How Much Does Replastering a Room Cost?

Replastering a typical UK room costs roughly £400-£900 for a straightforward skim over sound walls, rising to £800-£1,800+ for a full replaster where old plaster needs to be hacked off first, ceilings are included, or the walls have underlying problems that need addressing before new plaster can go on.

Skimming vs full replastering

These are genuinely different jobs, and the price difference reflects that. "Skimming" means applying a thin new layer of plaster over existing plasterwork that's structurally sound but cosmetically poor (cracked, uneven, or marked) — it's quicker and cheaper. "Full replastering" means removing the old plaster back to brick or blockwork and starting again, which is necessary where the existing plaster is loose, damp-damaged, or has failed in a way a skim coat can't fix.

What affects the price

• Room size and wall area. Plasterers typically price per square metre or per room, so larger rooms and higher ceilings cost more.
• Skim vs full replaster. As above — a full replaster involves more labour (hacking off, disposal, and often extra drying time) and typically costs roughly double a skim for the same room.
• Ceilings. Replastering a ceiling as well as walls adds meaningfully to the cost and is often priced separately.
• Underlying problems. If damp, structural cracking, or old lath-and-plaster construction (common in older properties) is discovered once plaster comes off, the cost can rise — this is one of the more common sources of budget overrun in a room renovation.
• Access and preparation. Furniture removal, protecting flooring, and disposal of old plaster all factor into a quote, even though they're not always itemised separately.

Drying time

New plaster needs time to dry before it can be painted — rushing this is a common mistake that leads to paint failure or visible patchiness later. Depending on the plaster type, thickness, and ventilation/heating in the room, allow at least a week before decorating, sometimes longer in colder or more humid conditions. This drying time is worth factoring into your overall renovation timeline, since it's easy to underestimate.

When replastering comes up in a wider renovation

Replastering is frequently needed as part of a larger renovation — after removing old wallpaper that's damaged the plaster underneath, after fixing damp, after removing a wall or altering a room's layout, or simply as part of refreshing an older property. If you're planning a room-by-room renovation, it's worth checking each room's plaster condition early, since discovering the need for replastering partway through a decorating job is a common and avoidable cause of both delay and extra cost.

DIY or professional?

Plastering to a genuinely smooth, professional finish is a skilled trade that takes practice — while small patch repairs are realistic for a competent DIYer, skimming or replastering a full room to a finish good enough for a quality paint job is usually best left to a professional plasterer, since a poor finish is very visible once painted and expensive to correct afterwards.

Cost per square metre, roughly

Plasterers commonly price a straightforward skim at somewhere around £15-£25 per square metre of wall area, with a full replaster running higher, though many will price a whole room as a single job rather than a strict per-metre rate once they've seen the actual condition of the walls. Treat any per-square-metre figure as a rough starting point for comparing quotes rather than a fixed formula, since access, ceiling height, and the number of corners and features (coving, alcoves, sockets to work around) all affect how quickly a room can actually be plastered.

Older properties and lath-and-plaster walls

Many pre-1930s UK properties were originally built with lath-and-plaster walls rather than plasterboard — thin wooden strips (laths) with plaster applied directly over them. This construction can be more expensive to repair or replaster than modern plasterboard walls, since damaged laths sometimes need replacing before new plaster can be properly keyed in, and lime plaster (traditionally used with lath construction) requires different skills and materials than modern gypsum plaster. If you're renovating a period property, see our guide to renovating a Victorian or period property for other ways older construction affects renovation costs.

Removing artex or textured coatings

Many UK homes from the 1970s-1990s have textured "artex" ceilings or walls, which sometimes need to be removed or skimmed over before a smooth modern finish is possible. Older artex can, in some cases, contain asbestos (this was more common before the mid-1980s) — if you suspect this, get it tested and, if necessary, professionally removed by a licensed contractor rather than sanding or scraping it yourself, since disturbing asbestos-containing material is a genuine health risk.