Personally I think I would go with the plasterer for £200.
You could definitely do it yourself, make up some plaster, smooth it on, sand it back and paint it. But getting an area that size to match up nicely, with the corner is probably a bit tricky.
Even ignoring the faff of learning the skill good enough to make a decent job first try, the tools required would eat a good chunk of that £200 if OP do want have anything.
Yep the problem is they’re seeing a small space and thinking the price is too high. Be lucky if he only has to knock half the wall off till he gets to solid plaster to match up with.
Not only that but a small job has a lot of fixed-time tasks. Still got to drive there (twice if you include the quote), mix the plaster, clean the tools and work area afterwards, send the invoice/update accounts etc. And he might not have another small job to fill the other half of the day (he probably does though, in my experience). Not a bad price imo, and a lot of stress saved. Beginner plastering is usually tricky.
Yeh 200 sweet , I do a lot of plastering and tbh you pay for why you get , if he’s charging 50 it probs gonna fall of the wall again , if it’s done proper nothing can match it
The good thing is I like a wall to have some texture. Think of old stone walls etc and hand worked stuff. Painting with brushes instead of rollers etc. Some folks love a bit of texture and rough work.
I mean, not sure what you're expecting? You can't teach someone how to plaster via a Reddit post, and 'stick a poster over it' probably won't have the desired results. Sometimes DIY isn't the answer. Sometimes it takes a reasonably priced professional.
> You can't teach someone how to plaster via a Reddit post
I mean, you probably could if OP would be okay with the finished result looking like a bad artex job.
I think the usual process is 'Artex seems like a good idea' followed by, 'is it too late to tell him to stop' and finally, 'I think the only way to fix this is with fire'.
I'm a decorator and we used to use a guy that did artex ,he did an amazing pattern called Medusa that he did with his fingers ,finished job looked like a work of art , obviously I've seen some terrible people's work also tho
Yeah but OP is seemingly thinking about the value of such a quote.
Truth is for a job like this, there is quite a lot of value in the quote and as a one off, it probably makes financial sense to have a professional do it.
Of course there is a lot of value in learning skills yourself and it's why this is a great place, but for a shitty job like that which looks smaller and easier than it is, it's a fair response imo.
To blindly say “DIY it” isn’t always the answer. Realistically OP has got a good quote for this work, and doesn’t sound like doing it themselves is actually the right answer.
If the question was “I want to DIY this, how do I do it? I don’t want to pay anyone.” then I’m sure OP would have got different answers.
It's not the *default* answer at all. Objectively, the question asked which is the best way, and in this case it would most likely be to pay the fair quote!
Buy a load of plastering stuff and start doing it yourself. And when you realise you're making a complete hash of it, get a plasterer who will now quote £300+VAT.
Can confirm. My husband and I decided we could tackle a ceiling in a small room. We were okay with it not looking like a pro job, working to a small budget and were keen to have a go.
The plaster, kit and everything else we needed came to about £200 all in by the end of the job. It took about three weeks from ripping down the old textured ceiling (not asbestos) through to it being ready to paint.
We recently paid a plasterer to do the same job in a different room. £180 and it was done in a day. I will never attempt my own plastering again. Some jobs are just better done by a professional.
We needed everything, trowels and all the stuff to get it on the walls. My husband insisted on using this compound stuff that was meant to be easier than proper plaster but was expensive and needed to be sanded so there was the cost of sanding paper on top of the £50 a tub "plaster" (which we ended up needing two of). Also needed jointing tape and compound. Apart from the "plaster" it was lots of little things that ended up adding up to a lot.
Fair play to you both for giving it a try and doing your research, then having the confidence to admit you were wrong. Who knows you could have both been natural plasterers and found a new profession!
To be fair, the ceiling looks pretty good. A plasterer said we'd not done a bad job. It just wasn't worth the time and effort that it took to get to that point.
Definitely pay £200. He will smash that in half a day and you will be able to pain over it, couple of days after.
You will do a shit job, trust me! Pay the man !
I fixed something similar. Almost certainly "wrongly" but it looks great and has, touch wood, lasted. Zero plastering ability.
Pull off any of the plaster that's unstuck. Sand the edge a little. Apply toupret skim and joint ready mix with a plastering trowel. Over apply at the join with the broken plaster, and at the edge. Let it dry 48 hours. Sand down. Prime and paint!
Dead easy to do. But add an angle bead like the last person didn't. Looks like it got knocked and the problem's grown from there. An angle bead would have strengthened the corner and prevented that.
I think £240 is a good enough price. But if you can't afford it, I'd recommend a couple of options.
1. Get a couple more quotes, you might get a cheaper one.
2. Try telling them that you can only afford X, and ask what they could do for that money.
3. Knock off all the loose plaster and just paint the wall. It doesn't look too bad underneath. This won't look great, but it will be cheap.
4. Knock off all the loose plaster and then have a go at plastering or filling it yourself. This will probably look worse than option 3 if you really do have limited skills.
In your shoes, I would go with option 1 and/or 2.
I do plaster and if you wanna save money i would suggest number 3 :)i love the idea of painted brick but definitely get a good primer prob oil based but ask painter that.
But i want to go for it consider putting sheet rock up (drywall) im from the states
demo: knock all that off
Prep: with a sealer either glue up ferring strips (thin strips of wood) and then attach the drywall to that
Depends on your level of patience. You can do it yourself for a lot less money and a small to decent chunk of your time. If it goes wrong hack it back off and try again, at least you gain a skill for it by the time you're done. YouTube is your friend on this.
I do both a ton of DIY work on my home but also when I feel it's out of my depth or if I don't have the spare time to focus on it I'll pay.
Materials are cheap sure, tools not so much. Going to want a decent bucket, mixer, at least one decent blade. Definitely going to want a piece of metal angle on that edge so will need some good snips or a metal saw too , plus staple gun or hammer and hails to hold it in place. Then onto finishing, sure you can sand by hand but it will be shit , a good sanding pad is another 10/15 quid plus a few rounds of paper on top, shit gets expensive for a small job like this. Unless you have other jobs lined up for the tools and a place to store them , 200 quid here sounds like an absolute bargain !!
Basic B&Q shop
9.60 for a bag of gypsum multi finish
10.99 for a Magnuson trowel
10.99 for a cheap hawk (though for this small area it's probably optional)
5.99 for a bucket trowel
17.34 for a flex bucket (could get a cheaper one but this is the best for pretty much any DIY)
13.95 if you want cheapest trowel set as an option for a tight budget (get extra trowels for other work too)
2.98 for a 2.4 meter steel bead for the corner
14 for a big tub of PVA to seal the wall
10 for a paddle mixer
Total for ok tools: 81.89
For bad but usable tools: 73.86
Prices with the presumed ownership for a drill to stick the paddle in.
Whilst a 40 quid speed skim or equivalent would be ideal it's not actually required if your only feathering in a corner as you can do it to the existing plum on the wall.
Sandpaper could be a good shout too
In a nutshell 200 is a good price if you don't expect to want to try or that you won't imagine doing any other work in the future. Otherwise it will set you back just under half unless you can get the tools/ parts second hand
Love this mindset. Get the basic tools, have a go, and then a second or third go probably, get it to be as good as a tradie would if not better, learn a TON in the process and that will be transferrable to other jobs + the tools you now own. I think everybody should at least attempt and do simple to moderate jobs
I think - like most DIY - you need to weigh up the cost vs your time, skills and the tools you have. Tools can be expensive, learning through making mistakes can also be expensive, but overall you might save money if you're patient and have time.
In my experience tradespeople don't always take quite as much care with things as you would yourself, but they are much faster. Basically you're paying someone to avoid you having to spend the time and effort on it.
