Total cost and price breakdown of plastering
Plasterwork is used to provide a smooth, flat surface to internal walls and ceilings. These smooth walls are suitable for decorating with paint or wall paper. Plaster also has the added advantage of offering sound and heat insulation, and it is fireproof as well.
There are two main methods of providing a plastered wall, either wet-plastering, or by using plasterboard (dry-lining).
Wet Plastering
Wet plastering is the traditional method for plastering, and make no mistake, it is a difficult technique to master. A professional plasterer may well cost what you think is a lot of money, however an amateur attempting to plaster will probably run into a lot of difficulty, especially when trying to achieve a smooth flat surface with no bulges or deviations. Normally at What Price? we are happy to suggest the ‘have a go’ approach to DIY home improvements, but think before starting on plastering, it may well be a step too far! However you may want to think about going on a 1 or 2 day plastering course, costing around £180 and £290 respectively.
The key to good plastering is to divide the wall into manageable areas and tackle them one section at a time. The area should be well prepared, making sure the area to be plastered is clean, and primed with the appropriate bonding agent if necessary.
To ensure that the plaster stays level use screeds. These are either wooded battens nailed to the wall, or for more advanced plasterers, bands of undercoat plaster applied to the required thickness. If you use wooden screeds then they should be removed after plastering
Dry Lining
Dry lining is generally a lot easier than wet plastering and requires a less skill to get a good finish. Dry lining involves the application of large flat sheets of plasterboard which are fixed into place by a variety of methods including screwing, nailing or directly bonding (dot and dab) to the wall.
You can obtain plasterboard from any number of DIY stores. They are made with standard gypsum plaster sandwiched between paper liners, and the resulting board is very fragile. The board itself can easily be cut with a saw or sharp knife and so can be simply modelled into any difficult shape. A standard 1200x2400x9.5mm (or 12.5mm thick) square edged board costs roughly £12 or about £4.16 per m2.
In a bathroom as a surface to place tiles on you may want to go with a waterproof plasterboard, these cost more per unit area but are resistant to mold and mildew. This costs about £25 per board or £8.68 per m2.
Plaster Skimming
Both dry lining and wet plastering will usually be finished with a plaster skim. This is a final coat of plastering with a very smooth durable finish to it. In general a plaster skim will only be 2-3mm thick. Plaster skimming is again a difficult art to master. It involves two main steps. Firstly lay the plaster on as smooth and flat as possible and then leave to dry for 20-40mins. The second step is called polishing, this is where the plaster is sprayed or brushed with a light film of water and then polished down with a trowel or sponge to produce a smooth finish. The cost of materials only for a plaster skim are between £1.50 per m2.
Plastering Prices
Plastering jobs vary a great deal in complexity and so it is hard to describe set prices for specific jobs. Some plasterers charge a day rate and others will quote a set price for the job. As with most home improvement jobs you are safer to go for the set price for the entire job, to prevent any unexpected bills at the end. A typically daily rate for a plasterer varies from £250 – £400 depending on their skill level and the location in the country. A plasterer’s hourly rate (plus material costs) will be about £50 per hour (as of 2023) depending on where you are in the country.
User submitted plastering prices
Below are some of the prices we have received from WhatPrice users on plastering jobs completed or quoted, you can also try our plastering cost calculator for an indication of costs.
| Job type | Description | Price | Units | Region | Updated |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drylining & plastering | 2.65 height x 4.7×2.9 | £7638.00 | Total price | South West | 2024 |
| Plastering only | Removal of existing plaster from lounge front wall due to original brick and flint barn having gypsum plaster applied which has been trapping moisture, reapplication of a breathable lime plaster and paint. Guys would only do it on a day rate as they weren’t sure how long it’d take. Day rate is for two people plus VAT. | £500 | Daily rate | East of England | 2023 |
| Plastering only | Lounge 4M x 3M Approx 47.5M2 including the ceiling (Allowing for omitting doors and windows) Included adding covings to ceiling. | £700 | Total price | South East | 2023 |
| Plastering only | New kitchen FULL re skimmed only. Very happy | £1330 | Total price | North West | 2023 |
| Plastering only | A 4m x 5m room by 5m high. 4 walls and a ceiling, together with a narrow stud wall for an integrated wardrobe opening. Breast wall was bare scratch coat, while all other walls were pre skimmed and in an OK condition but not brilliant with screw holes and minor blown patches where the screws and nails were removed. All sockets and radiator were removed for ease of access. | £640 | Total price | Cymru Wales | 2023 |
| Plastering only | 4.5 mt X 2.5 mt ceiling unibond and skim, chasings bonded then all walls unibonded and skimmed 1 chimney breast 2 doors 1 Window Including materials | £570 | Total price | East Midlands | 2023 |
| Plastering only | Room 3m x 2.8m. All walls skimmed and where lots of plaster come away removing skirting board to be built up and finished. Ceiling overboarded and skimmed. | £620 | Total price | West Midlands | 2023 |
| Drylining & plastering | board ceilings dryline walls/skim, 5 bed house £7.60 sq/m 700 m total | £5320 | Total price | North West | 2023 |
