Overboarding and skimming artex ceilings, very different quotes

Niy

Hi, new here and would be grateful for some advice. Got a few quotes to overboard and skim or just skim some ceilings due to artex, tested all and are without asbestos.

Is overboarding a better option than skimming only? What have you done in yours?

Anyway, another question I have is the 2 plasterers gave me very different quotes, the job is for 4 rooms - 3 x 4mx3.5m and 1 x 2.5mx2m.

Plasterer A quoted £1640 for skim on exising ceilings and £2530 for overboarding and skim (He works with 1 other person, so expect this is to pay for 2 men day's rate)

Plasterer B quoted £1100 for skim exising ceilings and £1480 for overboarding and skim (He works by himself, but surely this would take longer hence more days to pay for?)

A seems to be a little on the high side but not over the top as I got a £6.5k quote and a £3.5k quote for skimming only, B seems to be very cheap for 2023, no? Both A and B have very good CheckATrade ratings. We are in the Midlands area not far from Birmingham.

Thanks a lot

Risteard

CheckATrade isn't really a reputable means of finding people in my opinion.

Niy

As I have learnt now, I should add, I then google them independantly, but what other ways can I check? We are moving to a new area without much local knowledge. Got a few friends who have lived there for years but they have never used a plasterer before.

ThisIsWeird

One way is to ask for references, or photos of previous jobs, but that can feel awkward.

From a few threads on here, where the quality of skimming work was not as expected, one thing I would suggest is a frank discussion of what you should expect. I guess one way to do this is to show them a 'good' wall in the house, and ask if it'll be like that. Ask what - if any - further prep will be required by the P&D. That sort of stuff, so that you both know what the expectation should be.

There was a poster recently in some despair about bumps, hollows, and other bits in the skim on a recent job they'd had done, and the plasterer tried to fob it off as the P&D's job to sort such issues before painting. It isn't. It might not be completely without flaw, but it should be flat and smooth, with no holidays, requiring minimal prep before painting.

FreeBear

ThisIsWeird said: There was a poster recently in some despair about bumps, hollows, and other bits in the skim on a recent job they'd had done, and the plasterer tried to fob it off as the P&D's job to sort such issues before painting. It isn't. It might not be completely without flaw, but it should be flat and smooth, with no holidays, requiring minimal prep before painting.

I had a stairwell plastered recently. It was far from being the best of jobs (feathering in was atrocious), and I had to go over a few areas myself in an attempt to get a better finish. Decided to take a short course on plastering an the basis that I can already do a crap job, so worth getting a bit of training in order to improve.

OP - If the artex is well bonded to the ceiling and there are no cracks, I'd just skim. A crack pair could possibly do all four rooms in a couple of days.. £400-500 per day (for both men) plus materials would be the sort of ballpark figure. The solo guy would seriously struggle to do just one of the larger rooms on his own. Realistically, it is a two man job, and the £1640 quote isn't too far off if they do one room a day.

Niy

ThisIsWeird said:

One way is to ask for references, or photos of previous jobs, but that can feel awkward.

From a few threads on here, where the quality of skimming work was not as expected, one thing I would suggest is a frank discussion of what you should expect. I guess one way to do this is to show them a 'good' wall in the house, and ask if it'll be like that. Ask what - if any - further prep will be required by the P&D. That sort of stuff, so that you both know what the expectation should be.

There was a poster recently in some despair about bumps, hollows, and other bits in the skim on a recent job they'd had done, and the plasterer tried to fob it off as the P&D's job to sort such issues before painting. It isn't. It might not be completely without flaw, but it should be flat and smooth, with no holidays, requiring minimal prep before painting.

Plasterer A has a some social media posts and their work looks decent, but then the evil side of me think, would I post photos of crap jobs I have done? Same goes to when asked about references. I don't know, I guess it's one of those you don't know until after the fact sort of situations..,

in_my_wellies

Ask him the price for each room. If his work isn't good pay him for that and tell him to stop after the first room

ThisIsWeird

Niy said:

ThisIsWeird said:

One way is to ask for references, or photos of previous jobs, but that can feel awkward.

