Costs & Guides

Want to know how much it costs to plaster a room?

This plastering guide contains all you need to know about how much it costs to plaster or skim a ceiling, render a wall, or even an entire room, including labour and materials.

Continue reading to learn more!

How Much Does Plastering Cost?

Are you wanting to have plaster a room or a ceiling?

Or would you like to know the cost of having the plaster repaired?

Plastering rooms in your home is a very important component of guaranteeing proper care and attention to both structure and decoration.

Our guide to plastering prices will cover a wide range of issues, including a breakdown of the supply and labour costs of having new plastering installed.

But how do you calculate plasterer prices?

In terms of manpower expenses, we will look at the typical price to skim a room, the cost to plaster a wall, and the cost to skim a ceiling among other plastering chores.

A competent plasterer should have no issue pricing up choices for you, as there are a great variety of types of projects they can undertake for you.

What about plasterboard or drywall costs and other plastering supplies?

We will look at the supply costs for various types of plaster and look at other topics such as the plaster skim price and how much it might be to have the plaster removed.

This article will prove helpful whether you plan to have new plastering built or if you would just like to enhance your understanding of the subject.

Check out this page if you’re wondering what can you plaster over.

What you may expect from this guide…

For this section, we will discuss the cost of having plastering installed, including both the labour/installation expenses and supply costs.

We will look at this pricing in terms of the average, and estimated expenses, and on the basis of different sorts of plastering jobs such as single wall plastering and ceiling plastering.

How much you will need to spend in practice will also rely on aspects such as where in the UK you reside and how huge the area is that has to be plastered.

Prices for Plastering

A single wall will probably cost between £150 and £250 to plaster. The price to plaster a room may wind up in the cost range of £300 to £900.

If you desire to have merely a ceiling plastered, you can estimate the plaster cost to wind up at between £280 to £440 for a medium-sized ceiling.

Job Description	Average Cost
Plastering Single Wall	£150-£250
Plastering Whole Room	£300-£900
Plastering Ceiling	£280-£440

What are the Supply Costs of Plastering?

The subject of this part is specifically the supply costs of plastering as if you were to purchase directly from the merchant.

These costs exclude any labour/installation fees. In terms of the average cost of plasterboard per meter squared, acoustic plasterboards will be around £5 to £15, moisture-resistant plasterboards will be approximately £5 to £10, and insulated plasterboard will cost around £5 to £15.

In comparison, fire-resistant plasterboards tend to have a plaster cost per m2 of roughly £5 to £20.

Undercoat plaster will likely cost approximately £0.70 to £1.20 per kg, finishing plaster will end up at about £0.20 to £0.90 per kg, and the cost will be roughly £15 to £25 for 5 liters of bonding chemicals.

You may anticipate paying per kilogram anything from £0.50 to £3 for hard wall plaster, £0.90 to £3 for one coat plaster, £0.40 to 1.60 for browning plaster, £1 to £2 for textured plaster and roughly £1.40 to £4.20 for ready-mixed plaster.

Plaster tape will probably cost you between £0.05 and £0.50 per meter as well.

What Additional Costs Are There for Plastering?

We’ll now talk about the costs of some extra services you might choose to use.

Interior Decorating & Painting

After having new plastering built, you may desire to have the space painted and decorated.

This can be achieved through paint and decorating work. To have a single medium-sized room painted, you should budget for a cost of roughly £130 to £300.

The amount you can anticipate paying for decorating depends on the scope of the work you want to be done. Decorating work, like painting, typically costs between £14 and £18 per hour.

You likely won’t pay an additional flat charge since this work will be done on top of the plastering work.

New Skirting Boards

It would likely cost you approximately £300 to £500 to have new skirting boards put in.

If you require that the skirting boards be painted or if a room full of furniture needs to be cleared before work can begin, you should expect to spend more due to these added charges.

New Flooring

Depending on the surface area your new flooring has to cover, it will likely cost approximately £1000 to £1600 to have new wood flooring laid.

If your room is 5 meters by 5 meters in size, you should prepare to spend between £300 and £500 on the installation of laminate flooring.

To have vinyl flooring fitted will likely cost you roughly £200 to £400.

Tradesmen Costs for Plastering

In this part, we will break down the labour and tradesmen costs involved in having new plastering installed.

