930’s 3 bedroom terrace property based in the midlands that has chip wall paper everywhere.   Not sure of the plaster type but it’s defiantly not plaster boarded.

I suspect upon removal of the chip wallpaper the walls will require a re-skim at the very least. There is also a couple of areas where the plaster is damaged and loose and will need replacing.

... 

Not sure of the benefit of doing so other than opportunity to fit plasterboard or maybe it’s better from an insulation perspective? Suspect this would increase the price dramatically, possible double it?

Victorian era was from 1837 to 1901. A 1930s house is typically described as "inter-war" (most likely in line with the Tudor Report). If it hasn't been messed with, the walls will be lime plaster, and the ceilings lath & lime plaster. If you are thinking of stripping the walls & ceilings, be warned, it is a very, very messy and dusty job. Full CSI kit, goggles, and a decent dust mask are in order. You may well find the plaster is full of cracks behind the woodchip.

If you remove the plaster back to brick, Building Regulations kick in - This requires you to insulate where practical to achieve minimum u-values. For walls, this typically means adding 60-70mm of Celotex/Kingspan boards. Ceilings should be insulated in the loft with 270-300mm of fibreglass.

Once the walls have been insulated, fix plasterboard, skim, and enjoy nice smooth walls - Cost - Depends on how much of the work you are prepared to do yourself. £1500 would probably cover materials, and getting a plasterer in to do the final skim, maybe £3-4K. If you are paying someone to do the whole lot, £10-15K is the oft quoted figure for internal wall insulation.

stuart45

You could use taper edged boards and tape and fill the joints yourself and save paying out for a skim.

bloke91

FreeBear said:

bloke91 said: I need to do up a Victorian 1930’s 3 bedroom terrace property based in the midlands that has chip wall paper everywhere.   Not sure of the plaster type but it’s defiantly not plaster boarded.

I suspect upon removal of the chip wallpaper the walls will require a re-skim at the very least. There is also a couple of areas where the plaster is damaged and loose and will need replacing.

... 

Not sure of the benefit of doing so other than opportunity to fit plasterboard or maybe it’s better from an insulation perspective? Suspect this would increase the price dramatically, possible double it?

Victorian era was from 1837 to 1901. A 1930s house is typically described as "inter-war" (most likely in line with the Tudor Report). If it hasn't been messed with, the walls will be lime plaster, and the ceilings lath & lime plaster. If you are thinking of stripping the walls & ceilings, be warned, it is a very, very messy and dusty job. Full CSI kit, goggles, and a decent dust mask are in order. You may well find the plaster is full of cracks behind the woodchip.

If you remove the plaster back to brick, Building Regulations kick in - This requires you to insulate where practical to achieve minimum u-values. For walls, this typically means adding 60-70mm of Celotex/Kingspan boards. Ceilings should be insulated in the loft with 270-300mm of fibreglass.

Once the walls have been insulated, fix plasterboard, skim, and enjoy nice smooth walls - Cost - Depends on how much of the work you are prepared to do yourself. £1500 would probably cover materials, and getting a plasterer in to do the final skim, maybe £3-4K. If you are paying someone to do the whole lot, £10-15K is the oft quoted figure for internal wall insulation.

I didn't realise if went back to brick building regulations would force the requirement of installing additional insulation boards before plaster boarding. That's worth knowing.

Presume I wouldn't have to go back to the brick though, could repair the plaster and skim to keep costs down? e.g I would need to hire Trades people to do the work.

The woodchip wall paper has likely been on the walls for 20 or more years. From one perspective I want to and feel the need to strip to do whatever is needed to the plaster underneath for the walls to be painted and modernised etc. Other lazier part of me feels leave it alone but really that isn't an option I guess.

stuart45

You can't really know for sure until it's stripped. Do any parts of the wall sound hollow? Sometimes it's better to take the lot off, than just skimming.

FreeBear

bloke91 said:

FreeBear said:

bloke91 said: I need to do up a Victorian 1930’s 3 bedroom terrace property based in the midlands that has chip wall paper everywhere.   Not sure of the plaster type but it’s defiantly not plaster boarded.

I suspect upon removal of the chip wallpaper the walls will require a re-skim at the very least. There is also a couple of areas where the plaster is damaged and loose and will need replacing.

... 

Not sure of the benefit of doing so other than opportunity to fit plasterboard or maybe it’s better from an insulation perspective? Suspect this would increase the price dramatically, possible double it?

Victorian era was from 1837 to 1901. A 1930s house is typically described as "inter-war" (most likely in line with the Tudor Report). If it hasn't been messed with, the walls will be lime plaster, and the ceilings lath & lime plaster. If you are thinking of stripping the walls & ceilings, be warned, it is a very, very messy and dusty job. Full CSI kit, goggles, and a decent dust mask are in order. You may well find the plaster is full of cracks behind the woodchip.

If you remove the plaster back to brick, Building Regulations kick in - This requires you to insulate where practical to achieve minimum u-values. For walls, this typically means adding 60-70mm of Celotex/Kingspan boards. Ceilings should be insulated in the loft with 270-300mm of fibreglass.

