Plastering is applying a smooth finishing coat of plaster to walls and ceilings, either as a thin skim over sound surfaces or as a full re-plaster after removing failed plaster, creating a flat surface ready for decoration.
Whatever type of house you own in Loughborough, we start by looking at how plastering and skimming would fit it rather than offering a standard package. We cover LE11 and LE12 and neighbouring places such as Coalville, Leicester and Humberstone. One named person looks after you from survey to handover, and nothing is booked until you hold our figure in writing, fixed for the work described.
- Guide price
- £550–£1,550 inc VAT
- Time on site
- 1–3 days per room, plus drying time
- Postcodes
- LE11 and LE12
- Planning rules
- England
- Local area
- Leicestershire
- Survey
- Free, with a written quote
Plastering and skimming prices in Loughborough
These are guide costs, not quotes. For plastering and skimming in Loughborough the range is £550–£1,550, VAT included, reflecting prices in the East Midlands that are about 4% below the national guide. Once we have visited for a free survey, you get a firm figure for the scope you approve.
| Type of job | What it usually involves | Guide in Loughborough |
|---|---|---|
| Patch repairs or one wall | Repairing cracks, filling cable channels after a rewire or skimming a single wall. | £150–£500 |
| One room, walls and ceiling | Skimming or boarding and skimming the walls and ceiling of a typical room. | £550–£1,550 |
| Whole house | Skimming or re-plastering most rooms in a typical 3-bed house during a renovation. | £4,800–£11,500 |
The main things that change the figure:
- Skim over sound plaster or full re-plaster back to brick
- Ceiling height, stairwells and access
- Removing artex, wallpaper or failed plaster first
- Number of corners, windows and openings to bead
What’s included?
- Survey of walls and ceilings, including tap-testing for hollow plaster
- Removal of loose or failed plaster and old wallpaper
- Angle beads and stop beads for straight corners and edges
- Skim coat or full two-coat plaster to agreed areas
- Patching around new sockets, pipes and windows
- Waste removal and a tidy finish ready for decorating
Local housing and plastering and skimming
Leicester has extensive Victorian red-brick terraces and interwar semis, with newer estates on the city's edges. Charnwood granite appears in walls and buildings in the north-west, Swithland slate on older roofs, and villages towards Rutland use ironstone and limestone. Loughborough, Hinckley and Market Harborough mix Victorian centres with post-war and recent housing.
A moderate, fairly dry Midlands climate, with winter frosts and clay soils that can move in dry summers.
In Loughborough, as elsewhere in Leicestershire, we take the building's age and construction into account before recommending anything, because both can change what is involved in plastering and skimming.
Planning and building rules in Loughborough
England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland each handle planning a little differently. Loughborough comes under England, covered below, and we raise any questions with the council before your quote is finalised.
Internal work such as a new kitchen, bathroom, flooring, plastering or decorating does not need planning permission in England, unless the house is listed, when listed building consent may be needed even for internal changes.
Some internal work is covered by Building Regulations: new electrical circuits and work in bathrooms (Part P), new drainage, structural changes, extractor ventilation and any new window. Notifiable work is certified by a registered installer or by building control.
Rules change and every property is different, so we check the planning history and constraints for your address before we quote.
From survey to handover
Survey and measure
A free survey comes first. It gives us what we need to price plastering and skimming properly, including dimensions, existing materials and access for deliveries, and gives you the chance to ask anything you like.
Written quote
After the survey we send a quote for plastering and skimming that fixes the price for the scope we've agreed. If you want to change materials or scope, we revise it in writing before anything is booked.
Booking the work
With the quote agreed, we book the work in and handle preparation: permissions where needed, building control notifications, material orders and access arrangements for your Loughborough property.
The work itself
During the work we protect the areas around it and tidy up at the end of each day. Once complete, we check the finish, remove our materials and hand over paperwork such as building control sign-off where it applies.
What you can expect from us
Common questions
Can you plaster over artex?
Artex and similar textured ceilings can usually be covered, either by applying a bonding coat and then a skim, or by fixing new plasterboard over the top and skimming that. Some older textured coatings contain hazardous fibres, so they should not be sanded or scraped until a sample has been tested. We can arrange a test before quoting and choose a method that avoids disturbing the coating.
What is the difference between skimming and re-plastering?
Skimming applies a thin finishing coat, a few millimetres thick, over plaster or plasterboard that is still sound. Re-plastering removes the old plaster back to the brick or block and applies new base and finishing coats. Skimming is quicker and cheaper, but if the existing plaster is loose, hollow or crumbling, a skim will not hold. We tap-test walls to decide which is needed.
Why is my plaster cracking?
Fine cracks in new plaster are usually shrinkage cracks from drying too fast and are easily filled before decorating. Cracks along plasterboard joints often mean missing tape or movement in the boards. Larger or diagonal cracks over doors and windows can point to structural movement and should be looked at before re-plastering. We assess cracks during the survey and explain the likely cause.
Do I need planning permission in Loughborough?
It depends on the work, the size of the project, your property type and whether the building is listed or in a conservation area. Loughborough is in England, so England's rules apply. Many smaller jobs need no planning application, but some still need building control approval. We check what applies to your address before quoting.
Do you cover Coalville, Leicester and Humberstone?
Yes. As well as Loughborough, we cover Coalville, Leicester and Humberstone and the rest of Leicestershire. Our coverage is UK-wide, so the process is the same wherever you are: a free site survey, a quote in writing that fixes the price for the agreed scope, and one point of contact while the work is planned and carried out.
Also covering areas around Loughborough
If your address falls within LE11 and LE12, we cover it. The same goes for neighbouring Coalville, Leicester and Humberstone, which we include alongside Loughborough when arranging surveys and quotes.