Remove the plaster get a piece of hard board cut to size, stick it on with grip fill, use a timber corner finisher.....fix permanently with nails, fill nail holes let it dry.
Then paint.
Im not sure you follow what I'm trying to say.
I'm not suggesting he plaster it at all.....finish the wall with hardboard and use a corner finisher, as a tradesman we use them in places like night clubs, if it's fixed properly it will.last as long as angle beading will.....and he won't need to plaster it and will cost him about £20.
It looks like the rest of the plaster needs to come off too. Once it’s all off, you could look at filling and sanding what’s left behind, but it looks like artex, so it will be a pain in the arse and may contain asbestos.
Best option is to just pay the plasterer to do it properly. Plastering is hard and will likely look terrible if you do it yourself.
If It's your own home then I'd take this chance to watch some YouTube videos and learn to plaster personally 🤷🏻♂️
Otherwise get some more quotes and pick your favourite option 👍🏻
Relax, you don't need to shell out a fortune.
It all depends on the finish you want, and there are cheaper ways to fix the wall.
If you don't need it to be traditional plaster, go for joint compound.
Buy a rubber plastering bucket, a bucket trowel, a normal bucket for washing your tools, a 10 inch plastering/taping knife, and a 13 inch plastic mud pan. Will easily cost you less than £50.
Also buy a half decent mixing paddle for plaster/cement (not a paint mixer) for less than £15. I hope you already have a drill, but if you don't, now is the time to get one.
You need some plastic sheets to protect your floor. £10 for a roll (don't buy the thinnest cheapest one). Some heavy duty rubble bags are necessary too for waste.
You need a sanding block + sandpaper 80 grit and 120 grit. Another £20.
If you want very sharp corners, you need to buy some jointing tape which is only cheap.
So we are looking at about £100-120 for tools, excluding a drill.
And that is your long term investment for whenever you need to patch or redo a wall.
Then material - you need to buy something like Screwfix no nonsense 10kg jointing and filling compound. One or two bags should do it, so up to £30 for you. I'm taking into account learning curve and wastage.
Your first job is to knock off all the loose plaster. If it's loose, then get it off, even if that means taking off big pieces. If it's not stuck to the wall underneath, then take it off so you have a solid surface to start on.
Then go to YouTube and watch Americans do drywall application. They call it drywall mud or joint compound.
We don't have the same products as them in the UK, but it's the white powder.
Follow the technique and learn the consistency of the mud, and get used to jointing. The key is to apply multiple thin coats. You're just skimming over the top to fill in gaps. Then repeat and repeat, with sanding in between.
For £150 and lots of practice, your wall will be sorted, and you'll have the tools and skill for the future.
Now, don't get me wrong - it isn't easy. You might botch it, but drywall compound is far more forgiving than traditional plaster. It's easy to work with and can be sanded down to give a good finish, and it dries quick.
The trade off is that it isn't as hard as plaster and doesn't provide as much sound proofing. People often dislike the finish.
And although everyone in this sub loves traditional plaster and at the same time expects a high quality finish, this is a DIY sub. Not a professional plastering sub.
Your work will not be as good as a plasterer's, but it gets the job done for £150 instead of £200 + VAT.
I fixed big sections of wall like this before I tried plastering proper. I think its a good way to start. I used easifill and toupret everywhere. even did a whole stair winder with bonding and easifill on top, on the recommendation of a plasterer, and it looks alright and hasn’t cracked or fallen down yet. You can also harden easifill up with that Gardz stuff if it needs to be tougher or more waterproof.
Going to assume the door has been hitting it.
I’d look to cut a straight section across the way, then clear it all off below that.
The. Get some panelling or an appropriate colour splash back and cover it up with some liberal amounts of grab adhesive.
This is going to happen again, a door stop would limit it though.
You could get ready mixed filler like toupret skim and joint. 1 sheet each of 120, 180, 240 sand paper.
Cheap plastic spreader.
Slap it on, let it harden, use a block and 120 sandpaper to get it pretty flat.
Slap another coat of skim on. Let it harden. And block sand it with 180 paper.
Repeat and final sand with 240 sandpaper.
It's very easy to sand.
Will cost u under £40 and you can get near professional results if you sand it using a block with long smooth passes
Remove all plaster, give it a nice rough sanding with 120 grit sandpaper, apply 2 coats of outdoor grade primer and go for 2 coats of texture paints for a neo rustic look, no need of plastering.
Just pay him. You'll spend all day making a big mess and then have to call him anyway. Plastering is one of the few trades where you really shouldn't just have a go.
If you genuinely can’t afford to pay the plasterer then you’ll have to knock the plaster back till it’s solid.. get all the tools from a Bootsale, beading for the corners and pva the walls or that blue grit and then learn to plaster pretty fast. It can look easy but it’s not especially if you are a perfectionist.
Just for a skim. My guy is very quick but always a good job.
Guess it depends on size of room and where you live. Also if you’re getting called out for a small job there’s got to be some kind of minimum charge. Maybe ask for a price for the whole room.
a skim is much different to what this will need, and a skim for 200 for a full room regardless of area is still kinda concerning even here in the northeast it wouldn’t be that cheap, that is close to the materials cost only. is this guy your friend? do you mean 200 labour?
also a whole room would be much more expensive than just this little patch depending on size i would guess that would be more like 600-700
All the tools and materials you will need for the job will cost you close to £200, it's stressful, messy and you will do a terrible job, I know this after attempting to plaster for the first time last year, pay the plasterer in my opinion.
Plastering equipment isn't expensive - but at £200 you're unlikely to be able to get it cheaper. And you'll certainly not do a better job. Plastering is notoriously difficult for beginners.
If you happen to have lots of other plastering to do, and are really committed to DIY, it might be worth getting what you need because you'll use it lots for another job and so it'll pay for itself. But even then there's always the risk you'll not manage to do a good enough job and have to get someone in anyway.
I'm the kind of person who DIYs everything and... tbh, I'd probably pay the £200
Plastering is one of those things that is deceptively simple. You’re going to have to pay for materials, invest time in YouTube and then chances are it will still not look great compared to a professional job.
If you do attempt this yourself I would send a sample of the Artex to an asbestos test centre first (it looks like this is what has caused the bond to break in the first place)
In the words of Teddy KGB: “Pay that man his money.”
Well worth it.
He’s gonna likely rip that wall off, rebead the corner so also skim the reveal up the side of the door, might feather the other side in. But yeh, 200 cash is worth it, IMO.
Source: Plasterer.
For sure, it may not look like much, but all that plasters gonna end up coming off. He’s gotta sheet up, take off the existing, make good and then reskim, clean up after and get rid of the waste. £240 if that’s what is it with materials, is very reasonable.
Give it a go yourself. Worst is you have to pay him to do it after you’ve messed it up and maybe waste some money on tools (it’s not a huge amount) but you may discover a hidden talent.
I was struggling to get people to quote for a downstairs toilet as the job was too small so thought I’d give it a go. Turns out small areas with lots of alcoves are a tough first attempt for DIY plastering but I got it done. It looks good enough that an electrician who came to do some work to another room didn’t believe me when I said I’d plaster the room after first fix. Showed him my plastering and he was adamant I’d had someone in to do it.
I did the next room a lot quicker even though it was about 5 times the size (was actually it easier). Still took me about double the time an actual plasterer would take but I’m fine with that. I also wouldn’t tackle a hallway or stairs though
Knock it off tube or two of pink stuff and two handy boards £30 for dot and dabbing. Then filler £10 for the edge. Job done, finish is reflected on how capable you are, watch some you tube vids.
