Plastering in Matchams

Inside, walls that knock solid are prepared, PVA'd where the suction is high and given two passes of finish coat, and there is no reason to strip them. Walls that drum come off back to the masonry and take a new backing coat of bonding, browning or hardwall floated level.

Newer rooms out in Matchams are board on dot and dab or on stud, finished in tape and joint, and repaired the way they were built. Ceilings follow the same rule: cracked board or artex is usually over-boarded and skimmed, and one that sags comes down first.

A cold wall that never dries or a tide mark above the skirting is a symptom, not the job. We find the water first, because a finish put on a wall that is still wet fails again, and new plaster wants a few days before a mist coat and paint. On the south west side of the house the water often gets in through the render, and render fails at its edges: round the window reveals, at the verge, under a leaking downpipe, and along the base where it has been run down over the damp proof course.

So outside, the beads matter more than the flat surface: corner bead on every angle, stop bead against a frame, a bell cast at the base and mesh over any lintel. A rigid sand and cement render on a wall wetted and dried this often will craze. A mesh-reinforced silicone system, a scratch coat, a render coat with mesh in it, a primer and a topcoat, sheds water and still lets the wall dry. For the outside walls, see rendering in Matchams.

We do not put a square metre rate on plastering in Matchams. The state of what is under the finish decides the job. Sound or blown. A sound wall wants a skim. A blown one comes off back to the masonry and needs a backing coat before the finish goes on. Tapping every wall before quoting tells us which, room by room.

Ceilings. Cracked plasterboard or artex can often be over-boarded and skimmed. A sagging older ceiling must be pulled down before anything else, which makes a lot of dust and adds time.

Outside walls. On an exposed elevation, a rigid sand and cement render crazes as it wets and dries over and over, so the render system matters as much as the area. Patching pebbledash is its own item, because matching it is slow. A tower reaches a single storey wall, and anything higher needs scaffold.

Room to work. A mixer and skip on your own drive save time. A long carry from the gate adds it, and so does a room that has to be emptied first.

Ask a competing quote whether it is a skim or a full replaster, whether the beads and making good are included, how long the platform stands, and who takes the waste.

The walls get looked at by Thomas Hannen, who owns the business and writes every price himself. Our base in Boscombe is five and a half miles from you. We plaster across Matchams, St Leonards, St Ives and the BH24 addresses along the Ringwood road, and Dorset Council covers planning and building control.

Trading name aside, the company is Bournemouth Roofing & Building Ltd, registered in England and Wales, company number 15471719. You will find a customer's verified 10 out of 10 on Checkatrade. We charge nothing for the visit or the itemised written quote. Before you book a visit in Matchams, you can read our customers' Google reviews, word for word, on our reviews page.

Most repairs in Matchams 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.