Plastering

bib_3

malteser wrote:

can anyone suggest what is a reasonable daily rate for a plasterer? I am in surrey and have been quoted £85 a day however this is for a newish plasterer who has only been doing plaster work by himself for about 5 months. he seems to do a good job but is very slow for example can do a ceiling in a day or 1 1/2 - 2 walls in a day. this is in a regular 3 bed semi with 2 double beds a box room and 2 reception rooms.

perhaps thats not considered slow but it seems it.... any advice on daily rates would be useful.

m

im a plasterer and it is hard work a good skimmer should be able to put on 100 sq meters a day this is inc ceilings £4 per meter is a fair price good to see people giving others achance his speed should pick up with confeidenceand so long as you are happy and can trust him thats al that maters

bib_3

oh yeh if under decent area £120 / £250 per day 2 men you have to remember mos6t trades go in to slow down over winter with limited work around we have to make enough to see us through

resident.deity

shiprob195 wrote:

we live in leicester and had a bedroom(12x12) skimmed recently. the ceiling was ARTEX (urgh) the walls were all uneven.it cost £250. the finish was really good all we had to do was paint the walls and ceiling.

Who was that? I've been going mad trying to find a decent plasterer in Leicester (since I erm... put my foot through the loft floor!)

busterkeye

reddyman wrote:

Imo, you wouldnt know if a pro had done it or a complete amateur had done it.

I made a few mistakes in a few places. Ie had it on too thinly in one area. When it can to smoothing it, there wasnt enough there. So had to re-do section. But you learn from your mistakes.

I would never pay someone £400 per room! Thats ridicolous! But thats just me I guess. Cos I know I can do it.

It may have taken me a while extra to do my rooms, but aleast im a lot better off financially now!

bet you can tell if a pro did it!


you wouldnt pay a tradesman who has been trained for years to acheive
a level of perfection £400 for a full room? lol unbeleivable

busterkeye

rogerjob wrote:

Just had a double bedroom skimmed (4 x walls- not ceiling). First "clown" wanted £430 (He said 2 men 12 hours to do)- We thought over the top.
Second quote £230 (1 man, l labourer 4 hours).
As a rule of thumb allow £120 per day for a trade man for 8 hours.
Get at least 2 quotes, and ask friends/ neighbours for recommenations before giving the go-a-head. (and dont pay until complete).
Nb dig out plenty of sheeting to cover up before they start- just in case!

Roger.

£230 1 man + 1 labourer 4hours? 4 HOURS TO DO 4 WALLS? if they did mine in four hours I'd be worried

Get there unload the van but the dust sheets down, PVA the walls, maybe put the angle beads on, mix it,put the stuff on, face it up,then wait to finnish it off and then tidy up ,put the things back in the van, take the sheets up and then a quick brush/tidy round IN 4 HOURS I'LL EAT MY HAT!

toffyapple

plastering properly is DIFFICULT. ceilings are a pain in the back side . £85 / day is a bargain - even for a newbie - do you care how long it takes? - if he wants the practice, that's why he's not charging much -not a problem if you dont wat it down ASAP. surrey - i did a 5 day course a few months ago and i wont a be a pro for years - not that i'm planning on doing iut full time - just as an addition to the other work i normally do - kitchens, bathrooms etc. by all means give it a go as a complete novice, but it most certainly is a skill, and in the south east, £400 for a room that size sounds about right. - it's also very mucky and hard work !

SarkyMarky

Maybe the room is only 2" square!!! :rotfl: :rotfl: we had our kitchen re skimmed 2 years ago, approx 12" x 12" +ceiling and it cost me £180 1 man plus me labouring!! and that was done on "Mates Rates", he was a friend of a friend. He did a bloody good job and was here for 13 hours with a 1/2 hour lunch break.

Could do with him again to do hall, stairs and landing, HORRID artex is driving me mad :mad: . Problem is plasterer has moved house and I don't know where. Look like having to get someone else in and paying top whack

somefriendlyuk

g33za wrote:

also if you decide to do a diy job then get the one coat plaster that wickes sell its designed specially for diy'ers. The gypsum stuff is for the professionals and as i found it dried to quick for me when I had a go.

hi -one coat is not really for skimming -one coat is a background plaster(designed to go onto bare briclk/block) that originates in germany where they don't have a finish plaster as such. Its a bit more tricky to get a good finish as well. i recommend it to sparkys for chases as they are forever not cutting back plaster to get an even finish (leaving a proud chase down the wall.

somefriendlyuk

toffyapple wrote:

plastering properly is DIFFICULT. ceilings are a pain in the back side . £85 / day is a bargain - even for a newbie - do you care how long it takes? - if he wants the practice, that's why he's not charging much -not a problem if you dont wat it down ASAP. surrey - i did a 5 day course a few months ago and i wont a be a pro for years - not that i'm planning on doing iut full time - just as an addition to the other work i normally do - kitchens, bathrooms etc. by all means give it a go as a complete novice, but it most certainly is a skill, and in the south east, £400 for a room that size sounds about right. - it's also very mucky and hard work !

How well said -i am a plasterer by trade (although i run a small building preservation business nowdays) so i would say that. i live in the north east and i would not touch it for £85 a day (daily rate is about £170-00 for a reasonably experienced lad)-remember he has costs as well. if he's a proper business -liability insurance, van insurance -book keeper accountant -no sick/holiday pay -no healthcare etc and many more. While i'm on the subject, would you complain if it was a solicitor or accountant charging them prices ?-em no i dont think so !!, but it takes years to become a plasterer-its dirty dusty and dam hard work-thats why there aren't so many of them as solicitors etc(ten a penny cause its clean and easy)-everyone wants a nice clean job -just sit me down in front of that computer and i'll have a nice cuppa with it boots up-its supply and demand !-sorry was that a rant!!

jetsy

I wouldn't dream of spending £400 for one room - Charges for plastering do vary a lot BUT it isn't that hard to get quite a reasonable finish yourself (really!!) There is a great ebook available which teaches the novice or complete beginner about technique and literally goes through step by step how to plaster your first wall. Clearly, some professional plasterers do get a perfect finish but you would be amazed at how many don't or take ages to do just one wall - why pay someone's hourly rate for being slow when you can do it yourself?

Check out the plastering book being sold on this site, it's a hell of a lot cheaper than £400 !! By the way, Thistle Multi finish plaster is for professionals but very good for the DIYer also - just get right consistency, that's the trick. Have a go, got nothing to lose and worst case is you call someone in to clean up your mess

PLASTERING BOOK LINK