We’ll examine the costs for tasks like plastering a single wall or the price to plaster an entire room.

Of course, supply and material costs are not included in these expenditures.

A single wall will cost between £100 and £150 in labour, a room will cost between £300 and £360 to skim, a room will cost between £200 and £600 to cover, and a ceiling will cost between £200 and £280 to plaster.

While simple patch repairs might only cost between £100 and £200, having two rooms of average size plastered would probably cost you between £400 and £600.

These are estimates based on the typical hourly rate established by professional plasterers in the UK as well as the average cost of tradespeople as a percentage of the overall installation cost.

How Long Does It Take to Plaster?

We shall now explore the period it takes for different plaster tasks to be completed.

The time needed to complete tasks like plastering a single wall, or the ceiling, and modest patch repairs are examined in the table below. In this section, we will also explore the different extra aspects that can influence the length of time it will take for plastering work to be complete.

TASK	DURATION
Plastering Single Wall	3-4 Hours
Skimming Whole Room	1-2 Days
Plastering Whole Room	1-2 Days
Plastering Ceiling	8-12 Hours
Plastering Two Rooms	2-4 Days
Small Patch Repairs	2-3 Hours

The size of the area that needs plastering, the condition of the area, and if plasterboards are required are all factors that could affect how long a plastering work will take.

Additionally, you should think about if skimming is all that is required, any potential waste collection jobs, and your location in the UK.

Plaster Types

We shall now dig into additional depth regarding the various varieties of plaster. We shall define each form of plaster, describe when and for what purposes it is used, talk about labour expenses, and list the benefits and drawbacks of each type.

The labour charges for each type of plaster will range from roughly £22 to £30 per hour.

For two hours of work, you’ll probably be charged a flat amount that ranges from £44 to £60.

It will then cost you an additional £22 to £30 for every hour beyond the first two.

Undercoat Plaster Cost

On a new wall, this kind of plaster serves as the initial covering. It is often used on dense surfaces, low-suction surfaces, surfaces that have been treated with a bonding agent, brickwork, concrete, and blockwork although it is suited to many different types of walls.

Your expected cost for undercoat plaster will be between £0.70 and £1.20 per kilogram.

Pros:

Can be utilized on many different surface types.
The cost of several undercoat plaster products is not prohibitive.
builds up the wall’s thickness.
Cons:

Only intended to be the first coat; not the final coating.

Plaster Finishing Price

The last layer of plaster applied to a surface is called finishing plaster. Painting or/and ornamentation can be added once it has dried.

It is used for low to medium-suction surfaces. In terms of supply prices, finishing plaster will cost roughly £0.20 to £0.90 per kg.

Pros:
One of the more affordable kinds of plaster.
Can, if you choose the appropriate product, provide you with a clean, high-quality finish.
Can be used on various low to medium-suction surfaces.
Cons:
Not well suited to low-suction backgrounds.

Bonding Plaster Cost

A sort of undercoat plaster is this kind of plaster. It is a very adaptable kind of plaster.

It is frequently used as an undercoat on walls or ceilings. Purchase bonding plaster will likely cost you between £2 to £3 per kg.

Online retailers like eBay and Amazon sell bonding plaster materials for the lowest prices (typically less than £2 per kg), while many of the items on eBay look to be used.

Pros:
The high amount of adaptability.
Works on many different sorts of surfaces.
Cons:
Generally not as affordable as most undercoat plaster products or finishing plaster.
fewer sales than with other plaster varieties.

Cost of Hardwall Plaster

Hardwall plaster, another kind of undercoat plaster, provides a high level of impact resistance and quick drying.

It is the undercoat plaster kind that is most frequently utilized. On the majority of surfaces, it can be applied as the first layer of plaster as an undercoat.

Its price per kilogram of raw materials ranges from £0.50 to £3.

Pros:
Resistant to impacts.
Drying time is quick.
Very typical
Can absorb sound.
Cons:
Certain hardwall plaster products could be rather pricey.

One Coat Plaster Cost

A single coat of plaster can be used as a finishing or an undercoat. It can be applied to a variety of indoor surfaces, including plasterboard, concrete, brick, and blockwork.

You should budget between £0.90 and £3 per kg.

Pros:
Can be applied as a finishing plaster or an undercoat.
Not too costly.
Cons:
Not appropriate for usage outside.

