How much for plastering 3 bed bungalow?

MartaUK

Hello,

I'm looking to have my bungalow replastered or re-skimmed. It is 3 bed, 1 living, kitchen, bathroom and hallway to do, at some areas there is no plaster on the wall at all, just bare bricks, while in the bedrooms the plaster is attached to the walls, just has minor cracks. But we will be changing all electrics soon, so there will be damage to plaster in each room. How much should it cost to re-plaster the whole house? And how long would it take? In Homes under the Hammer they almost always 'take it to the bare brick and replaster', even if the walls look okayish. Just wondering if it is worth the hassle? We live in West Midlands.

Thanks in advance for any advice

FreeBear

MartaUK said: In Homes under the Hammer they almost always 'take it to the bare brick and replaster', even if the walls look okayish. Just wondering if it is worth the hassle? We live in West Midlands.

Most of those Homes under the Hammer are quick bodge jobs where the trades are "mates" and work at reduced rates. Just don't use those programmes for "best practice" if it is your own home.

If you are stripping back to bare brick on the external walls, Building Regulations kick in once you've stripped more than 25% in each room (the same goes for the ceilings & floors). The regs require you to make thermal improvements where practical - This means insulating the walls (and ceilings/floors) - There are a number of ways of doing this ranging from sticking up insulated plasterboard (with extra mechanical fixings) to building studwork & filling the gaps with insulation. The precise method will be determined by the house construction (solid brick walls need breathable insulation/plaster to avoid problems with damp).

For a simple skim, budget £400-500 per room, and you shouldn't be too far off the mark. Sticking plasterboard to a bare brick wall, I'd suggest budgeting another £400-500 depending on the size of the area that needs doing. But a word of caution - Dot'n'dab fixing for the plasterboard isn't always the best way of doing it. If you have cold draughts coming up through the gap between brick & plasterboard, the wall will feel cold and subject to condensation, The blobs of adhesive may well show through after time as slight discolouration of the painted wall. trouble is, there are few plasterers left willing to do a three coat job (base coat, followed by two skim coats) due to the time & skill involved - Most clients don't want to pay for the extra labour either.

As you are doing electrics, you want that done to "first fix", then have the plasterer(s) in to skim before the electricians come back to finish of fitting switches, sockets, and light fittings. But if you are having the walls insulated, the two trades need to coordinate activities - That said, you don't need an electrician to fit back boxes & conduit on the walls that are being insulated (any half decent tradesman can do that).

Oh, and if you've never had plastering done, I'll warn you that it is a very messy job. Blobs of plaster will end up in all sorts of places you wouldn't expect, and the floor will get covered. And don't let them wash their tools & buckets out in a sink - Your drains WILL get blocked !

MartaUK

@FreeBear, thank you so much for all this valuable advice! Yes, Homes under the Hammer budgets are so unrealistic. I have free labour (husband and me), but even buying tiles etc of decent quality comes to much more than any of those budgets they have on telly. Not to mention my timescales are also much longer

I hope that 75% of plaster stays on the walls once I remove the wallpaper. Anyway, we've insulated the whole house on the outside, building regs approved, so I hope no more thermal improvements would be needed on the inside.

Thanks again and best wishes