Plastering in Bere Regis

Solid walls, and why lime. Plenty of the walls in this village have no cavity: brick, flint and brick, or cob under a render. A wall like that has always handled water by letting it back out again, so the finish has to let it.

Lime plaster on a lime backing coat does that. Gypsum skimmed over old lime, or plasterboard dabbed onto a damp solid wall, does not, and both are how a wall ends up blowing twice. Tap along the bottom of a wall: where the note goes hollow, the finish has parted from the masonry and filler will not put it back.

Lath and plaster ceilings. Old ceilings hold up because the plaster was pushed through the gaps between the laths and hooked over the back. When those nibs shear off, the ceiling sags. Where the lath is sound we can secure the ceiling back to the joists and skim over it. Where it has gone, it comes down and is replaced in plasterboard with tape and joint. On a listed cottage that is a consent question before it is a cost question, and it is filthy work either way, because a century of soot sits in the void above.

Damp at the bottom of a wall is the typical problem in Bere Regis. Before anybody sells you an injected course, we look at the outside: ground and path levels raised over the years until they sit above the internal floor, or a cement render skirt round the base holding water in. Deal with that, let the wall dry, then replaster with a lime backing that will carry the salts. On the twentieth century houses it is dry lining, taped joints and a skim instead, with browning or hardwall as a backing coat. Same trade, two sets of rules, and the mistake is using one on the other.

The size of the room tells you little. The state of what is on the walls now decides most of it.

Skim or strip. A sound wall can take a skim over a bonding coat. If the backing coat rings hollow when tapped, it is coming away, and it all has to be hacked back to brick or stone before anything new goes on, which is slow and dusty.

Lime or gypsum. An older solid wall wants lime plaster, which works with it rather than sealing it. Lime goes on in thinner coats with drying time between, so it takes longer than a gypsum skim on plasterboard.

Ceilings. A lath and plaster ceiling can sometimes be secured and patched. A sagging one comes down, is replaced in plasterboard and skimmed, and getting the old one down is heavy, filthy work.

Getting waste out. A cottage opening straight onto the lane has no drive for a skip, so waste comes out by the bag. A newer house with a drive is quicker to clear.

Drying. A wall that has been wet needs to dry before anything goes on, and that can add weeks.

Ask any plasterer whether this is a skim or a full replaster, lime or gypsum and why, and whether beads, making good and waste removal are included.

We are 17 miles from Bere Regis at our base in Boscombe, and plaster in the village, Briantspuddle, Winterborne Kingston, Wool, Wareham and the rest of BH20, under Dorset Council for planning and building control.

You are dealing with Bournemouth Roofing & Building Ltd, registered in England and Wales, company number 15471719. Thomas Hannen is the man behind it, and he comes out, looks at the walls and ceilings, and prices the work in person. A verified Checkatrade customer gave us 10 out of 10. The site visit and the written, itemised quote are both free of charge. Before you book a visit in Bere Regis, you can read our customers' Google reviews, word for word, on our reviews page.

Most repairs in Bere Regis need no application at all. What decides whether a change to the outside of your house does is who the council is, whether a conservation area or a listing applies, and whether the place sits in a protected landscape.