Plasterer in Christchurch

Skimming is the quickest plastering job, and often all a room needs. The old surface is cleaned down, cracks are taped with mesh, and a PVA or bonding primer goes on so the new plaster does not dry too fast. Two thin coats of finish plaster follow, trowelled flat and smooth. A typical bedroom wall-and-ceiling skim is usually a day's work.

Re-plastering blown or cracked walls. A hollow sound when you tap means the plaster has let go of the wall behind it, and a skim on top will crack again. That area comes off back to the brickwork or block. A backing coat goes on first, browning or hardwall on solid brick, bonding on dense or patched backgrounds, floated flat and left to firm up before the finish coat. A room done this way takes two or three days.

Ceilings. A cracked or sagging plasterboard ceiling can often be overboarded: new board screwed through into the joists, joints taped, then skimmed, so the old one never has to come down. An old lath and plaster ceiling that is mostly sound can be pinned back with screws and plaster washers and skimmed. If too much has let go, it comes down and new board goes up. In a flat the ceiling is usually plasterboard on timber joists, and the boards are cut to size outside and carried up the stair.

Artex and textured ceilings. Textured coatings put up before 2000 can contain asbestos, and almost a quarter of homes in central Christchurch were built between 1945 and 1982, when these finishes were everywhere. So a sample gets tested before anybody drills, sands or scrapes it. If it is clear, it can be skimmed flat or taken down. If it is not, the usual answer is to seal it and skim over it, which locks it in. The HSE's asbestos essentials sheet on drilling textured coatings shows how carefully even small jobs on it have to be handled.

Lime and lath in older houses. A fifth of homes in the centre were built before 1919, around the Priory, Castle Street and the streets off them, with solid walls and no cavity. Those walls let moisture in and out. Gypsum over one holds the damp, darkens and blows within a winter or two. The repair is lime plaster in its proper coats, a haired scratch coat, a float coat and a lime finish, on riven lath where a ceiling needs it, so the wall stays breathable.

Dry lining, stud walls and making good. New stud walls, loft conversions and extensions are boarded and skimmed. Walls can be dry lined with plasterboard on dot and dab adhesive, then skimmed or finished tape and joint ready for paint. Angle bead and stop bead go on every corner and window reveal. After a new kitchen, a rewire or a chimney breast coming out, we make good the chases and scars so the patch disappears under paint. A loft conversion or extension also goes through building control, which sets the board for fire and sound under the Approved Documents.

Coving and cornice. Plain coving is stuck up, pinned while the adhesive sets, and the joints and top edge filled so it reads as one piece. In an older house a damaged run of cornice can be repaired, or a matching length run in place, and that is worth doing before a period ceiling is boarded over and the detail lost.

Outside walls are a separate job. For old sand and cement render, pebbledash, or a silicone thin coat system with a basecoat, mesh and topcoat, see rendering in Christchurch.

Plastering in Christchurch is priced from the site visit, not from a rate per square metre, because two rooms the same size can be days apart once the walls have been tapped. These are the things that move the price, and your quote lists each one.

Skim or re-plaster. Skimming sound plaster is less labour, less material and no old plaster to strip, so it costs less. A blown wall adds hacking off, bagging, a backing coat and drying time.

Wall or ceiling. Ceilings are slower and need a platform. Overboarding usually costs less than taking an old ceiling down, because the mess and the waste are far smaller.

The background. Lath and lime, old bonding, dot and dab and bare block all take different preparation. Lime work costs more than gypsum and takes longer to cure. An Artex ceiling adds a test before any work starts.

Getting in. Carrying boards and bags up a shared stair to a flat off Bargates takes longer than working from a drive, and a stairwell needs a tower or staging for access.

The awkward parts. Reveals, beads, arches, chimney breasts and making good round sockets. The edges are where the day goes.

Comparing quotes? Ask whether the walls are being skimmed or taken back, how many coats, gypsum or lime, whether beads and making good are included, whether the Artex has been tested, and who takes the waste away. Our guide to how we price a job goes through the rest.

Bournemouth Roofing & Building Ltd covers Christchurch, Somerford, Mudeford, Burton and the rest of BH23, 2.7 miles from our Boscombe base. BCP Council is the authority for planning and building control. The company is registered in England and Wales, company number 15471719.

The owner, Thomas Hannen, visits your home himself to look at the walls and ceilings and price them. One verified customer marked us 10 out of 10 on Checkatrade. The site visit is free, and so is the written itemised quote.

Most repairs in Christchurch 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.