| Drylining & plastering | bonded and skimmed walls and ceilings in 1 x reception room, 2 x double bedrooms and hall stairs and Landing. | £3337 | Total price | London | 2023 |
| Drylining & plastering | plastering a bungalow size 2200 sg ft inside and out. outside to be coined and strapped to be finish with marble chips | £10600 | Total price | Northern Ireland | 2023 |
| Drylining & plastering | 2 up 2 down terraced house. Ceilings skimmed (plasterboards already up) and walls skimmed (in one room 3 walls needed dabbing) | £4250 | Total price | North West | 2023 |
| Plastering only | removed wood chip and paint off ceilings in living room and bedroom. living room with alcove. skimmed all walls and ceilings. A bit pricey but a good job done. | £2335 | Total price | London | 2023 |
| Plastering only | Plaster board a wall (8ft x 12ft) Skimmed the wall + 32 feet of Coving fitted, builder supplied all materials. | £660 | Total price | West Midlands | 2023 |
| Plastering only | 1930’s semi ex council house. Plaster hall stairs and landing walls, also includes plastering ceiling in hall, the ceiling slope upstairs and landing ceiling. This is for plastering over artex too. We removed radiator to allow plasterer to plaster behind it | £1000 | Total price | North West | 2023 |
| Plastering only | It was only a upstairs doorway. I had 2 brick it up up with heavy blocks & house bricks,then hard wall doth sides one side twice then skim both sides | £58 | Per m² | South West | 2023 |
| Plastering only | Full House 3 bed semi, 3 beds one bathroom and extention to rear | £3820 | Total price | North West | 2023 |
| Drylining & plastering | Hallway ceiling drylined, skimmed. Old skirting board areas re-bonded. 4m sq of wall repaired and rebonded including archway. all walls skimmed. total area approx 20 sq m 2 days labour inc materials | £630 | Total price | London | 2023 |
| Drylining & plastering | Ceilings reskimmed in 4 rooms and hallways with mesh. Walls reskimmed in 2 rooms and several small fixes in plasterwork elsewhere. Final room was hacked back to brickwork, bonded, then skimmed. Also, ceiling hacked off, insulated, replaced with plasterboard and then skimmed. Included covering a fireplace with plasterboard and making good picture rails. Labour only. | £4400 | Labour only | London | 2023 |
| Plastering only | first floor of 3 bedroom house walls and ceilings pva and skimed approx 200sqm | £2950 | Total price | North East | 2023 |
| Plastering only | Skim walls and ceilings – semi, 3 bedrooms+living room+dining room+hallway+ landing+stairs. | £2285 | Total price | East Midlands | 2023 |
| Plastering only | i had the 3 bedrooms skimed the hall, stairs and landing, front room walls and ceiling. all rooms coved and painted | £2190 | Total price | South West | 2023 |
| Plastering only | Small room ceiling and wall skim. – Lounge/Dinner ceiling skim. – Plasterboard ‘column’ plastered – Door way reduction plastered and one side skimmed. | £956 | Total price | South West | 2023 |
| Drylining & plastering | Skimmed the walls in 5 rooms plus a large hallway. One of the walls was back to brick in places and required more work than just skimming. Also removed and replaced a section of cornicing along one wall. Took about 1 week with 2 workmen. | £2250 | Total price | South East | 2023 |
| Plastering only | Plastering 2 living rooms plus ceilings. A small box space. Hallway plus high ceiling over the stairway and a small bedroom. The plasterer also agreed to using some expensive plaster in the hallway to cover vinyl wallpaper. The whole area was measured at 165square metres. | £1900 | Total price | North West | 2023 |
| Plastering only | All ceilings drylined and skimmed, one room drylined and skimmed, most rooms patched and skimmed. 3 bed semi. | £4238 | Total price | West Midlands | 2023 |
| Drylining & plastering | 4 bed house whole bathroom and kitchen dry lined and skimmed, toilet ceiling, lounge and dining room celings overboarded (including bays in thermal board), loft conversion stairwell outside wall and all other outside walls in thermal plasterboard, end of loft conversion outside wall thermal board, patch conservatory wall, patch where coving removed lounge/dining room, one inside wall rendered after damp proof course injected to 1m, patching chimney breast. Skim the lot, normal/insulated boards (gyproc thermaline super 50mm), bonding, finish, adhesive, screws, tape etc. I stripped old plaster off walls myself apart from overboarding areas. | £4395 | Total price | West Midlands | 2023 |
| Drylining & plastering | We had: 2x double bedroom ceilings plaster-boarded & then skimmed 1x single bedroom ceiling skimmed only 1x large damaged kitchen wall repaired with mortar & cement, then plastered. | £735 | Total price | West Midlands | 2023 |
| Plastering only | Ceiling of Edwardian house, to repair a crack and skim, and to skim all walls. Room size 20sqm | £1840 | Total price | South West | 2023 |
| Drylining & plastering | 1 room extension on back of house 3 walls are in block work and are 4m by 3m and 1 wall is in block work but has sliding doors so smaller area to cover.all walls have to be hardwall at 10mm depth then skimmed also skim ceiling which has already been boarded. | £1300 | Total price | South East | 2023 |
| Plastering only | lounge 1930’s house. Room size 9m sq. | £712 | Total price | South East | 2023 |
Please also have a look at our new free plastering costs calculator
FAQ
How much is a plasterer’s day rate?
Typically a plasterer’s day rate is around £250-£300, however if the project requires special skill such as period property detailing or lime plastering then expect to pay up to £400 per day.
How much does it cost to plaster a room?
Very broadly a typical medium sized 2.5m x 3.5m room would cost about £1,100 for it to be fully plaster boarded and skimmed.
How much to plaster a 3 bedroomed house?
A full plasterboard and skim including ripping out of original plaster for a 3 bed semi would cost roughly £10,000.