Artex ceilings on the Park Estate
Skimming puts a thin new coat of plaster over the texture. Our job beforehand is to sheet the room, unscrew light fittings and treat the surface so the plaster from Lewis, our plasterer, takes hold. Our ceiling skimming and repair page covers cracked ceilings too.
When it has dried out completely, a Mirka dust-free sander smooths it and a thinned mist coat shows up any dips that need attention.
Older houses, cracks and stains
The older village is a different job. Among Bottisham's 25 listed buildings and in the conservation area there may be walls of lath and plaster or old lime plaster, and repairs there can need consent and materials suited to the building. Graham will say honestly whether a job is for our plasterers or a specialist.
Fine cracks just need opening up slightly and filling. Persistent ones are a different matter, as they can mean movement or a leak, and we'll tell you if we suspect either. Water stains are sealed with Zinsser before decorating, and in a Farrow & Ball redecoration in Cambridge we repaired deep ceiling cracks before any paint went on.
How we approach plastering
We'd survey each ceiling and wall, decide whether it needs a skim or just filling, and put the plastering and decorating in one quotation. Lewis or our master plasterer skims, the plaster dries fully, and then we sand, mist-coat and apply two coats. New coving, if you want it, goes up before the final coat. The full method, products and FAQs are on our plastering page.