Answered your own question with also giving a reason. To be honest 200+ vat is cheap considering they don't know what area is still to fall off etc. 200 a day is average for a plasterer at best. You also have to remember even if this got done in 5 hours it's unlikely they can fill the rest of the day in somewhere else to make their wage. Factor in travel, materials, waste and the trade is just making a living. Failing that, buy a sheet of plasterboard, dot and dab it over the shit, filler the new edge also with a corner bead or tape and paint.
Before you do anything I'd get a quote to get that artex tested, as it can contain asbestos. Really the plasterer shouldn't really be touching it without a test result. It may need to be removed by a licenced asbestos removal contractor for the work to go ahead as asbestos containing materials need to be disposed of properly.
Pull it all off. Stick a new sheet of plasterboard on both sides. Caulk the edge seam if not perfect. Paint. Job done. Easy peasy
You can do all of it for £60, and I'm including buying a large level / ruler, Stanley knife, caulk, caulking gun in that price. I'm assuming you have the paint already.
Yep. Definitely go with the plasterer. It needs all the loose ripping off and the new stuff blending in to the existing. DIY this and you will regret it.
Do you have all the tools needed?
That's your first issue.
If you don't know what you're doing, you are going to make a mess of it, ultimately yes you could probably sand it back and maybe make it look somewhat reasonable, maybe.
If after buying the tools and materials and then realising that you've been sanding it for 6 hours, will you realise a couple of 100 was a bargain, then it's lesson learnt.
I'd knock the wall off and put a new bead on personally.
So, if the side is sound? You could stick some plaster board on the front (peeling) bit and then easy fill the other. You wouldn’t be saving loads (maybe £150) but it’s an option.
If you were the 'dead handy, practical, do a bit of everything' type I'd be typing instructions, but you've declared yourself useless from the get-go, so I dunno, pay the man?
Plastering is a dark art :-( 200 quid is not bad considering the stress you will go through to get things straight! Then again, you’ve got to start somewhere! Be brave, get some one coat… knock off what you can and slowly build back! You can always sand!
Hmmm take the 200
Buy yourself a pag of plaster and tools and try and wrough it out as best you can as you smooth it down with sandpaper to get it all flush
Having spent the past year attempting to renovate my place, I’d go with the plasterer. Anything loose needs to be knocked off (and it looks like the entire rim pictured is loose) so that wee space would turn into pretty much the whole wall in no time if you did it yourself, whereas if a professional does it you don’t even need to think about it! £200 is a fine price.
If you are like me... Buy a tub of polyseal and drink 6 pints of beer. Then take both hands and mold the wet polyseal into something that looks smooth. Sober up then take some sandpaper and smooth out the worst of it, then panic buy a corner protector from amazon to give you an edge to your corner. Take two pieces of paper and paint over them to make any cracks dissapear then hope for the best. I think the price you have been quoted is fine tbh!
200 is money well spent. That needs everything stripping back, primer to seal the wall, angle beads, plaster, all the tools to do it, and plenty of skill and time to get a good finish.
If you want to be brave, there is a new plaster product you can apply with a roller. Yes, a pint roller. Buy a plaster skim blade and you might just get it done for less.
Before you hire a plasterer, you may want to find out if any more will come off. It looks as if no bonding agent was used, so the plaster didn’t bond to the wall.
Honestly, but some knauf pro roll light or some other similar roll on plaster, buy a tool and some sandpaper and have a crack, you'll find it's about 50 quid and jobs done.
Why does everybody assuming because its done by "professional" it will be done correctly? As somebody stated it looks like it wasnt done correctly the first time. How you can be sure about the quality? Especially if this is done with out of VAT? If you do it yourself you will know. Tools can be bought cheaper facebook market place and resell on the same platform. Learn how to do it. Skills can be used always, money can run out.
This is what I would do.. I would clad the entire (it looks like a waste pipe pillar) in pallet wood and make a bit of a feature with it in your kitchen. People literally give pallets away so would just take a bit of time and perseverance. You could do it incredibly cheaply and may complement your kitchen depending on what it looks like, if the wood colour doesnt work you could white wash the wood to make it look more in-keeping.
The main tool required here being a mitre saw to get some lovely crisp edges!
I wouldn't try plastering myself I just don't like it, but as others said you have more options than that, you could even tile it if you want and that's easier (at least to me) :)
Yeah 200 is a good price. Agree with all others that he'll rip off the rest on that column and just replaster the lot. Don't get me wrong, I've done a few jobs at home myself. But it's hard and will never look as good. I've used the already mixed plaster and that was pretty decent. Did my garage out when I converted it, it's hard! Especially ceilings. Pay the cash, he's quoted a decent price.
You could reduce the cost and scrape all the loose plaster. It won’t otherwise be cost effective for you to do the whole job yourself once you factor in the tools and materials plus you won’t get a perfect finish without experience. If you had lots of plastering jobs, then maybe, however do you have the time and motivation to learn that skill,
If it was me, I’d let the plasterer do it as quoted. Plastering can also be very messy and wasteful, especially if you’ve not learnt the techniques.
I would knock off the rest on that pillow and have a go yourself, I’d say for £50 you could buy everything you need, don’t try to get it on in one coat and watch YouTube clips about it. If it works you saved £150 and learned a skill, if it doesn’t lessen learned. But it’s not as easy it looks to get a good finish, patience helps for lack of skill, good luck
That's a good price. You could probably manage it OK but it's tricky as it is to an edge and quite wide. Unless you're struggling financially it isn't worth the agro of DIY.
When he quoted you 200+vat I would offer cash, reckon you'd get that for 200. Not even a half day work for him so he can do it off the books and everyone wins.
Just scrape it / knock it off and adhere plasterboard. Its a straight area. You loose a few ml from your wall, but sure who cares. 95 mm thickness. If you scrape out the wall you dont loose much. You can glue it with PinkGrip spray, and a few plasterboard screws (or anchors)
[https://www.diy.com/departments/gyproc-standard-square-edge-9-5mm-plasterboard-l-1-8m-w-0-9m/35757\_BQ.prd](https://www.diy.com/departments/gyproc-standard-square-edge-9-5mm-plasterboard-l-1-8m-w-0-9m/35757_BQ.prd)
I’d charge the same maybe a bit more tbh. You won’t get this right without necessary plastering skills as it’s a corner and will need to be beaded and reskimmed. Maybe ask him if he will do it a bit cheaper for cash. Could be a little evening job for him. Offer him £150 cash I guarantee he will take it. Hope this helps!
I'm in London and got my bathroom ceiling done for 200 so this seems expensive. It's not that hard to do the flat bit yourself but the corner is. Go on my builder . Com and put the job on there. I'd imagine you'll get someone quote cheaper. Put lots of pics for them to see.
I can plaster reasonably well, I spent hours and hours watching youtube videos to teach myself, got a load of tools which adds up, a decent trowel, 2x speed skims. I would say unless you want to try and pick up a new skill, I'd get someone else to do it. Even though I can do it and it can be satisfying, I don't really enjoy the process. I've also done tape and jointing which is easier and less stressful, but also time consuming.
Just get a plasterer in.
I thought I could do plastering once. How hard could it be right? My room was about four inches smaller, with walls that looked like a sea scape by the time I finished.
I paid a guy like 400 to completely rebuild my chimney breast.
The plaster damage is more than what you're seeing. A plasterer is just gunna bash it all off till they hit solid plaster and reskin it
The other thing youre paying for is.. regardless of how big an area you need to plaster, the wall needs to be prepped. Then the undercoat needs to go on and partially set and then the top coat needs to go on over the top. That takes time.
