Nelson, BB9
Walls and ceilings skimmed flat and closed off ready to decorate, from a single room to a whole house.
10/10
From 69 Checkatrade reviews
Free
Quotes, with no call-out charge
2020
Checkatrade member since
Local
Rossendale based, Lancashire wide
Nelson keeps Lee busy with plastering and skimming, and the reason is in the building stock. Late Victorian and Edwardian weaving terraces in long uniform runs, solid walled, with lath and plaster ceilings and near-universal artex overlay. Work with that rather than against it and the result lasts. Ignore it, price the job on area alone, and you get the patchy, cracked finishes that give the trade a bad name around here.
Then two coats of finish plaster go on wet on wet, and the wall gets trowelled through several passes as it firms up, closing the surface down to a smooth, flat finish that is ready for paint once it has dried out.
The preparation is what decides how the finish looks in six months, so it does not get rushed. Old wallpaper comes off rather than getting skimmed over. Surfaces are stabilised and primed to suit how thirsty they are, which on a hundred-year-old stone-built wall is a very different mix to a plasterboard partition put in last year. Beads go on at every external corner and reveal so the arrises stay straight and take a knock without chipping.
The practical upshot for Nelson homeowners is that you should expect a straight answer about whether a plastering and skimming job is what you actually need. Plenty of enquiries here turn into a smaller job than the one that was rung about, and a few turn into a different trade altogether. Either way you will be told before the work is booked rather than after it has started.
The stair and landing is the job most often put off in a Nelson terrace, and the one most worth doing. Access is awkward, the ceiling is high above the stairs, and it is the surface everyone sees on the way in. It is also where water damage most often turns up, since it sits directly under the roof and the shared gutters. Doing the whole stairwell in one visit, with the right access set up properly, is a great deal better than trying to patch bits of it from a ladder.
Nelson is a short run from Burnley and is covered on the same rounds, which keeps lead times sensible and makes single-room jobs and small repairs viable. Barrowford, Brierfield and the villages toward Pendle are all included in that.
Skimming is the job most people mean when they ring a plasterer. The wall behind is basically sound, but it has forty years of history on it: filled sockets, wallpaper scars, a patch where a fireplace came out, or the textured artex ceiling that every East Lancashire terrace seems to have. A skim coat puts all of that behind you in a day and gives the decorator a surface worth painting.
On cost: Most single rooms land in the low hundreds. The size of the room, the state of the background and whether ceilings are included move the number, which is why Lee quotes off a look or a photo rather than a price list. A typical single room is a one-day job, two if ceilings are included. Nelson sits inside the area Lee covers from Rossendale, along with Barrowford, Brierfield, Fence, so a look and a written figure do not involve a wasted journey for either of us. Quotes are free and there is no call-out charge.
Nelson at a glance
- Postcodes
- BB9
- District
- Pendle, Lancashire
- Also covered from here
- Barrowford, Brierfield, Fence, Higham, Blacko, Reedley
- Typical timescale
- A typical single room is a one-day job, two if ceilings are included.
What is included
- Full room skims, walls and ceilings, ready to decorate
- Artex and textured ceilings flattened out or overboarded
- Backgrounds stabilised and primed to suit stone, brick or board
- Beads set at every corner and reveal so arrises stay sharp
- Sockets, switches and old fixings cut in cleanly
- Everything sheeted up, floors protected, debris taken away
Local proof
- BB9 in the review historyNelson postcodes appear repeatedly as job locations across the 69 verified Checkatrade reviews.
- Stairwells done properlyThe awkward high stair ceiling done in one visit with proper access, rather than patched off a ladder.
- Pendle villages coveredBarrowford, Brierfield and the surrounding villages on the same round.
Common questions
Plastering In Nelson: Your Questions
Ten questions people in Nelson actually ask about plastering and skimming, answered straight.
How much does plastering and skimming cost in Nelson?
Most single rooms land in the low hundreds. The size of the room, the state of the background and whether ceilings are included move the number, which is why Lee quotes off a look or a photo rather than a price list. In Nelson specifically, the biggest variable is the background: late Victorian and Edwardian weaving terraces in long uniform runs, solid walled, with lath and plaster ceilings and near-universal artex overlay. That is why Lee quotes off a look or a photo rather than a price list. Quotes are free and there is no call-out charge.
How long does plastering and skimming take in a Nelson property?
A typical single room is a one-day job, two if ceilings are included. Older Nelson properties can take a little longer than that because the preparation is heavier, and you will be told which category yours falls into when the quote is given rather than discovering it partway through.
Do you cover the areas around Nelson?
Yes. Barrowford, Brierfield, Fence, Higham, Blacko, Reedley are all covered from the same rounds as Nelson, along with the neighbouring towns. LD Plastering works out of Rossendale, so this is a genuine local patch rather than a national firm with a local phone number.
Is plastering and skimming the right job for my Nelson house?
LD Plastering skims walls and ceilings across Rossendale and East Lancashire, taking tired, patched or artexed surfaces back to a flat, hard finish ready for paint. Lee prepares and primes the background, sets the beads, then lays on and trowels up two coats of finish plaster. Most single rooms are done in a day. Whether it suits your property depends on what is behind the wall, and in Nelson that means late Victorian and Edwardian weaving terraces in long uniform runs, solid walled, with lath and plaster ceilings and near-universal artex overlay. Lee will tell you if a different or smaller job would serve you better.
What is the difference between plastering and skimming?
Skimming is the thin finish coat, usually two or three millimetres, laid over a background that is already sound and flat. Full plastering means building the wall back up first with a backing coat before that finish goes on. Most jobs in occupied homes are skims. Lee will tell you which one your wall actually needs when he looks at it.
Can you skim straight over artex?
Usually yes. The peaks get knocked off, the surface is sealed with a bonding primer and then it is skimmed flat. Where the artex is thick, badly cracked or already parting from the ceiling, overboarding first is the honest answer, because a skim is only ever as sound as what it is stuck to.
Do I need to take the wallpaper off first?
It needs to come off, but you do not have to be the one to do it. If it is already stripped that saves time and cost. If not, Lee will price the stripping in. What is not an option is skimming over paper, because the paste behind it lets go and takes the new plaster with it.
Do you make good after other trades?
Yes. Rewire chases, plumbing work and joinery all leave surfaces that need bringing back flat, and it is regular work in Nelson terraces where alterations are common.
Can I get a quote without an appointment?
For small and medium jobs, often yes. Photos over WhatsApp plus rough room dimensions are usually enough for Lee to give an honest figure. Whole houses are better seen in person.
Do you work in Nelson often?
Yes. BB9 is one of the postcodes that appears most frequently as a job location in LD Plastering's 69 verified Checkatrade reviews. It is regular work rather than an occasional trip.
Looking for something else in this town? See everything Lee does in Nelson.
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Plastering In Nelson?
Tell Lee what needs doing and where in Nelson you are, and you will get an honest figure back, usually the same day. Free, no obligation, no call-out charge.