Once the walls have been insulated, fix plasterboard, skim, and enjoy nice smooth walls - Cost - Depends on how much of the work you are prepared to do yourself. £1500 would probably cover materials, and getting a plasterer in to do the final skim, maybe £3-4K. If you are paying someone to do the whole lot, £10-15K is the oft quoted figure for internal wall insulation.

I didn't realise if went back to brick building regulations would force the requirement of installing additional insulation boards before plaster boarding. That's worth knowing.

Building Regulations covers all buildings regardless of the materials used. Stone, brick, steel, concrete, they are all the same in the eyes of the law.

As for renovations, you might want to have a quick read of this - https://www.planningportal.co.uk/permission/common-projects/external-walls/building-regulations then look up Part L1b of the regs - Section 5 is the part you want..

Requirements for the renovation or replacement of thermal
elements – Regulation 23
(1) Where the renovation of an individual thermal element—
(a) constitutes a major renovation; or
(b) amounts to the renovation of more than 50% of the
element’s surface area;
the renovation must be carried out so as to ensure that
the whole of the element complies with paragraph L1(a)(i) of
Schedule 1, in so far as that is technically, functionally and
economically feasible.

Note - The 25% & 50% rules apply on a room by room basis when the work is being carried out internally. For a long while, I had been thinking "one (external) wall of this room is less than 25% of the building"... I was wrong.

Note 2 - Just because a document says that Building Regulations apply, it does not mean you have to involve Building Control. Not having BC involvement and the subsequent sign-off paperwork may make things difficult when you come to sell. It also leaves you open to a prosecution for two years after completion - Highly unlikely this will happen...

Note 3 - If you are planning any structural alterations internally (knocking down walls, removing a chimney breast,  etc), you really do need to involve BC from the outset. They will ensure that the work meets a minimum standard for safety and the place isn't going to collapse around you.

Gavin83

FreeBear said:

bloke91 said:

FreeBear said:

bloke91 said: I need to do up a Victorian 1930’s 3 bedroom terrace property based in the midlands that has chip wall paper everywhere.   Not sure of the plaster type but it’s defiantly not plaster boarded.

I suspect upon removal of the chip wallpaper the walls will require a re-skim at the very least. There is also a couple of areas where the plaster is damaged and loose and will need replacing.

... 

Not sure of the benefit of doing so other than opportunity to fit plasterboard or maybe it’s better from an insulation perspective? Suspect this would increase the price dramatically, possible double it?

Victorian era was from 1837 to 1901. A 1930s house is typically described as "inter-war" (most likely in line with the Tudor Report). If it hasn't been messed with, the walls will be lime plaster, and the ceilings lath & lime plaster. If you are thinking of stripping the walls & ceilings, be warned, it is a very, very messy and dusty job. Full CSI kit, goggles, and a decent dust mask are in order. You may well find the plaster is full of cracks behind the woodchip.

If you remove the plaster back to brick, Building Regulations kick in - This requires you to insulate where practical to achieve minimum u-values. For walls, this typically means adding 60-70mm of Celotex/Kingspan boards. Ceilings should be insulated in the loft with 270-300mm of fibreglass.

Once the walls have been insulated, fix plasterboard, skim, and enjoy nice smooth walls - Cost - Depends on how much of the work you are prepared to do yourself. £1500 would probably cover materials, and getting a plasterer in to do the final skim, maybe £3-4K. If you are paying someone to do the whole lot, £10-15K is the oft quoted figure for internal wall insulation.

I didn't realise if went back to brick building regulations would force the requirement of installing additional insulation boards before plaster boarding. That's worth knowing.

Building Regulations covers all buildings regardless of the materials used. Stone, brick, steel, concrete, they are all the same in the eyes of the law.

As for renovations, you might want to have a quick read of this - https://www.planningportal.co.uk/permission/common-projects/external-walls/building-regulations then look up Part L1b of the regs - Section 5 is the part you want..

Requirements for the renovation or replacement of thermal
elements – Regulation 23
(1) Where the renovation of an individual thermal element—
(a) constitutes a major renovation; or
(b) amounts to the renovation of more than 50% of the
element’s surface area;
the renovation must be carried out so as to ensure that
the whole of the element complies with paragraph L1(a)(i) of
Schedule 1, in so far as that is technically, functionally and
economically feasible.

Note - The 25% & 50% rules apply on a room by room basis when the work is being carried out internally. For a long while, I had been thinking "one (external) wall of this room is less than 25% of the building"... I was wrong.

Note 2 - Just because a document says that Building Regulations apply, it does not mean you have to involve Building Control. Not having BC involvement and the subsequent sign-off paperwork may make things difficult when you come to sell. It also leaves you open to a prosecution for two years after completion - Highly unlikely this will happen...

Note 3 - If you are planning any structural alterations internally (knocking down walls, removing a chimney breast,  etc), you really do need to involve BC from the outset. They will ensure that the work meets a minimum standard for safety and the place isn't going to collapse around you.

