Plastering in Hamworthy

Skimming suits sound plaster. Where the old plaster is sound and well stuck, it is cleaned, sealed with PVA or a bonding primer, and given a two coat skim of finish plaster, trowelled flat. New angle beads go on the corners and window reveals so the edges are straight and hard wearing. An average room is a day, with a couple of days' drying before paint.

Textured ceilings. Plenty of homes in Hamworthy still have an Artex or similar textured ceiling from the sixties to the eighties. We skim over it rather than scraping it off, which is cleaner and cheaper. Some textured coatings from before 2000 contained asbestos, so if the ceiling is going to be sanded, scraped or cut, it is tested first. Skimming over it does not disturb it.

Blown and cracked walls. In the older houses in Hamworthy the walls are brick with a backing coat of browning, hardwall or bonding and a thin finish. Where that backing has come away from the brick, it sounds hollow when tapped and cracks. The loose plaster comes off back to sound edges, the backing coat goes back on and is floated level, then the finish coat, with a stop bead wherever the plaster meets another surface. In the few older solid-walled houses near the bridges you may find lath ceilings and lime plaster, which we repair in lime so the wall stays breathable. Where old plaster has failed because the wall is damp, we find the cause of the damp before replastering.

Ceilings after a leak. A plasterboard ceiling that has taken water stains, then sags between the joists. If the boards are still firm it is cut back, refixed and skimmed. If they have gone soft, the ceiling comes down and new board goes up, taped and jointed and skimmed.

Dry lining and boarding. New stud walls, boarding over a wall that is past saving, and insulated plasterboard on a cold outside wall, all finished with a skim or a tape and joint finish. A stairwell ceiling is done off a tower or a boarded platform, never a ladder on the stairs.

Making good. After a rewire, new sockets, a bathroom refit or a fireplace taken out, we patch in so the repair disappears under paint. Outside walls in sand and cement render, pebbledash or a silicone thin coat are a separate job, covered on our rendering page.

No rate per square metre, because two rooms of the same size can be a day apart once you have seen the walls.

Getting to it. A bungalow room with everything on one level, a stairwell in a two storey semi, and a top floor flat up a shared staircase with no lift do not protect or access alike. Ceilings and stairwells need a platform, and a room you are still living in needs protecting rather than emptying. Where the work is at height the work at height rules apply just as they do on a roof.

What is behind it. Skimming over sound plaster is a different job from taking a wall back to brick, and you often cannot tell which you have until something is tapped. Lath and lime, old bonding, dot and dab and bare block all take different preparation and a different number of coats.

The awkward parts. Reveals, beads, stop ends, arches, curved walls and getting a flat finish where an old ceiling has dropped. The middle of a wall is quick. The edges are where the day goes.

Comparing quotes? Ask how many coats are included, whether the walls are being skimmed or taken back, whether beads and making good are in the price, and who moves and protects the furniture.

Hamworthy is BH15, across the harbour from Poole Quay and about 7.7 miles from our base in Boscombe. We cover the whole peninsula, from Lower Hamworthy and Carter's Quay by the bridges, through Central Hamworthy and Lake, out to Rockley and Cobbs Quay, and Turlin Moor on the Upton side.

BCP Council is the planning and building control authority. You are dealing with Bournemouth Roofing & Building, the trading name of Bournemouth Roofing & Building Ltd, registered in England and Wales, company number 15471719, which you can look up in a minute. Thomas Hannen's business, and he is the one who comes out to price the job, not a salesman. A verified customer's 10 out of 10 on Checkatrade. The visit and the written quote are both free. Before you book a visit in Hamworthy, you can read our customers' Google reviews, word for word, on our reviews page.

Most repairs in Hamworthy 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.