Cost of Browning Plaster

Browning plaster is another example of an undercoat plaster. It tends to be pink or grey in colour. On surfaces like brick and building blocks, it is frequently employed.

It works nicely with many different absorbent surfaces. For browning plaster, you can anticipate paying between £0.40 and £1.60 per kilogramme.

Pros:
Cheap variety of plaster.
Widely utilised.
Suited to a variety of absorbent surfaces.
Cons:
Not intended for use outdoors.

Cost of Textured Plaster

Any finish that has a complicated surface that is not polished and has a textured appearance and feel is considered to be this form of plaster.

It is used as the last coat of plaster on a surface. Textured plaster runs between £1 and £2 per kg.

Pros:
Offers an intriguing plaster finish to the surface.
Not especially pricey.
A textured wall can disguise defects and imperfections well.
Cons:
It can be more challenging to fix.

Cost of Ready-Mixed Plaster

A ready-mixed plaster is one that has been prepared and manufactured to have a light consistency, requiring little to no preparation on your part or on the part of a professional you have hired before you can begin working with it.

Generally, ready-mixed plaster is utilised for interior surfaces. You should expect to pay between £1.40 and £4.20 per kg.

Pros:
Does not require as much preparation.
Is light and ready-made in consistency.
Plaster that has already been mixed can be used for expedient repairs.
Cons:
Can be very pricey.
Not often appropriate for outdoor use.

Plaster Repair Cost

Patching plaster is intended to strengthen the rigidity and stiffness of walls while also giving surfaces a smooth appearance and feel.

Although patching plaster can be used to remedy patches in surfaces, as the name suggests, it can also be used to simply enhance the quality of the background as a whole.

Patching plaster may cost anywhere from £1.70 to £10 per kg. While some items fall into the lower end of this price range, many expensive items may be found for between £6 and £8 per kilogramme.

Even if they are rather expensive, you might not need a lot of patching plaster, therefore the cost per bag of patching plaster might not be much more than the cost per bag of plaster for the majority of items.

Pros:
Plaster repairs can smooth out the look and feel of a surface.
Can make walls stronger and more solid.
Can patch-up blemishes on a surface.
Cons:
Can be very pricey.

How Much Does Repairing Plaster Cost?

For this section, we will explore how much different types of plaster repairs cost.

We will examine the problem-solving process and the associated labour and material costs for each type of repair.

Common plaster repairs are correcting cracks, gaps, loose plaster and blown plaster and repairing a ceiling.

A plaster ceiling is another typical fix.

Repaired ceiling

A patched ceiling is repaired by first removing the damaged plaster. An expert will then have a patch of perfectly moulded plaster ready to replace the old plaster. The patch will then be fastened to the joists using plasterboard nails.

The new plaster will then be secured with a PVA solution, and the joint will then be covered with a plasterboard jointing compound.

The jointing tape will next be applied to it. Using a coating knife, a thicker layer of the compound will be added. The edges will then be feathered individually using a sponge.

It can be sanded and then embellished once it has cured. The price of repairing a ceiling will probably cost between £150 and £200 per day; however, the total cost will ultimately depend on the amount of work needed.

The supply costs would probably amount to about £75 to £85 of the total amount listed above, and the labour costs would probably come to about £50 to £80. The third cost element of the aforementioned subtotal, waste collection, will be an additional cost.

Cracks

Plastering fissures must first be sliced open to their edges, perhaps with a putty knife, in order to be repaired. The paper drywall tape will next be trimmed according to the necessary measures to fill the crack. The plaster crack will next be covered with a thin coating of joint compound.

Shortly after, using a knife that is about six inches long, apply the drywall tape immediately on top of the crack. The taped region needs to be covered with a coat of joint compound after that. In addition to covering the taped area, the joint compound must extend a few inches beyond it.

After the joint compound has fully dried, you can proceed to softly smooth over the surface with sandpaper. The task will then be completed with the addition of a third layer of joint compound and extra sanding.

Fixing a cracked ceiling may cost between £200 and £400, though obviously, the price will greatly depend on the amount of work required.

The above price estimate estimates roughly 3-4 hours of effort. Out of this sum, the supply prices should come to about £120 to £150, while the labour/installation charges should come to about £90 to £140.

Once more, rubbish removal will be more expensive.