What qualifies as a major renovation? Judging by some of the responses on this thread I assume skimming over the top of existing plaster does not while taking it back to brick does?

Playing devil’s advocate here how would anyone ever know? Knocking down a wall is a pretty obvious modification but I fail to see how anyone, whether it was a future buyer or building control would know if you merely skimmed a wall or took it back to brick, or indeed whether you only did 25% of the room at a time.

I’m not being awkward here and I’m genuinely curious. Just strikes me that some modifications are easier to spot than others.

stuart45

The person carrying out the work e.g. The builder, can be prosecuted up to 2 years later, so if you're doing loads of different jobs all over the town without regs the chances of you getting pulled are greater than a home owner who hacks off their plaster back to brick.

FreeBear

Gavin83 said:

FreeBear said:

bloke91 said:

FreeBear said:

bloke91 said: I need to do up a Victorian 1930’s 3 bedroom terrace property based in the midlands that has chip wall paper everywhere.   Not sure of the plaster type but it’s defiantly not plaster boarded.

I suspect upon removal of the chip wallpaper the walls will require a re-skim at the very least. There is also a couple of areas where the plaster is damaged and loose and will need replacing.

... 

Not sure of the benefit of doing so other than opportunity to fit plasterboard or maybe it’s better from an insulation perspective? Suspect this would increase the price dramatically, possible double it?

Victorian era was from 1837 to 1901. A 1930s house is typically described as "inter-war" (most likely in line with the Tudor Report). If it hasn't been messed with, the walls will be lime plaster, and the ceilings lath & lime plaster. If you are thinking of stripping the walls & ceilings, be warned, it is a very, very messy and dusty job. Full CSI kit, goggles, and a decent dust mask are in order. You may well find the plaster is full of cracks behind the woodchip.

If you remove the plaster back to brick, Building Regulations kick in - This requires you to insulate where practical to achieve minimum u-values. For walls, this typically means adding 60-70mm of Celotex/Kingspan boards. Ceilings should be insulated in the loft with 270-300mm of fibreglass.

Once the walls have been insulated, fix plasterboard, skim, and enjoy nice smooth walls - Cost - Depends on how much of the work you are prepared to do yourself. £1500 would probably cover materials, and getting a plasterer in to do the final skim, maybe £3-4K. If you are paying someone to do the whole lot, £10-15K is the oft quoted figure for internal wall insulation.

I didn't realise if went back to brick building regulations would force the requirement of installing additional insulation boards before plaster boarding. That's worth knowing.

Building Regulations covers all buildings regardless of the materials used. Stone, brick, steel, concrete, they are all the same in the eyes of the law.

As for renovations, you might want to have a quick read of this - https://www.planningportal.co.uk/permission/common-projects/external-walls/building-regulations then look up Part L1b of the regs - Section 5 is the part you want..

Requirements for the renovation or replacement of thermal
elements – Regulation 23
(1) Where the renovation of an individual thermal element—
(a) constitutes a major renovation; or
(b) amounts to the renovation of more than 50% of the
element’s surface area;
the renovation must be carried out so as to ensure that
the whole of the element complies with paragraph L1(a)(i) of
Schedule 1, in so far as that is technically, functionally and
economically feasible.

Note - The 25% & 50% rules apply on a room by room basis when the work is being carried out internally. For a long while, I had been thinking "one (external) wall of this room is less than 25% of the building"... I was wrong.

Note 2 - Just because a document says that Building Regulations apply, it does not mean you have to involve Building Control. Not having BC involvement and the subsequent sign-off paperwork may make things difficult when you come to sell. It also leaves you open to a prosecution for two years after completion - Highly unlikely this will happen...

Note 3 - If you are planning any structural alterations internally (knocking down walls, removing a chimney breast,  etc), you really do need to involve BC from the outset. They will ensure that the work meets a minimum standard for safety and the place isn't going to collapse around you.

What qualifies as a major renovation? Judging by some of the responses on this thread I assume skimming over the top of existing plaster does not while taking it back to brick does?

Playing devil’s advocate here how would anyone ever know? Knocking down a wall is a pretty obvious modification but I fail to see how anyone, whether it was a future buyer or building control would know if you merely skimmed a wall or took it back to brick, or indeed whether you only did 25% of the room at a time.

I’m not being awkward here and I’m genuinely curious. Just strikes me that some modifications are easier to spot than others.

A skim of plaster is not really much different to a (really) thick coat of paint - Highly unlikely that BC would see it any more than a refurbishment. And you are right, no one would really know that a wall had been stripped back to brick & replastered without doing some invasive testing. Although, if you added insulation, the extra depth of window/door reveals would give the game away.

Wkmg

If you’re replastering have a think about whether it’s time to rewire? You don’t want to ruin you plaster 5 years down the line when you realise you need a few more sockets and aerial points. 

Wkmg

If you’re replastering have a think about whether it’s time to rewire? You don’t want to ruin you plaster 5 years down the line when you realise you need a few more sockets and aerial points.