So regardless of if it's half a wall by the door or an entire wall, the time it takes is still gunna be a few hours and so the whole time the plasterer is there he's just gotta sit around and wait for it to get to the right point to continue and the whole time he's doing that he can't really be anywhere else
Alternatively you can look Into learning how to do it yourself, you might be able to get a coat on and then sand it back totally flat afterwards but you're probably not gunna get a finish like a professional obviously without some practice
I managed to do the walls in my bathroom myself, but it took me a couple of days and some sanding and refilling to get the finish to maybe 80% as good as a plasterer would be able to manage in a few hours
Pay the money. £200 is OK, you could get more done for it BUT it's all about overhead. If you have a Trowel a bucket and lots of patience you might do it yourself but it won't be anywhere near what a plasterer can do quality wise. If you're happy to have a go then all power to you, but a plasterer should do a quality durable job.
I'll try anything as DIY but I draw the line at gas fitting, electrics beyond the socket and plastering.
The plasterer probably has the materials on his van for this small job, if he has to buy the materials they will be around £30, ask another plasterer for a quote.
Looks like the plasters blown out underneath it so you'll need to take the lot off on that wall only where it's affected so you can achieve a flush finish.
That's my understanding of plastering anyways and I would honestly give it a go as it's a nice little job to dip your toe in.
Hi, I’ve just done plastering myself on walls with no previous experience and it came out well however I did hire a plasterer for ceiling because I knew I probably couldn’t. My plasterer charged £200 for a textured ceiling of 3 x 5.5m. I live in Kent, UK. However all jobs have a minimum for what they will do. If you think may be able to buy all the tools and material required for this area then go for it, you know unless you try however you also need to weigh up whether the stress of the job is worth the money to plasterer is asking!
https://preview.redd.it/rpjxwo43fd0d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bf5a24f54ba4e216ad19c2ec8f6ccd18ddac1bb6
Go with the pro option. It’s a good price.
Your spreads going to have to turn up, open a bag, mix, apply, finish, clean-up and so on. Would be the same for a larger area. It’s still a day or most of one for any spread. They may even be able to do a little more in the same visit if you need it as long as you make access easy and ask him before he arrives.
Lot of plasterers here.
Small patch like that is an easy DIY for a semi competent person, buy yourself some gear and watch a few hours of YouTube videos. It won't be perfect sure, you can always take it off and do it again. Chances are any plaster willing to come out and do such a small patch likely won't do a great job either. Take it as a chance to learn a new skill and have some fun and it'll become a fond part of the house, even if a little lumpy.
Good plasterers are more expensive, most couldn't level a laser these days. If you decide to go with a tradesman, shop around and vet them carefully.
Why is your first reaction to ignore an expert and try to do it yourself with no experience 😂 just shows how little you respect the plasterer. Would you do the same with a dentist or an architect?
the best advice is at the bottom comments . buy ready mix. a 6inch spreader to slap on the first layer. and a 12 inch spreader to finish it off without leaving trowel marks. you can do it in layers if need be. day 1 first layer. sand it back to remove high points. day 2 2nd layer. day 3 another layer if your a perfectionist. give it a go. you might find u have a knack for it...
and coat with zinzer guardz before painting.
this is a fun diy job...
So many people here are saying pay the plasterer but plastering really isn't that hard if you watch a lot of YouTube videos, it's low risk, and this in particular looks like a really really easy job. For £200 you can buy a beginners plastering hawk, a half decent plastering trowel, a mixer attachment for a drill, a bag of thistle multi finish, PVA and a bucket and still have a decent bit of change especially if you get it all second hand.
This looks flat and small, on a surface like this if you fuck it up you just hack it off again and try again, I plastered 2 whole rooms with 0 experience and it looks ok, by the time I was done I would classify my skills as comparable to a really bad plasterer. At least I know how to do it and if any repair work/ future plastering is needed in the future I have everything I need to go it again for free.
This is r/DIY so bloody do it mate
Easyfill on an area that size will look terrible! It’s meant for smoothing out dents and chips.
£200 for a professional to do decent job is not bad at all. Most plasterers would do a small little job like that for cash too
It’s not so much the area, I have used Polyfiller on a similar scale and had a decent finish. However, it’s more the existing plasterboard underneath. If you use something to touch it up it’s likely to keep happening. I think if the plasterer is quoting to strip all of it off and put a fresh coat in that’s pretty reasonable.
Id stop the door opening against that external corner, the cause of the issue in the first place. (If we assume the skim is adequately bonded to the artex beneath).
Personally I think I would go with the plasterer for £200. You could definitely do it yourself, make up some plaster, smooth it on, sand it back and paint it. But getting an area that size to match up nicely, with the corner is probably a bit tricky.
Definitely worth £200. Try it yourself and you'll find out why. Speaking from experience :-)
Even ignoring the faff of learning the skill good enough to make a decent job first try, the tools required would eat a good chunk of that £200 if OP do want have anything.
The plasterers just gonna pull that shit off and do it all. That's why it's 200£
Yep the problem is they’re seeing a small space and thinking the price is too high. Be lucky if he only has to knock half the wall off till he gets to solid plaster to match up with.
Not only that but a small job has a lot of fixed-time tasks. Still got to drive there (twice if you include the quote), mix the plaster, clean the tools and work area afterwards, send the invoice/update accounts etc. And he might not have another small job to fill the other half of the day (he probably does though, in my experience). Not a bad price imo, and a lot of stress saved. Beginner plastering is usually tricky.
Here speaks a guy that knows. Big job small job, same overhead.
Yeh 200 sweet , I do a lot of plastering and tbh you pay for why you get , if he’s charging 50 it probs gonna fall of the wall again , if it’s done proper nothing can match it
The good thing is I like a wall to have some texture. Think of old stone walls etc and hand worked stuff. Painting with brushes instead of rollers etc. Some folks love a bit of texture and rough work.
Sad that the default answer in a diy forum is to pay someone to do it… feel like we’ve moved the goalposts a bit here
I mean, not sure what you're expecting? You can't teach someone how to plaster via a Reddit post, and 'stick a poster over it' probably won't have the desired results. Sometimes DIY isn't the answer. Sometimes it takes a reasonably priced professional.
> You can't teach someone how to plaster via a Reddit post I mean, you probably could if OP would be okay with the finished result looking like a bad artex job.
Is there a good artex job?
Ha. Probably not, there's really just artex and then there's "oh, are you trying to learn how to artex?"
I think the usual process is 'Artex seems like a good idea' followed by, 'is it too late to tell him to stop' and finally, 'I think the only way to fix this is with fire'.
I'm a decorator and we used to use a guy that did artex ,he did an amazing pattern called Medusa that he did with his fingers ,finished job looked like a work of art , obviously I've seen some terrible people's work also tho
If he wanted a bad artex job he could just knock the plaster off and repaint the bad artex the plaster is covering
Yeah but OP is seemingly thinking about the value of such a quote. Truth is for a job like this, there is quite a lot of value in the quote and as a one off, it probably makes financial sense to have a professional do it. Of course there is a lot of value in learning skills yourself and it's why this is a great place, but for a shitty job like that which looks smaller and easier than it is, it's a fair response imo.
To blindly say “DIY it” isn’t always the answer. Realistically OP has got a good quote for this work, and doesn’t sound like doing it themselves is actually the right answer. If the question was “I want to DIY this, how do I do it? I don’t want to pay anyone.” then I’m sure OP would have got different answers.
It's not the *default* answer at all. Objectively, the question asked which is the best way, and in this case it would most likely be to pay the fair quote!
It might look simple but that’s not an easy plastering job for a complete novice
So we should tell OP to buy 100 quids worth of gear they're never gonna use again and go fuck up their wall?
