Any Plasterers Out There?

[John]

Dear All, I am decorating my 1930's house and after stripping the walls would like to paint them. The walls are 'OK' but not good enough for painting as they are. I will be having them skimmed but I cannot do it due to lack of skill with a float and hawk!! I have had 3 guys round but only had one quote, if there are any plasterers in this group could you give me a price indication on this job please? I realise you haven't seen it but a 'ball park' figure would be OK. All areas to be skimmed only, (doors and windows not taken into account for this exercise).

Living Room 14 feet x 13 feet x 9 feet high, ceiling not to be done Dining Room 15 feet x 13 feet x 9 feet high, ceiling not to be done Hallway 17 feet long x 9 feet high, end (front door) nor ceiling to be done Stairs 16 feet high at tallest part Landing, 16 feet long 9 feet high, ceiling not to be done Bathroom, ceiling only to be plasterboarded and skimmed, 8 feet x 8 feet Fireplace 5 feet wide x 18 inches deep to be plasterboarded and skimmed.

The only quote I have had is for £1200.00 including all materials, beadings, boards, etc. I think the height of the stairs has put the other two off as it is over a fortnight since they came to look. I am tempted to go with the guy that has quoted but I am wondering if his quote is OK or is he building in some kind of 'I'll quote high and if I get it OK' factor? If it helps I am in Wakefield West Yorkshire.

Cheers

John

[Dave Jones]

Sounds ok to me, I would of expected around the £1500 mark

[Christian McArdle]

Sounds pretty good to me. You'd pay a lot more than that round my way.

Christian.

[Joker7]

----- Original Message ----- From: "John" Newsgroups: free.uk.diy.home,uk.d-i-y Sent: Friday, March 04, 2005 12:14 AM Subject: Any Plasterers Out There?

| Living Room 14 feet x 13 feet x 9 feet high, ceiling not to be done | Dining Room 15 feet x 13 feet x 9 feet high, ceiling not to be done | Hallway 17 feet long x 9 feet high, end (front door) nor ceiling to be done | Stairs 16 feet high at tallest part | Landing, 16 feet long 9 feet high, ceiling not to be done | Bathroom, ceiling only to be plasterboarded and skimmed, 8 feet x 8 feet | Fireplace 5 feet wide x 18 inches deep to be plasterboarded and skimmed. | | The only quote I have had is for £1200.00 including all materials, beadings, | boards, etc.

A fair price maybe a bit on the cheap side,try to see some of the guy's other work. As most of the price is wages don't part with more than £150/200 up-front.

Chris

[simon beer]

sounds pretty good, I was quoted £700 for one room rendered and then skimmed, plus materials. Did it myself. If you think the guys work is ok then grab him and just get it done. I wouldn't be to upset if I found out a month or so later that I could of got it done for £1100 instead of £1200!

[r.rain]

skimmed.

trouble getting a plasterer to qoute, get away! :)

Anyway I have had quite a few quotes for my gaff in the past and by the sounds of it yours does sound good.

Cheers

Richard

[kevin77]

I work as a QS and I know plasterers are getting good money at the moment as they are hard to find. All the new apartments in Leeds/Manchester/Newcastle now are metal stud partition and boarded by 'semi skilled' operatives. The plasterer comes in and skims for about £5/m2+ - its easy money for a trained bloke. Skimming your existing walls would maybe be a bit more difficult (depending on how square everything is)but for instance living room would be about 45m2@£5 = £225, say the area of windows = cost of angle beads etc, etc. etc. £1200 for the house may be OK (cash?) the guy might have to hire some trestles to get to the staircase. Just go with your instinct, is he a plasterer with a bit of experience in which case he will be fine , only problem is he might leave an almighty mess to clear up (plastering is a messy trade) or he might be a chancer who has mixed plaster for his mate and thinks he can be a tradesman, maybe he will c*ck it up. My experience of some old houses is that they have 'structural' wallpaper. If you start pulling wallpaper off, tons of plaster come with it. Sometimes better to paper over & paint. Give it a tap to find out. Your skimming price might double if there is making good to do. Good luck anyway.

I am decorating my 1930's house and after stripping the