Holes

Cutting out a square area around the plaster hole is one method of patching it up so that new plaster may be developed and put in with the precise dimensions required to suit the square aperture.

To hold the new plaster in place once it has been applied, filler or finishing plaster may be employed.

Similar to patching a ceiling, you should budget between £150 and £200 for this project. Of that amount, £75 to £85 will likely go toward material costs, £50 to £80 for labour, and potentially £25 to £35 for waste disposal.

Floating Plaster

Similar to the other repairs already discussed, if the plaster is loose or sagging, it may need to be changed and new plaster installed in its place.

A replacement won’t be required, though, if it’s just a little bit lose.

In this situation, large drywall screws with plaster washers attached can be used to repair the plaster.

Depending on the type of surface being repaired, the plaster can be reattached to the wood lath, wall studs, or ceiling joists.

Your estimated cost to have the loose plaster repaired or replaced will be between £75 and £125.

The cost of supplies should be between £40 and £50, while the cost of labour should be between £35 and £45.

Depending on whether or not you are removing old plaster, there may or may not be trash disposal costs associated.

Plaster Sealing

Plaster will be coated with a sealer, such as a mist coat, to make it waterproof. It may need a few coats.

Plaster sealing might cost you anywhere from £65 to £130. It will probably cost between £15 and £30 in supply expenses, depending on how much plaster surface area you want to be sealed. While labour expenses could total anything from £50 to £100.

The labour costs assume the inclusion of a minimum flat rate of two hours’ labour, which is expected to be around £50.

Inflated Plaster

It will be necessary to remove any mould if the plaster has blown. After that, the area will be sealed off with some sort of stain-repellent paint or damp seal, and after it has completely dried, the surface will be repainted.

For minor repairs including blown plaster, you should budget between £100 and £200. Supply costs will account for between £20 and £40 of this total, while labour costs will account for between £80 and £160 of the total.

What Is the Price of Skimming?

This section will discuss what skimming is, when it is used, how to identify whether a wall needs skimming, and how much skimming plaster will cost.

Skimming is essentially the process of applying a finish plaster to a wall that has already been painted or to a wall that has to be repainted. Plaster is applied in a thin layer to accomplish this.

Additionally, a skimmed surface is meant to be exceptionally smooth. It is frequently used to give a wall (whether or not it has already been plastered) a smooth texture so that paint or wallpaper may be placed properly.

If a surface has concerns with heat or sound insulation, is imperfect, or both, you may decide to have it skimmed.

Of course, depending on the attributes you want to give the surfaces in your home, you will need to have the appropriate type of plaster skimmed onto them.

The surfaces may not be sufficiently smooth if you want to paint or hang new wallpaper on them, in which case skimming could be useful.

Your walls or ceilings must first be prepared for skimming, perhaps with drywall primer.

To give a smooth appearance, the joint compound will then be rolled onto the surfaces before it is smoothed out. There will be one or two more layers added.

The wall can be sanded with sandpaper after it has cured.

In terms of the skim plaster cost, you can estimate the typical price to plaster a room through skimming to be from £420 to £550.

How Much Does Plaster Removal Cost?

The cost of having plaster removed is the main topic of the last section of our guide on plastering expenses.

Because the plaster is damaged beyond repair and needs to be replaced, you might decide to have it removed.

In other situations, you might need to take it out for wiring or sound or heat insulation. Based on the size of an ordinary UK room, the cost to remove old plastering will probably fall between £90 and £150.

Depending on how much plastering is removed and how it is disposed of, waste removal expenses may likely range from £50 to $200.

Plaster can be disposed of using a skip or a “man and van” service like that provided by cleaning a bee.

FAQs

How long does it take for the plaster to dry?
A: It usually takes 4-5 days for plaster to dry.

What happens if the plaster is painted too soon?
A: Painting plaster too quickly can cause the paint to peel.

Why does plaster crack, you ask?
A: Cracks may emerge as a result of an inadequate installation, an old plaster surface, or the plaster expanding and contracting as it dries.

How much plaster will I require?
A: The size of the surface you wish to cover will determine how much plaster you will need for a particular task. Calculating the amount you’ll need for plaster can be done using a coverage calculator.

What is the price of plaster?
A: The price of plaster per kg can range from £1 to £4. It mostly relies on the kind of plaster you choose to buy and the particular product.