A plasterer in Cambridge, with decorators ready to follow on
When people search for a plasterer in Cambridge, they usually have a room they want to decorate. The ceiling is covered in Artex, or the walls came up badly when the old paper was stripped, and paint alone won't put it right. That's the plastering we do.
Our plastering is carried out by Lewis, our plasterer, and a master plasterer we work with regularly. Lewis has a wealth of experience, and you can see him at work on our videos page. Because they work alongside our decorators, the skim goes on, dries, and the same project carries straight on into painting or papering without you having to coordinate two separate firms.
Graham visits first, looks at the walls and ceilings, and puts the plastering and decorating into one written quotation.
We should be clear about scope. Our plastering is the work that goes with decorating: skimming ceilings and walls, repairing cracks and making good before paint or paper. If your project needs something different, ask Graham during the visit and he'll tell you honestly whether it's something we can take on.
Skimming over Artex ceilings
Artex and similar textured coatings were popular for decades and now make a room look dated. Skimming covers the texture with a new smooth plaster surface, ready for paint.
Skimming is usually quicker and far less disruptive than taking a ceiling down. The room still needs to be cleared or covered, light fittings and smoke alarms need to come down, and the surface has to be prepared so the new plaster bonds properly. We take care of that preparation and protect floors and furniture before Lewis starts.
One Cambridge customer was fed up with their Artex ceilings and wanted a fresh, contemporary look. Lewis skimmed them smooth, and the customer commented on how clean and tidy he left the house. The Artex skimming case study shows the result.
On a larger whole-house renovation, two of our plasterers skimmed the old Artex ceilings while our decorators stripped nicotine-stained wallpaper, prepared the walls and hung new coving in other rooms. Working in parallel like that keeps the overall programme shorter.
Re-skimming walls after wallpaper comes off
Stripping old wallpaper sometimes reveals walls in much worse condition than anyone expected. Older houses in particular can have lath and plaster, patched repairs and loose areas that the paper had been holding together.
That's what happened in a Cambridge bedroom we redecorated. Once the paper was off, the walls turned out to be tired lath and plaster. Our plasterer skimmed the affected walls, then we sanded them with our dustless sander and applied a mist coat. The room was finished in Farrow & Ball Skimming Stone, with a Cinder Rose feature wall and a Fired Earth Turkish Blue window.
Not every older wall needs a skim. In a Victorian house in Histon with its original sand and stone plaster, the answer was careful preparation and lining paper where needed, and the walls were then painted in Khaki Mist. Part of Graham's job at the survey is deciding which approach a wall needs, so you don't pay for more plastering than the room requires.
If stripping uncovers a problem like this, we'll show you, explain what's needed and agree the cost before any plastering starts. If you're planning new paper rather than paint, our wallpaper hanging service follows on in the same way.
Ceiling cracks and making good
Cracks in ceilings range from hairlines that a decorator can fill to deeper splits that need more work. We assess which is which during the visit.
In a Cambridge home with deep ceiling cracks, we repaired and filled them and prepared the walls before decorating in light Farrow & Ball tones, with two coats of Skimming Stone on walls and ceiling. On a central Cambridge staircase project, our master plasterer dealt with the ceilings first, and we protected an existing William Morris wallpaper in one room while the ceiling above was plastered.
Cracks that keep coming back can point to movement in the building or a problem above, such as a leak. If we think that's the case, we'll say so rather than simply filling and painting over it. Water-stained ceilings are sealed with a Zinsser stain block before the new paint goes on, so the mark doesn't bleed through.
Coving
Coving neatens the line where wall meets ceiling and can hide a slightly uneven junction. We hang new coving as part of a redecoration, after the plastering is done and before the final coats.
Profiles range from simple curves to more decorative designs, and the right one depends on the age of the house and the height of the room. In a period property we'll try to choose something in keeping, and where old coving is damaged in places we can discuss replacing the run. Joints and mitres are filled and caulked so the line looks continuous once painted.
On the whole-house renovation mentioned above, our decorators hung new coving throughout once the ceilings were skimmed, and the walls were finished in Little Greene Inox in Intelligent Matt Emulsion.
From fresh plaster to finished room
New plaster is porous, so it needs to be treated differently from a painted wall. Our usual sequence is:
- Plastering or skimming by Lewis or our master plasterer
- Leaving the plaster to dry out fully before decorating
- Light sanding with Mirka dust-free sanders to remove nibs and trowel marks
- A mist coat of thinned emulsion to seal the surface and show up imperfections
- Filling and spot-sanding anything the mist coat reveals
- Two full coats of your chosen colour
Why the mist coat matters
Full-strength emulsion on bare plaster can sit on the surface and peel later. A thinned first coat soaks in and gives the next coats something to bond to. It also makes small dips and marks visible, so we can deal with them before the finish goes on.
Keeping dust under control
Plastering and sanding are the dustiest parts of any job. We cover floors and furniture before the plasterer starts, sand with Mirka dust-free sanders that extract as they go, and tidy at the end of each day. Customers often comment on this; one said how clean and tidy Lewis left the house after skimming.
One team for plastering and decorating
Bringing in a separate plasterer and decorator means two quotations, two diaries and the risk that each blames the other for a poor finish. With us, the plastering and decorating are in one quotation and Belinda coordinates the whole job.
Claire Jennings told us Graham and the team plastered pretty much her entire house, working flat out to complete a challenging job in a short amount of time and always happy to give advice.
We work across Cambridge and nearby villages, including Histon and Impington, Girton and Milton. If it's the decorating that comes next, our interior decorating page explains how we finish the room.