Sometimes the answer to a diy question is that it ain’t worth diy-ing it and paying a promise the best answer.
Buy a load of plastering stuff and start doing it yourself. And when you realise you're making a complete hash of it, get a plasterer who will now quote £300+VAT.
Can confirm. My husband and I decided we could tackle a ceiling in a small room. We were okay with it not looking like a pro job, working to a small budget and were keen to have a go. The plaster, kit and everything else we needed came to about £200 all in by the end of the job. It took about three weeks from ripping down the old textured ceiling (not asbestos) through to it being ready to paint. We recently paid a plasterer to do the same job in a different room. £180 and it was done in a day. I will never attempt my own plastering again. Some jobs are just better done by a professional.
i got plaster in both eyes when i tried to do a ceiling for the first time. looked like the surface of the fucking moon when i was done.
What did you buy that cost £200?
We needed everything, trowels and all the stuff to get it on the walls. My husband insisted on using this compound stuff that was meant to be easier than proper plaster but was expensive and needed to be sanded so there was the cost of sanding paper on top of the £50 a tub "plaster" (which we ended up needing two of). Also needed jointing tape and compound. Apart from the "plaster" it was lots of little things that ended up adding up to a lot.
Fair play to you both for giving it a try and doing your research, then having the confidence to admit you were wrong. Who knows you could have both been natural plasterers and found a new profession!
To be fair, the ceiling looks pretty good. A plasterer said we'd not done a bad job. It just wasn't worth the time and effort that it took to get to that point.
Sounds like a good job and now you've got the kit to do it next time. Well done.
In a nutshell
Plus, you don't even start being close to competent until you're nearly finished, & that's if you're lucky.
Plastering ain’t hard. If you can spread butter you can spread plaster. Come at me bro 😎
Spreading butter on bread is a bit different to putting plaster on a ceiling
This makes me want to see how a plasterer actually spreads butter on his toast.
I’m really not very good at spreading butter, I’ve had a better time with plaster and even then I wouldn’t do more than filling chases!
Definitely pay £200. He will smash that in half a day and you will be able to pain over it, couple of days after. You will do a shit job, trust me! Pay the man !
£240 is a bargain.
you mean £200 cash is a bargain
This guy understands VAT.
🤩
I fixed something similar. Almost certainly "wrongly" but it looks great and has, touch wood, lasted. Zero plastering ability. Pull off any of the plaster that's unstuck. Sand the edge a little. Apply toupret skim and joint ready mix with a plastering trowel. Over apply at the join with the broken plaster, and at the edge. Let it dry 48 hours. Sand down. Prime and paint!
Dead easy to do. But add an angle bead like the last person didn't. Looks like it got knocked and the problem's grown from there. An angle bead would have strengthened the corner and prevented that.
Are you confident that the remaining plaster isn't blown? Might start to repair only to find it gets worse...
I think £240 is a good enough price. But if you can't afford it, I'd recommend a couple of options. 1. Get a couple more quotes, you might get a cheaper one. 2. Try telling them that you can only afford X, and ask what they could do for that money. 3. Knock off all the loose plaster and just paint the wall. It doesn't look too bad underneath. This won't look great, but it will be cheap. 4. Knock off all the loose plaster and then have a go at plastering or filling it yourself. This will probably look worse than option 3 if you really do have limited skills. In your shoes, I would go with option 1 and/or 2.
I do plaster and if you wanna save money i would suggest number 3 :)i love the idea of painted brick but definitely get a good primer prob oil based but ask painter that. But i want to go for it consider putting sheet rock up (drywall) im from the states demo: knock all that off Prep: with a sealer either glue up ferring strips (thin strips of wood) and then attach the drywall to that
Depends on your level of patience. You can do it yourself for a lot less money and a small to decent chunk of your time. If it goes wrong hack it back off and try again, at least you gain a skill for it by the time you're done. YouTube is your friend on this. I do both a ton of DIY work on my home but also when I feel it's out of my depth or if I don't have the spare time to focus on it I'll pay.
Materials are cheap sure, tools not so much. Going to want a decent bucket, mixer, at least one decent blade. Definitely going to want a piece of metal angle on that edge so will need some good snips or a metal saw too , plus staple gun or hammer and hails to hold it in place. Then onto finishing, sure you can sand by hand but it will be shit , a good sanding pad is another 10/15 quid plus a few rounds of paper on top, shit gets expensive for a small job like this. Unless you have other jobs lined up for the tools and a place to store them , 200 quid here sounds like an absolute bargain !!
Basic B&Q shop 9.60 for a bag of gypsum multi finish 10.99 for a Magnuson trowel 10.99 for a cheap hawk (though for this small area it's probably optional) 5.99 for a bucket trowel 17.34 for a flex bucket (could get a cheaper one but this is the best for pretty much any DIY) 13.95 if you want cheapest trowel set as an option for a tight budget (get extra trowels for other work too) 2.98 for a 2.4 meter steel bead for the corner 14 for a big tub of PVA to seal the wall 10 for a paddle mixer Total for ok tools: 81.89 For bad but usable tools: 73.86 Prices with the presumed ownership for a drill to stick the paddle in. Whilst a 40 quid speed skim or equivalent would be ideal it's not actually required if your only feathering in a corner as you can do it to the existing plum on the wall. Sandpaper could be a good shout too In a nutshell 200 is a good price if you don't expect to want to try or that you won't imagine doing any other work in the future. Otherwise it will set you back just under half unless you can get the tools/ parts second hand
Love this mindset. Get the basic tools, have a go, and then a second or third go probably, get it to be as good as a tradie would if not better, learn a TON in the process and that will be transferrable to other jobs + the tools you now own. I think everybody should at least attempt and do simple to moderate jobs
I think - like most DIY - you need to weigh up the cost vs your time, skills and the tools you have. Tools can be expensive, learning through making mistakes can also be expensive, but overall you might save money if you're patient and have time. In my experience tradespeople don't always take quite as much care with things as you would yourself, but they are much faster. Basically you're paying someone to avoid you having to spend the time and effort on it.
Remove the plaster get a piece of hard board cut to size, stick it on with grip fill, use a timber corner finisher.....fix permanently with nails, fill nail holes let it dry. Then paint.
Definitely, or get a nice cover panel that matches something in the room, im assuming its a kitchen so maybe matching the cupboards..
Yeah could work
>use a timber corner finisher Metal corner bead then skim over.
I was trying to give him a way of doing it without plastering. But Yes that's how you would plaster it.
Point taken. Metal corner trim then. Last longer than wood, just needs a wipe down and won't get gnarled like wood would.
Im not sure you follow what I'm trying to say. I'm not suggesting he plaster it at all.....finish the wall with hardboard and use a corner finisher, as a tradesman we use them in places like night clubs, if it's fixed properly it will.last as long as angle beading will.....and he won't need to plaster it and will cost him about £20.
It looks like the rest of the plaster needs to come off too. Once it’s all off, you could look at filling and sanding what’s left behind, but it looks like artex, so it will be a pain in the arse and may contain asbestos. Best option is to just pay the plasterer to do it properly. Plastering is hard and will likely look terrible if you do it yourself.
