In 2026 a typical plasterer costs between £150 and £300 a day in the UK, while skimming a medium room costs roughly £425 to £600 for the walls alone. If you live in London or the South East, you will pay more for the same work. Prices vary widely based on the size of the room, the condition of the walls and whether you need ceilings plastered too.
Typical plastering prices at a glance
This table shows typical costs for common plastering jobs and how long they take.
|
Job |
Price range |
Typical duration |
|---|---|---|
|
Skimming a room (walls only) |
£375 to £750 |
1 to 3 days |
|
Skimming a room (walls and ceiling) |
£500 to £1,100 |
1 to 3 days |
|
Full ceiling replacement |
£400 to £1,000 |
1 to 2 days |
These figures are typical published prices for 2026 and your local quotes will differ.
Plasterer day rates and minimum charges
Plasterers use a day rate to price unpredictable work or small jobs that do not cover a whole room. A standard day rate in the UK sits between £150 and £300. Tradespeople working in London and the South East charge more. Published figures range from a premium of £50 to £100 a day to day rates of £250 to £400 or more.
You will rarely pay a day rate for a standard room skim because tradespeople prefer to give a fixed price for the whole job. Day rates apply when a plasterer is fixing multiple small patches around a house or repairing damage caused by a leak.
Small jobs carry a minimum charge to cover the tradesperson's travel, fuel and setup time. A typical minimum charge is £120 to £150. A small patch repair costs £120 to £250, while replastering a chimney breast costs £200 to £400.
How much to skim a room
A skim is a thin finishing coat, a few millimetres thick, applied over sound plaster or plasterboard. It creates a perfectly smooth surface that is ready for paint or wallpaper.
Typical published prices for 2026 show that skimming an existing wall costs between £13 and £30 per square metre. You can expect to pay £15 to £25 per square metre in most parts of the UK, rising to between £18 and £32 in London and the South East.
If you price the job by the room, skimming the walls alone costs £375 to £500 for a small room. A medium room costs £425 to £600, while a large room sits between £550 and £750. Adding the ceiling pushes the total price for a single room to between £500 and £1,100. Looked at more broadly, plastering a single room comes out at £450 to £850, or £550 to £1,100 in London, depending on wall condition and room size.
Skimming a room normally takes one to three days to complete. You will then need to wait for the plaster to dry and turn a uniform pale pink before you decorate, which typically takes around a week for a thin skim and longer in a cold room. The guide to how long plaster takes to dry explains what to look for.
The cost of a full replaster
A replaster means hacking off failed plaster and applying a backing coat plus a finish coat. Alternatively, it involves fixing new plasterboard and skimming it, which the trade calls a board and skim. Plasterboard can also be stuck directly to masonry walls on dabs of adhesive, a method known as dot and dab.
Because it requires more materials and labour than skimming, a full replaster or board and skim costs £25 to £45 per square metre. In London and the South East, this increases to between £30 and £58 per square metre.
Replastering a complete three-bedroom house costs between £4,000 and £7,000. If that house is in London or the South East, the price rises to between £4,800 and £9,000.
Hacking off old plaster creates heavy rubble and thick dust in your home. A plasterer will only suggest this route if the existing surface is too blown or crumbly to hold a thin finishing coat, meaning you genuinely need a full replaster to fix the problem.
Ceiling plastering costs
Ceilings are usually priced separately from walls because working overhead takes more time and physical effort. Plastering a ceiling costs between £200 and £1,150 depending on the size of the room. An average room ceiling typically costs £250 to £450 to finish, working out at £20 to £35 per square metre for a straightforward skim.
Small patch repairs on a ceiling cost £150 to £200. If the existing ceiling is badly cracked or sagging, a plasterer might suggest overboarding. This means fixing new plasterboard directly under the old ceiling before skimming it, which costs £400 to £1,000.
A full ceiling replacement costs £400 to £1,000 and involves pulling down the old boards first, taking one to two days. Older houses often have lath and plaster, which is original lime plaster spread over timber laths. Conservation bodies advise repairing original lime plaster where possible and replacing it like for like, so you should consider carefully before tearing down a historic lath and plaster ceiling.
What pushes a plastering quote up
Plasterers price per job after seeing it in person. They calculate the area in square metres, assess the state of the background and factor in the ceiling height and access.
Preparation is a major cost driver. Stripping wallpaper from a large room costs £300 to £600, while repairs to damaged plaster add £100 to £300 to the bill. Removing loose plaster, sealing painted surfaces and dealing with textured coatings like Artex all require extra labour and materials.