From a few threads on here, where the quality of skimming work was not as expected, one thing I would suggest is a frank discussion of what you should expect. I guess one way to do this is to show them a 'good' wall in the house, and ask if it'll be like that. Ask what - if any - further prep will be required by the P&D. That sort of stuff, so that you both know what the expectation should be.

There was a poster recently in some despair about bumps, hollows, and other bits in the skim on a recent job they'd had done, and the plasterer tried to fob it off as the P&D's job to sort such issues before painting. It isn't. It might not be completely without flaw, but it should be flat and smooth, with no holidays, requiring minimal prep before painting.

Plasterer A has a some social media posts and their work looks decent, but then the evil side of me think, would I post photos of crap jobs I have done? Same goes to when asked about references. I don't know, I guess it's one of those you don't know until after the fact sort of situations..,

There's the rub :-)

That's why I'd recommend that 'conversation'. You are a layman, and you have heard all sorts of stories from good to bad, so would like to understand just what to expect. 

Are you painting this yourself or getting someone in? I would suggest that some preparation will be required, not unlike what many walls would need before being repainted anyway. Eg, the wall will need wiping down with a damp cloth as there will be surface smears from the skim being 'polished' (trowelled smooth), and I think it'll be asking a bit much for some areas to not require a light sanding too, but this should be perfunctory; the finish should look good when done, and should have no obvious hollows, ridges or raised bumps. The light 'sanding' is more de-nibbing and keying rather than to remove actual plastering blemishes.

So chat around that. Just ask what to expect; "will it be like this?!" as you point to a finished wall or good ceiling in your house. "What prep will it need before I paint it?!" - that sort of stuff.

The guy who did the 'wet' work (founds, blockwork, floor, rendering, plastering) on our extension also did the painting. Although his work is just superb, I noticed that he did take one of these large flat sanding pads on a long pole and went over all his skimmed surfaces first - just lightly, but it also cleaned off any 'polish'. The finish is pretty perfect.

I don't think that such a sanding 'wipe-over' is unusual - I'd expect it for a finish perfectly ready for painting - but it shouldn't need sanding flat, or more that a few small holidays filled afterwards. If anything more coarse than, I dunno, 160 grit paper is required, then alarm bells! This prep will also likely be the task of the P&D, as the plasterer will likely have moved on before the skim is dry. (Actually, since you are having a few rooms done, you'll be able to study the first results, and give feedback... :-) )

Anyhoo, have that conversation, and listen carefully to what each says. It'll serve two purposes - you'll be informed, and they should know what standard you are expecting 

Le_Kirk

ThisIsWeird said:

There was a poster recently in some despair about bumps, hollows, and other bits in the skim on a recent job they'd had done, and the plasterer tried to fob it off as the P&D's job to sort such issues before painting. It isn't. It might not be completely without flaw, but it should be flat and smooth, with no holidays, requiring minimal prep before painting.

Ah go on let the plasterer have a holiday!

Niy

@ThisIsWeird Cheers, think I am gonna paint it myself, a pound saved is a pound saved, get a pole, shouldn't be too hard. It all depends on when we are getting the keys and how long can we afford to keep 2 places (the rental and the new house), might get a painter in and eat beans on toast for a while, it sort of swings and roundabouts really...

@f@FreeBear, Plasterer A said skimming would work but it might not and he won't know until they start, then if the plaster doesn't stick then it'd end up being more expensive because of the time spent on trying to skim then overboard. Plasterer B said it won't work straight up because it's polytex paint. I bought this point up with Plasterer A and he explained to me how it might or might not work. I don't know...

Am I being too idealistic to want to get all ceilings done before we move in, is it better if we just do the 2 main bedrooms to start with and see how it goes?

Niy

Sorry, @FreeBear, meant to tag you in the last post, but had a typo and can't edit... sorry.