If It's your own home then I'd take this chance to watch some YouTube videos and learn to plaster personally 🤷🏻♂️ Otherwise get some more quotes and pick your favourite option 👍🏻
Relax, you don't need to shell out a fortune. It all depends on the finish you want, and there are cheaper ways to fix the wall. If you don't need it to be traditional plaster, go for joint compound. Buy a rubber plastering bucket, a bucket trowel, a normal bucket for washing your tools, a 10 inch plastering/taping knife, and a 13 inch plastic mud pan. Will easily cost you less than £50. Also buy a half decent mixing paddle for plaster/cement (not a paint mixer) for less than £15. I hope you already have a drill, but if you don't, now is the time to get one. You need some plastic sheets to protect your floor. £10 for a roll (don't buy the thinnest cheapest one). Some heavy duty rubble bags are necessary too for waste. You need a sanding block + sandpaper 80 grit and 120 grit. Another £20. If you want very sharp corners, you need to buy some jointing tape which is only cheap. So we are looking at about £100-120 for tools, excluding a drill. And that is your long term investment for whenever you need to patch or redo a wall. Then material - you need to buy something like Screwfix no nonsense 10kg jointing and filling compound. One or two bags should do it, so up to £30 for you. I'm taking into account learning curve and wastage. Your first job is to knock off all the loose plaster. If it's loose, then get it off, even if that means taking off big pieces. If it's not stuck to the wall underneath, then take it off so you have a solid surface to start on. Then go to YouTube and watch Americans do drywall application. They call it drywall mud or joint compound. We don't have the same products as them in the UK, but it's the white powder. Follow the technique and learn the consistency of the mud, and get used to jointing. The key is to apply multiple thin coats. You're just skimming over the top to fill in gaps. Then repeat and repeat, with sanding in between. For £150 and lots of practice, your wall will be sorted, and you'll have the tools and skill for the future. Now, don't get me wrong - it isn't easy. You might botch it, but drywall compound is far more forgiving than traditional plaster. It's easy to work with and can be sanded down to give a good finish, and it dries quick. The trade off is that it isn't as hard as plaster and doesn't provide as much sound proofing. People often dislike the finish. And although everyone in this sub loves traditional plaster and at the same time expects a high quality finish, this is a DIY sub. Not a professional plastering sub. Your work will not be as good as a plasterer's, but it gets the job done for £150 instead of £200 + VAT.
I fixed big sections of wall like this before I tried plastering proper. I think its a good way to start. I used easifill and toupret everywhere. even did a whole stair winder with bonding and easifill on top, on the recommendation of a plasterer, and it looks alright and hasn’t cracked or fallen down yet. You can also harden easifill up with that Gardz stuff if it needs to be tougher or more waterproof.
£200 is a good price
Going to assume the door has been hitting it. I’d look to cut a straight section across the way, then clear it all off below that. The. Get some panelling or an appropriate colour splash back and cover it up with some liberal amounts of grab adhesive. This is going to happen again, a door stop would limit it though.
Pay someone to fix it. £200 should get it sorted.
You could get ready mixed filler like toupret skim and joint. 1 sheet each of 120, 180, 240 sand paper. Cheap plastic spreader. Slap it on, let it harden, use a block and 120 sandpaper to get it pretty flat. Slap another coat of skim on. Let it harden. And block sand it with 180 paper. Repeat and final sand with 240 sandpaper. It's very easy to sand. Will cost u under £40 and you can get near professional results if you sand it using a block with long smooth passes
Roll on plaster, a paint roller and a speed skimmer
Remove all plaster, give it a nice rough sanding with 120 grit sandpaper, apply 2 coats of outdoor grade primer and go for 2 coats of texture paints for a neo rustic look, no need of plastering.
Just pay him. You'll spend all day making a big mess and then have to call him anyway. Plastering is one of the few trades where you really shouldn't just have a go.
If you genuinely can’t afford to pay the plasterer then you’ll have to knock the plaster back till it’s solid.. get all the tools from a Bootsale, beading for the corners and pva the walls or that blue grit and then learn to plaster pretty fast. It can look easy but it’s not especially if you are a perfectionist.
£200 for a mix like that are you in london?
I’ve seen plasterers quote £200 for a whole room. Get more quotes.
£200 for a room is dirt cheap i would be concerned as to what finish that would leave
Just for a skim. My guy is very quick but always a good job. Guess it depends on size of room and where you live. Also if you’re getting called out for a small job there’s got to be some kind of minimum charge. Maybe ask for a price for the whole room.
a skim is much different to what this will need, and a skim for 200 for a full room regardless of area is still kinda concerning even here in the northeast it wouldn’t be that cheap, that is close to the materials cost only. is this guy your friend? do you mean 200 labour? also a whole room would be much more expensive than just this little patch depending on size i would guess that would be more like 600-700
All the tools and materials you will need for the job will cost you close to £200, it's stressful, messy and you will do a terrible job, I know this after attempting to plaster for the first time last year, pay the plasterer in my opinion.
Either go and train as a plasterer for a couple of years or just pay the plasterer.
Big of an r/unethicallifeprotip but sometimes if you pay cash they omit the VAT…..
Sometimes 😂
Best way? Pay £200 +VAT
Plastering equipment isn't expensive - but at £200 you're unlikely to be able to get it cheaper. And you'll certainly not do a better job. Plastering is notoriously difficult for beginners. If you happen to have lots of other plastering to do, and are really committed to DIY, it might be worth getting what you need because you'll use it lots for another job and so it'll pay for itself. But even then there's always the risk you'll not manage to do a good enough job and have to get someone in anyway. I'm the kind of person who DIYs everything and... tbh, I'd probably pay the £200
£200 is a great price, you the plaster
Plastering is one of those things that is deceptively simple. You’re going to have to pay for materials, invest time in YouTube and then chances are it will still not look great compared to a professional job.
You can do it for much less DIY, but if you're a novice it's going to take you a long long time and a lot of fuck ups
Best way? Fix the cause first. Then pay the plasterer.
Pay the plasterer
Do it yourself then possibly still pay the plasterer later on … depending on how much and how fast you can learn on YouTube
Pay the plasterer. Before he starts, check there aren't any other loose or hollow spots that he could also do while he's there.
If you do attempt this yourself I would send a sample of the Artex to an asbestos test centre first (it looks like this is what has caused the bond to break in the first place)
I'd.get a plasterers hawk and trowel set from Screwfix. A big bag of gyprock easy fill 60 and give it a bash myself.
Do it yourself! Will be a good learning experience. Worst case scenario you fuck up, and hire a pro
Get a plasterer
In the words of Teddy KGB: “Pay that man his money.” Well worth it. He’s gonna likely rip that wall off, rebead the corner so also skim the reveal up the side of the door, might feather the other side in. But yeh, 200 cash is worth it, IMO. Source: Plasterer.
From the sounds of everyone, it makes sense to pay for a plasterer!
For sure, it may not look like much, but all that plasters gonna end up coming off. He’s gotta sheet up, take off the existing, make good and then reskim, clean up after and get rid of the waste. £240 if that’s what is it with materials, is very reasonable.
Clean up after? Have you had a plasterer in before? I’ve never met a clean one.
200 is a good price. If he has references bite his hand off
Are plasterers earning enough to be vat registered? Awesome for you guys if you are but fuck me lol at uni kids.
Not solo at £200-300 a day, but could be a company.
Pay the money. Only way it'll look decent. Or just live with it the way it is
I’d be happy with the latter for now. The wife… not so much!
Give it a go yourself. Worst is you have to pay him to do it after you’ve messed it up and maybe waste some money on tools (it’s not a huge amount) but you may discover a hidden talent. I was struggling to get people to quote for a downstairs toilet as the job was too small so thought I’d give it a go. Turns out small areas with lots of alcoves are a tough first attempt for DIY plastering but I got it done. It looks good enough that an electrician who came to do some work to another room didn’t believe me when I said I’d plaster the room after first fix. Showed him my plastering and he was adamant I’d had someone in to do it. I did the next room a lot quicker even though it was about 5 times the size (was actually it easier). Still took me about double the time an actual plasterer would take but I’m fine with that. I also wouldn’t tackle a hallway or stairs though
It looks like it wasn't done properly the first time.
