Plasterers

A plasterer's job is to leave you with a flat, sound, paint-ready surface, and the right way to get there depends on what is behind it. The first thing to find out, before you collect quotes, is which job you need. The second, if your home is older, is whether the walls are solid and what they were plastered with, because the wrong material can trap damp.

What types of plastering job are there?

The word "plasterer" covers several jobs with different skills and different prices. A quote should say which one it is.

Skim coat. A thin finishing layer, a few millimetres thick, over a sound surface: new plasterboard, a well-keyed old wall, or a wall that has been bonded. It is the usual way to refresh a tired room. It will not fix a wall that is loose, damp or crumbling behind the surface.

Full re-plaster. The old plaster is hacked off back to the masonry and new coats are applied. This is for walls where the plaster has failed, after rewiring or replumbing, or where a damp problem has been fixed. It is messier, slower and more expensive than skimming, and the dust needs managing.

Dry lining. Plasterboard is fixed to the wall, either on dabs of adhesive or on a timber or metal frame, and then skimmed or taped and jointed. It is quick and gives a flat finish over uneven walls. It also adds a layer over the original wall face, which matters on older houses (see below).

Rendering. A coat applied to the outside of the building, for weather protection and appearance. It can be a cement-based mix, lime, or a modern proprietary system, sometimes over insulation. It is a different skill from inside work, and it comes with planning questions.

Plastering often follows other trades. After a structural opening or an extension, someone has to make good, and it is worth deciding at the start whether that is in the building quote or a separate job.

Why does plaster matter on an older solid-wall home?

Houses built before the cavity wall became standard were generally built with solid walls that take up and release moisture. Modern plasters and paints are often less permeable. The risk is that water that used to move out through the wall surface has nowhere to go.

Historic England's guidance on repairing flood-damaged historic buildings says masonry can dry back to its earlier state as long as it has not been covered in inappropriate materials, and it lists cement or gypsum renders among them. The same page says that removing historic lime plaster is rarely justified, that failed sections can be cut out and replaced with appropriate lime plaster, and that modern paints such as acrylic emulsions should not be used on lime plaster (Historic England, repair, read 12 October 2026). Where internal insulation is added, its guidance says a continuous permeable internal plaster such as lime is an effective way to control air and vapour (Historic England, internal wall insulation, read 12 October 2026).

Gypsum is the common modern plaster. The Historic England lines quoted above come from flood-repair and insulation guidance, not a general rule for every room, and we cannot point you to a single rule that covers every house. So if you have solid walls, treat gypsum or plasterboard on the inside of an external wall as a question to put to the plasterer. A good conservation plasterer will ask you about the wall before pricing it, and will say what they would use and why.

How can you tell if your walls are solid?

Look at the brick pattern on an exposed outside wall. In solid brickwork the bricks are laid with both long faces and short ends showing, in a mixed pattern. In a cavity wall they are laid long side out only. A house built before about the 1920s, or an old stone cottage, is more likely to be solid. A surveyor or a plasterer who works on older buildings can tell you for certain, and an energy survey or an earlier extension may have recorded it.

What does lime plaster involve?

Lime plaster is applied in coats, often with a sand or hair mix, and it cures more slowly than gypsum. It needs a plasterer who has done it before. It usually costs more and the walls need longer before decoration. We do not publish prices, and what a lime job costs depends on the house. Ask for a written quote that names the material and the number of coats, and ask what paint is suitable afterwards.

Do plastering jobs need planning permission or approval?

Internal plastering does not need planning permission. It can need consent if the building is listed, because works that affect historic fabric inside are within listed building control. Ask your council before you strip or replaster a listed building's interior.

Render is different. The Planning Portal says that replacing existing render with render of a similar appearance does not need planning permission, and that you will need permission if you are changing the external appearance of the house. In a Conservation Area, National Park, Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty or the Broads, it says you will need to apply for planning permission before cladding the outside of your house with stone, render, pebble dash and similar materials, and a listed building needs listed building consent (Planning Portal, rendering your house, read 12 October 2026). That guidance is for England. Wales and Scotland have their own planning rules, so check with your council.

If you are adding external wall insulation under the render, it also changes the look of the house and affects windows, eaves and drainage, and may bring building regulations into play. Our guide on building regulations for home improvements explains how to find out.

How long does plastering take?

It depends on the job type, the room size and the drying time. A skim coat on a sound wall is usually quick for a plasterer. What slows a project is drying: new plaster needs time before it can be painted, and heat or damp changes that. A re-plaster, or any lime work, needs longer. Ask each firm for a start date, the number of days on site, and the drying period before painting, and if possible ask the plasterer to tell the decorator.

What should you check before hiring a plasterer?

Start with the general checks in our guide on how to hire a builder. For this trade, add these.

• What exactly is the job? Skim, re-plaster, dry lining or render, over what surface, and covering which walls and ceilings.
• What is the wall made of? If your home is old, ask whether they have worked on solid walls and what they would use.
• What preparation is included? Removing old wallpaper, bonding agents, repairs, beads and corner protection, and stopping at the edges.
• Who protects the room? Dust sheets, floors, and cleaning up.
• Who deals with the damp? Plaster over a damp wall fails. Ask what is causing any damp before you pay to cover it up.
• Can you see a finished wall? Look along it in daylight for ridges, hollow spots and cracks, not just a photo.
• Insurance. Public liability cover, with dates.

Citizens Advice says to get written quotes from at least three traders and to be wary if a trader will not put a quote in writing. It also says not to agree to more than a 25% deposit, and that you might be able to cancel a contract within 14 days, though you may have to pay for work already done if it started in that time (Citizens Advice, before you get building work done, read 12 October 2026).

What are the red flags?

• A day-rate or a price per room that does not say what is being done to which walls.
• Gypsum or cement recommended for an old solid wall without a word about moisture.
• A plasterer who offers to cover over a damp patch without finding out why it is there.
• A request for the full amount before the work.
• Door-to-door callers offering exterior rendering or "wall coatings" at a special price. Councils' Trading Standards teams warn against agreeing to work on the doorstep, and for render you should be able to check what is going on the house.
• No written quote, or one that does not name the materials.

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