Plasterer in Rochdale for walls, ceilings and artex

Ceilings: cracks, sags and old lath

Ceilings show their age before walls do. Hairline cracks along board joints, a bulge in the middle of the room or a stain from a past leak are all common. In older Rochdale houses, including the town's Victorian terraces and larger stone villas, original lath and plaster ceilings may still be in place, and they can lose their key to the timber laths over time.

A sound ceiling with surface cracks can often be taped, filled and skimmed. A ceiling that moves when pressed, or has dropped away from the joists, is better taken down and replaced with plasterboard, then skimmed. We will show you which it is before anything is quoted.

Artex and textured ceilings

Swirls and stipples from the 1970s and 1980s are still in plenty of Rochdale homes. The first step is testing: textured coatings applied before 2000 may contain asbestos and should be sampled before anyone sands, scrapes or drills them.

Once the result is known, skimming over the texture is usually the neatest way to a flat ceiling, because it seals the old surface rather than disturbing it. Our artex ceiling removal guide explains the options and when removal is the better choice.

Wall skims and replastering

For walls, the decision is between a skim over a sound surface and replastering where the old plaster has blown. Rooms that have been stripped of wallpaper often reveal patched, uneven walls that will never take paint well, and a skim gives them a fresh start.

Where the plaster sounds hollow, crumbles or has been damaged by water, it needs cutting back and replacing. That is common around old chimney breasts, below windows and on outside walls.

• Skim coats on sound walls after wallpaper removal
• Patch and full wall replastering where plaster has failed
• Making good around new windows, doors and wiring
• Bathroom walls prepared ready for tiling

Plastering as part of a bigger job

Many Rochdale customers come to us for a bathroom and find the walls and ceiling need attention too. Because plastering and tiling are where M24/7 started, those trades are planned into the same sequence, so the walls are flat and sound before tiles go on.

The same applies to wider house renovations, where several rooms need making good after other trades. Planning the plastering in from the start avoids paying twice for the same wall.

What affects the price

We do not publish set prices, because two rooms the same size can need very different work. The main factors are whether the job is a skim or a replaster, the condition of the surface, ceiling height, how much of the room is being done, and any coving, lights or fittings that need removing first.

After a visit you get a written quotation for the agreed work. Our guide to what a plasterer charges walks through these factors in more detail.