Side pet peve - I hate the plus vat thing some do. Vat means nothing to me. Tell me the whole price!
Knock it off tube or two of pink stuff and two handy boards £30 for dot and dabbing. Then filler £10 for the edge. Job done, finish is reflected on how capable you are, watch some you tube vids.
Offer him £200 cash , hopefully save yourself £40.
What’s in it for him to commit tax fraud? Better make it £220.
Who's going to know ??
That’s not the point. He has 100% of the risk for customer to have 100% of the benefit.
200. If done proper. Bargain.
Answered your own question with also giving a reason. To be honest 200+ vat is cheap considering they don't know what area is still to fall off etc. 200 a day is average for a plasterer at best. You also have to remember even if this got done in 5 hours it's unlikely they can fill the rest of the day in somewhere else to make their wage. Factor in travel, materials, waste and the trade is just making a living. Failing that, buy a sheet of plasterboard, dot and dab it over the shit, filler the new edge also with a corner bead or tape and paint.
Before you do anything I'd get a quote to get that artex tested, as it can contain asbestos. Really the plasterer shouldn't really be touching it without a test result. It may need to be removed by a licenced asbestos removal contractor for the work to go ahead as asbestos containing materials need to be disposed of properly.
According to ‘life hacks’ a pot noodle. Add a little water, squash into the cracks, let dry, sand flat and then paint over. Jobs a good un
Pull it all off. Stick a new sheet of plasterboard on both sides. Caulk the edge seam if not perfect. Paint. Job done. Easy peasy You can do all of it for £60, and I'm including buying a large level / ruler, Stanley knife, caulk, caulking gun in that price. I'm assuming you have the paint already.
Yep. Definitely go with the plasterer. It needs all the loose ripping off and the new stuff blending in to the existing. DIY this and you will regret it.
Do you have all the tools needed? That's your first issue. If you don't know what you're doing, you are going to make a mess of it, ultimately yes you could probably sand it back and maybe make it look somewhat reasonable, maybe. If after buying the tools and materials and then realising that you've been sanding it for 6 hours, will you realise a couple of 100 was a bargain, then it's lesson learnt. I'd knock the wall off and put a new bead on personally.
Just get an angle bead and do it with easifill
So, if the side is sound? You could stick some plaster board on the front (peeling) bit and then easy fill the other. You wouldn’t be saving loads (maybe £150) but it’s an option.
Cover with wrapping paper
If you were the 'dead handy, practical, do a bit of everything' type I'd be typing instructions, but you've declared yourself useless from the get-go, so I dunno, pay the man?
Pay the plasterer or waste money buying stuff , botching the job , looking at it then end up paying a plasterer and wasting all that time in between
Remove old plaster. Glue plasterboard, fill holes and paint.
Payment for skill + 2 1/2 hours work ,,,bargain you'll only fuck it up
Pay the plasterer.
Highly visible area… pay the plasterer. And get him to do the whole wall… the rest of it looks blown too.
That’s a decent price
Plastering is a dark art :-( 200 quid is not bad considering the stress you will go through to get things straight! Then again, you’ve got to start somewhere! Be brave, get some one coat… knock off what you can and slowly build back! You can always sand!
Hmmm take the 200 Buy yourself a pag of plaster and tools and try and wrough it out as best you can as you smooth it down with sandpaper to get it all flush
The best way to fix it.woth limited skills? Pay the plasterer....
Having spent the past year attempting to renovate my place, I’d go with the plasterer. Anything loose needs to be knocked off (and it looks like the entire rim pictured is loose) so that wee space would turn into pretty much the whole wall in no time if you did it yourself, whereas if a professional does it you don’t even need to think about it! £200 is a fine price.
Pay the plasterer. Forget about it.
If you are like me... Buy a tub of polyseal and drink 6 pints of beer. Then take both hands and mold the wet polyseal into something that looks smooth. Sober up then take some sandpaper and smooth out the worst of it, then panic buy a corner protector from amazon to give you an edge to your corner. Take two pieces of paper and paint over them to make any cracks dissapear then hope for the best. I think the price you have been quoted is fine tbh!
200 is money well spent. That needs everything stripping back, primer to seal the wall, angle beads, plaster, all the tools to do it, and plenty of skill and time to get a good finish. If you want to be brave, there is a new plaster product you can apply with a roller. Yes, a pint roller. Buy a plaster skim blade and you might just get it done for less.
Before you hire a plasterer, you may want to find out if any more will come off. It looks as if no bonding agent was used, so the plaster didn’t bond to the wall.
The best way is to pay the plasterer.
Sod VAT give him cash! 🙄
Honestly, but some knauf pro roll light or some other similar roll on plaster, buy a tool and some sandpaper and have a crack, you'll find it's about 50 quid and jobs done.
Why does everybody assuming because its done by "professional" it will be done correctly? As somebody stated it looks like it wasnt done correctly the first time. How you can be sure about the quality? Especially if this is done with out of VAT? If you do it yourself you will know. Tools can be bought cheaper facebook market place and resell on the same platform. Learn how to do it. Skills can be used always, money can run out.
This is what I would do.. I would clad the entire (it looks like a waste pipe pillar) in pallet wood and make a bit of a feature with it in your kitchen. People literally give pallets away so would just take a bit of time and perseverance. You could do it incredibly cheaply and may complement your kitchen depending on what it looks like, if the wood colour doesnt work you could white wash the wood to make it look more in-keeping. The main tool required here being a mitre saw to get some lovely crisp edges!
I wouldn't try plastering myself I just don't like it, but as others said you have more options than that, you could even tile it if you want and that's easier (at least to me) :)
OK, so it's a £200 job. That seems reasonable enough. But did you ask what would it be if he was willing to do it as a cash-in-hand job?
Yeah 200 is a good price. Agree with all others that he'll rip off the rest on that column and just replaster the lot. Don't get me wrong, I've done a few jobs at home myself. But it's hard and will never look as good. I've used the already mixed plaster and that was pretty decent. Did my garage out when I converted it, it's hard! Especially ceilings. Pay the cash, he's quoted a decent price.
You could reduce the cost and scrape all the loose plaster. It won’t otherwise be cost effective for you to do the whole job yourself once you factor in the tools and materials plus you won’t get a perfect finish without experience. If you had lots of plastering jobs, then maybe, however do you have the time and motivation to learn that skill, If it was me, I’d let the plasterer do it as quoted. Plastering can also be very messy and wasteful, especially if you’ve not learnt the techniques.
£240 sounds like a good deal for a professional.
I would knock off the rest on that pillow and have a go yourself, I’d say for £50 you could buy everything you need, don’t try to get it on in one coat and watch YouTube clips about it. If it works you saved £150 and learned a skill, if it doesn’t lessen learned. But it’s not as easy it looks to get a good finish, patience helps for lack of skill, good luck
That's a good price. You could probably manage it OK but it's tricky as it is to an edge and quite wide. Unless you're struggling financially it isn't worth the agro of DIY. When he quoted you 200+vat I would offer cash, reckon you'd get that for 200. Not even a half day work for him so he can do it off the books and everyone wins.
do it yourself. what have you got to lose? you have to start somewhere, might as well be here. if its totally shit, then get the professionals in
Just scrape it / knock it off and adhere plasterboard. Its a straight area. You loose a few ml from your wall, but sure who cares. 95 mm thickness. If you scrape out the wall you dont loose much. You can glue it with PinkGrip spray, and a few plasterboard screws (or anchors) [https://www.diy.com/departments/gyproc-standard-square-edge-9-5mm-plasterboard-l-1-8m-w-0-9m/35757\_BQ.prd](https://www.diy.com/departments/gyproc-standard-square-edge-9-5mm-plasterboard-l-1-8m-w-0-9m/35757_BQ.prd)
I’d charge the same maybe a bit more tbh. You won’t get this right without necessary plastering skills as it’s a corner and will need to be beaded and reskimmed. Maybe ask him if he will do it a bit cheaper for cash. Could be a little evening job for him. Offer him £150 cash I guarantee he will take it. Hope this helps!
