advice on plasterboarding and skiming the bedroom celings

[andrewaaa299]

Hello

The two bedrooms in our house have ceilings that are the original plaster ceilings and have cracked over time. They have been repaired and do not appear to be in any danger of falling down. However, we want to sort them out for cosmetic reasons.

The ceilings are 14 x 11 ft and 12 x 10 ft in size. Our ideal method is to ask a builder / plasterer to affix plasterboard to both bedroom ceilings, scrim the joints and then finish it over / plaster it.

Can anyone tell me what range I would expect to pay for this? I live in London if that makes a difference?

Thank you

Andrew

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

Now that is a question as it does vary area to area, where I live you'd likely get charged about £10 a square metre to board and skim but it does vary and so do quotes. So I'd get about three different ones and references of previous work or if you know someone how has had one in ask about price and what quality they worked to.

 

[andrewaaa299]

hi

thanks for teh reply

we have one quote so far - £1200 for both rooms. That equates to £40 sqm on my estimations for boarding and skimming

that sounds very high - perhaps he is taking us for a ride as we are in our twenties and perhaps appear naive...?

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

Have you added materials cost to that or is it just labour?
You'll find that they will bump the price up with regards to the price charged on site, as stated get more tha one quote and refs.

 

[andrewaaa299]

Hello

that quote was an all in price - materails and labour. However, i gather the materials are relatively cheap though - surely platerboard, nails and plasetr cant be more than £100 for both rooms?

its only 30sqm in total max.

he was also saying that for each room it would be 2 men to do the plasterboarding in a day and a plasterer who would take anouther day and a half per room. Sounds suspicious to me.

 

[gday2uk]

If it's just overboarding seems quite high but you are in London (if that makes a difference).
Rooms are quite small so should only take 2 men 1/2 a day to board both and a good plasterer a day to skim both ceilings. So say 16 hours @ whatever rate it is 'up there'!
Materials - 9 sheets plbrd, a box of screws, 6-7 (some one will correct me) bags of multifinish so maybe £100 for materials?

Are you 100% on the actual spec of what they have quoted for?
Ask for a breakdown, if they're not ripping you off they won't mind letting you know.

 

[andrewaaa299]

Hi there, i have asked him to clarify how he has priced it, but i doubt there is much point. I double checked teh ceilings and the total area for two rooms is 25sqm, less that i thougt before.

This means that he wants £48 psm to pasterboard, scrim and then finish/ plaster.

 

[Alastairreid]

a plasterer who would take anouther day and a half per room. Sounds suspicious to me.

a day and a half to plaster a ceiling that size the ceiling would need to be completed on the same day otherwise their would be a join.

even in London 1k is excessive £5/600 would be more like it imo.

 

[andrewaaa299]

Hello Alistair

thanks for that. Do you think it should be £600 then in total to do both rooms?

 

[Alastairreid]

the ceilings can be sheeted and skimmed in less than 2days with materials around £100.
£500 labour is a resonable price for a decent spread.

 

[dave1953]

Any problems parking near to your premises? if not then as posted by Alisteried £600.00 is plenty for 2 days work. The reason I mention parking is that if access is difficult some firms load the Quotation for best reasons known to themselves

 

[joe-90]

If the ceilings are sound why board them at all? An easy couple of days for a plasterer would set you back about £350 inc materials. It'll look just as good.

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

If your looking to save money, why don't you get a couple of pals round to board it for you and employ a plasterer to tape it and skim?
If you think they are doing you on materials supply them.

 

[andrewaaa299]

Hello guys, thanks for all the good tips. Boarding is crucial as the ceiling really does need a clean even surface to skim on i think.

In terms of getting some friends, i just know we would mess it all up and not provide a good base for the plaster.

I woudl rather leave this to the pros but for fair proce thats all.

Another joker just told me it woudl be 1,500 to 2,000 to do it, i said "Are you sure, thats £80 sq metre?" he got aggressive and then said "find someone else then" and hung up! I have to say, finding soemone fair an reliable to get this done is proving harder than i thought!

 

[andrewaaa299]

I just spoke to a builder working on a refurb at my work, seemed like a decent guy. He said he could potentially do this for me for a fair price.

The only thing is that he said he could come around and put the plasterboard up and tape and joint them. I asked about plasetering over and he said that he could have this done but that there was no need for it and that it was just a cosmetic thing - because if he just taped and joined the plasterboard it would still be completely smooth and then i coudl paint over.

does this sound right? can i just paint over the tape and joint and not see any joints at all and therefore not bother with plastering?