The Health and Safety Executive says textured coatings such as Artex may contain asbestos in any building built or refurbished before 2000. Work on them does not normally need a licensed contractor but must be done by people trained to work safely with asbestos. You should not sand, scrape or drill suspect coatings and must tell tradespeople about them before work starts.
Other extras include radiator removal and refitting, which costs £80 to £250. Hiring a small skip for the waste costs £60 to £130. A trader who carries waste must be a registered waste carrier, and the register is public.
If you are rendering or replastering an external wall, building regulations might apply. Planning Portal guidance for England says that where 25 per cent or more of an external wall is re-rendered, re-plastered or re-lined internally, the regulations normally apply and the wall's insulation would normally have to be improved.
What a written quote should include
A proper document protects you from surprise charges and misunderstandings. Citizens Advice states that a quote is a fixed price and an estimate is a rough guess, and suggests getting at least three written quotes before agreeing to work.
Your written quote should list:
- A fixed total price for the job
- A breakdown of the different costs involved
- Whether materials and VAT are included in the price
- Whether waste removal and skip hire are covered
- Whether floor protection is provided by the tradesperson
- How long the quote remains valid for
Quotes that omit preparation, ceilings, scaffolding or waste disposal often look cheaper at first glance. They can end up costing you more when the tradesperson adds these essential steps to your final bill.
Deposits, payment and your rights
You should avoid paying for the whole job in full upfront. Citizens Advice suggests keeping any deposit to 25 per cent at most and paying by card where possible for extra protection. You might also be able to cancel within 14 days of agreeing a contract, depending on where and how you hired the trader.
Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, all tradespeople must do their work with reasonable care and skill. If they fail to meet this standard, you can ask them to put it right within a reasonable time or seek a partial or full refund depending on how bad the problem is.
Cash-only deals with nothing in writing leave you with very little proof if you need to dispute the quality of the finish. Always insist on a written contract and clear payment terms before the plasterer mixes their first bucket.
How to compare quotes fairly
Plastering is not a licensed trade. There is no legal register like the one for gas engineers, meaning evidence of past work and local reputation matters more than paperwork. A CSCS card is meant for construction sites and is not proof of quality on domestic residential work. You can look for membership of FIS, which is the trade body for the finishes and interiors sector, or TrustMark, which is the government-endorsed quality scheme.
The cheapest quote is rarely the best value if the tradesperson skips vital preparation. Watch out for these common signs of poor practice when discussing the job:
- Skimming over loose, damp or unsealed painted surfaces
- Applying modern gypsum or cement over old lime walls
- Offering cash-only deals with nothing in writing
- Dry sanding or scraping Artex without checking for asbestos
- Providing quotes that omit preparation, ceilings or waste removal
Skimming over an unsealed painted surface is a common shortcut that causes the new coat to crack or peel shortly after it dries. Applying gypsum over old lime plaster can trap moisture and damage the wall, while dry sanding Artex can release asbestos fibres if the coating contains them.
Common questions
What is the average plastering cost per square metre?
Skimming an existing wall costs £15 to £25 per square metre, rising to between £18 and £32 in London and the South East. A full replaster or board and skim costs £25 to £45 per square metre, rising to between £30 and £58 in London and the South East.
How much does it cost to plaster a whole room?
Plastering a single room typically costs £450 to £850, or £550 to £1,100 in London. The final price depends heavily on the size of the space, the condition of the background and whether the ceiling is included.
Do plasterers charge a daily rate or price per job?
Most plasterers price per job after visiting your property to assess the preparation required. A day rate of £150 to £300 is sometimes used for unpredictable fixes, while small jobs carry a minimum charge of £120 to £150.
Do I need planning permission for external render?
Rendering needs no permission in England if the materials are of similar appearance to the existing house, according to the Planning Portal. You do need permission in conservation areas, National Parks, Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the Broads, while listed buildings need consent for any significant work inside or out.
What to do next
Before you hire a tradesperson, make sure you are ready to compare them on equal terms.
- Decide exactly which rooms and ceilings need work before asking for prices
- Check whether your property has old textured coatings that might require safe handling
- Ask three local plasterers to visit the property and look at the walls in person
- Request written quotes that break down the preparation, the finish and the waste removal
- Agree a start date and a deposit of no more than 25 per cent
Once you know what the work involves and what a fair price looks like, you can find a plasterer near you to request your quotes.
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