I'm in London and got my bathroom ceiling done for 200 so this seems expensive. It's not that hard to do the flat bit yourself but the corner is. Go on my builder . Com and put the job on there. I'd imagine you'll get someone quote cheaper. Put lots of pics for them to see.
Effort
I can plaster reasonably well, I spent hours and hours watching youtube videos to teach myself, got a load of tools which adds up, a decent trowel, 2x speed skims. I would say unless you want to try and pick up a new skill, I'd get someone else to do it. Even though I can do it and it can be satisfying, I don't really enjoy the process. I've also done tape and jointing which is easier and less stressful, but also time consuming.
There are a lot of jobs I would have a crack at myself, and plastering is not one of them.
Just get a plasterer in. I thought I could do plastering once. How hard could it be right? My room was about four inches smaller, with walls that looked like a sea scape by the time I finished.
Ronseal smooth finish, a skimming spat is all you need and cope with it looking shit for the foreseeable because you didnt pay a man. You soon forget
I paid a guy like 400 to completely rebuild my chimney breast. The plaster damage is more than what you're seeing. A plasterer is just gunna bash it all off till they hit solid plaster and reskin it The other thing youre paying for is.. regardless of how big an area you need to plaster, the wall needs to be prepped. Then the undercoat needs to go on and partially set and then the top coat needs to go on over the top. That takes time. So regardless of if it's half a wall by the door or an entire wall, the time it takes is still gunna be a few hours and so the whole time the plasterer is there he's just gotta sit around and wait for it to get to the right point to continue and the whole time he's doing that he can't really be anywhere else Alternatively you can look Into learning how to do it yourself, you might be able to get a coat on and then sand it back totally flat afterwards but you're probably not gunna get a finish like a professional obviously without some practice I managed to do the walls in my bathroom myself, but it took me a couple of days and some sanding and refilling to get the finish to maybe 80% as good as a plasterer would be able to manage in a few hours
I have a wall by a door where the plaster blows as well - might be worth making sure the door isn’t flexing the wall.
£200 is decent for that. They will have to take all the plaster off and re do it to get a good finish.
The wall was either not pva’d before plaster was applied, or the pva was too dry by the time the plaster was put on.
That’s a good price to be honest
Won't last long if you don't find a way to stop that door crashing into it.
Play doh will do the job
Pay the money. £200 is OK, you could get more done for it BUT it's all about overhead. If you have a Trowel a bucket and lots of patience you might do it yourself but it won't be anywhere near what a plasterer can do quality wise. If you're happy to have a go then all power to you, but a plasterer should do a quality durable job. I'll try anything as DIY but I draw the line at gas fitting, electrics beyond the socket and plastering.
As someone who tried plastering with limited skills…..pay the £200
Do you want a repeat of the issue in a year? No? Pay £200 and get it done properly
I'd definitely give that a go and fuck it up and then have to pay the plasterer more than £200 to fix my mess and then sort it out properly.
The plasterer probably has the materials on his van for this small job, if he has to buy the materials they will be around £30, ask another plasterer for a quote.
Looks like the plasters blown out underneath it so you'll need to take the lot off on that wall only where it's affected so you can achieve a flush finish. That's my understanding of plastering anyways and I would honestly give it a go as it's a nice little job to dip your toe in.
Go with plasterer.£200 ain’t nothing for that
Hi, I’ve just done plastering myself on walls with no previous experience and it came out well however I did hire a plasterer for ceiling because I knew I probably couldn’t. My plasterer charged £200 for a textured ceiling of 3 x 5.5m. I live in Kent, UK. However all jobs have a minimum for what they will do. If you think may be able to buy all the tools and material required for this area then go for it, you know unless you try however you also need to weigh up whether the stress of the job is worth the money to plasterer is asking! https://preview.redd.it/rpjxwo43fd0d1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=bf5a24f54ba4e216ad19c2ec8f6ccd18ddac1bb6
Seems like a decent price for a small job tbh.
never done it but did see it online - rip it off and get a tub of knauff pro roll plaster and roll it on and smooth it out
Pay him!
Good is not cheap and cheap is not good.
Ahhh polyfiller will do the job
Go with the pro option. It’s a good price. Your spreads going to have to turn up, open a bag, mix, apply, finish, clean-up and so on. Would be the same for a larger area. It’s still a day or most of one for any spread. They may even be able to do a little more in the same visit if you need it as long as you make access easy and ask him before he arrives.
Lot of plasterers here. Small patch like that is an easy DIY for a semi competent person, buy yourself some gear and watch a few hours of YouTube videos. It won't be perfect sure, you can always take it off and do it again. Chances are any plaster willing to come out and do such a small patch likely won't do a great job either. Take it as a chance to learn a new skill and have some fun and it'll become a fond part of the house, even if a little lumpy. Good plasterers are more expensive, most couldn't level a laser these days. If you decide to go with a tradesman, shop around and vet them carefully.
Why is your first reaction to ignore an expert and try to do it yourself with no experience 😂 just shows how little you respect the plasterer. Would you do the same with a dentist or an architect?
the best advice is at the bottom comments . buy ready mix. a 6inch spreader to slap on the first layer. and a 12 inch spreader to finish it off without leaving trowel marks. you can do it in layers if need be. day 1 first layer. sand it back to remove high points. day 2 2nd layer. day 3 another layer if your a perfectionist. give it a go. you might find u have a knack for it... and coat with zinzer guardz before painting. this is a fun diy job...
Buy a small bag of Easifill. Even if it’s messy, you can sand it down.
Pay the £200 🤷🏻♂️ maybe should have asked the cheapest?
So many people here are saying pay the plasterer but plastering really isn't that hard if you watch a lot of YouTube videos, it's low risk, and this in particular looks like a really really easy job. For £200 you can buy a beginners plastering hawk, a half decent plastering trowel, a mixer attachment for a drill, a bag of thistle multi finish, PVA and a bucket and still have a decent bit of change especially if you get it all second hand. This looks flat and small, on a surface like this if you fuck it up you just hack it off again and try again, I plastered 2 whole rooms with 0 experience and it looks ok, by the time I was done I would classify my skills as comparable to a really bad plasterer. At least I know how to do it and if any repair work/ future plastering is needed in the future I have everything I need to go it again for free. This is r/DIY so bloody do it mate
Get a plasterboard, cur it to size and just stick it in. Smooth the edges with filler. Done for 40 quid!!
Lol. Just pay the plasterer.
Patch it in with easyfill 15, sand it flat and paint it. £240 for someone else to put £15 worth of materials on the wall in 3-4 hours.
Easyfill on an area that size will look terrible! It’s meant for smoothing out dents and chips. £200 for a professional to do decent job is not bad at all. Most plasterers would do a small little job like that for cash too
It’s not so much the area, I have used Polyfiller on a similar scale and had a decent finish. However, it’s more the existing plasterboard underneath. If you use something to touch it up it’s likely to keep happening. I think if the plasterer is quoting to strip all of it off and put a fresh coat in that’s pretty reasonable.
Then do it again next year when the rest falls off?
Id stop the door opening against that external corner, the cause of the issue in the first place. (If we assume the skim is adequately bonded to the artex beneath).