Skip to main content

Ready to hire?

Post your job in minutes, browse real reviews and choose who to speak to.Post a job

Need some tips or advice?

Ask a question
Plastering & Rendering

What finish can I expect from skimmed walls?

Anonymous user 13/03/2024 - 2.31 PM

I just had my small hallway (upstairs/downstairs) skimmed over and am not sure what finish I should have expected. He has left a lot of trowel-marks and rough areas, dents and some areas he did not use plaster but filler, which he applied quite poorly. He said that his tools would not fit into the tight areas between door-frame and wall (1-2 inches) or around switches and radiators so he used a narrow trowel. Overall it appears quite a untidy job which requires me to do a lot of filling and sanding before being able to paint. Most of the edges (to window or skirting boards) are quite rough or show gaps. He hadn't even taken off the phone cable that was running on top of the skirting board and just plastered over it. Is this what I should expect? The walls were previously already skimmed, and actually had a better and smoother finish than it has now. When I removed the old wallpaper we noticed a couple of cracks and since we also had the house re-wired, there were a few areas that had been filled with plaster by the electricians... so we thought, instead of wallpapering over it all, we'd have it skimmed. We paid GBP 310.- but had only one quote so I don't know whether this was cheap or not. The hallway measures 1.5x4m (floor space) and includes the staircase to the first floor and the landing. There are two windows. He used one coat of multi finish, did not use any corner beading and only used scrim tape over the cracks on my special request. He finished the job over two jobs in 10 hours working time. So the questions I have are basically: 1. Should he have used 2 coats although it was on top of existing skimmed walls (50 years ago with, no holes and no plaster had come off) 2. Should he have used angle-beads around the windows? (Originally done with plaster only) 3. Should he have used scrim tape in the corners? 4. Is the price cheap or about average? The areas to skim add up to around 35 m2 plus ceilings 10 m2 (at 2.2m height) 5. Should I have to expect having to clean up all the skirting boards, floors etc afterwards? 6. Could I have expected him to plaster everywhere or is the use of filler trade standard? 7. Should I expect to have to fill corners and sand everywhere before painting? 8. Is it reasonable to expect that he would skim neatly around radiators, switches and sockets? 9. Have we been ripped off? Many thanks for your time to answer.

Are you a tradesperson and able to answer this question?

Log in

6 Answers

SEIKOINGPLASTERING

Rating: 5 out of 5
Great Yarmouth
Hi Just like Mr russel stated from all in one, its a rushed job plastering even a small area takes time your small hallway (upstairs/downstairs) skimmed over should be 2 days prep & plastering time. trowel-marks and rough areas this sounds like the top coate was way to wet when trowled up,and to use filler when you have paid for plastering work is really bad, and you should not need to sand walls down "He says that his tools would not fit into the tight areas between door-frame and wall (1-2 inches) or around switches and radiators so he used a narrow trowel." is also totaly wrong. any good plasterer will ask for these fittings to be removed before he/she starts, to not even taken off the phone cable that was running on top of the skirting board and to just plastered over it. is just a plain cowboy nothing more Is this what I should expect? "no never in a lifetime" The walls were previously already skimmed, and had a better and smoother finish a good plasterer would tell you if it was worth re-plasteing or not! The two windows. where He used one coat of multi finish (wrong again) should have been 2 coates of finish & squared off with undercoate before skimming started, 10 hours working time. for 310GBP + bad not good..... job unless there 2-3 plasterers all working at the same time and even then it would still be a push to do it in that time frame still i hope you can fix it and i wish you all best Regards Steven Seikoingplastering
Answered31 July 2012
10

Anonymous user

Hi there You have had a bad rushed job completed, a plastered finish should be smooth and uniform, i have been plastering for 22 years, there are alot of tradesmen that like to think they can plaster, it is a shame you have had a shoddy job completed to an unsatisfactory standard. There should never be sanding or filling to perform if you have had plastering done. kindest regards Dave Russell @ All in One property maintenance
Answered31 July 2012
9

Paul Rowland Plastering

Rating: 5 out of 5
Chichester
complete rubbish what you have is some one who has no skill in plastering ripping customers off sounds like he lost a view pages out of his plastering manual ha ha
Answered3 August 2012
6

Roc builders

Rating: 5 out of 5
Harlow
Complete hash.One coat would never be great and is NOT THE WORK OF A GENUINE PLASTERER.
Answered1 August 2012
4

Fine line plastering

Rating: 5 out of 5
Glasgow
Hi guys Rush jobs isn’t the greatest Or clearly the guys Are probably not time served Tradesmen.. We like calling them mikie mouse Plasterers 😂 & probably paid out for a 3day plastering course 🤣.... 2 coat finish Would definitely Leave you or any client The perfect smoothie finish Ready for painting works Best wishes Troweltradeplasterers 👍
Answered5 February 2018
4

Gary Quinn

Rating: 5 out of 5
Glasgow
1 Yes. 2 Yes 3 Maybe 4 Cheap ( but expensive for the results) 5 No. He should have protected beforehand and cleaned up properly afterwards 6 No. Accidents can happen so sometimes filler may be used but generally better after the new plaster gas been painted.7 No, that's what a paying a plasterer should save you from doing. 8 For a proper job, all switches , sockets and radiators with brackets should be removed and made safe prior to work commencing. Skirtings and door facings too. Sometimes a customer will insist not to remove the woodwork , for various reasons, however the plasterer should explain the pros and cons , again , in advance for the householder to decide. 9 Sadly , yes. The walls after 50 years may appear in generally good condition, I didn't see them myself obviously but, potentially I would have recommended plastering mesh 1000mm wide 150gsm to be embedded through the complete surface of the walls. The reason is that at times older plaster can be pulled by new Multifinish, if there's any weakness in it. You end up having a crack within a few months after the new plastering is finished. It's a bit more expensive, but very much safer. Sorry you had such a bad experience. Guys like that ruin people's homes, because it ends up becoming more expensive to fix and most tradesmen aren't keen working over a duff job like that.
Answered26 August 2020
0