Rawtenstall, BB4
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
Plastering and Skimming in Rawtenstall is a job shaped by what the houses here are made of. Stone-built Victorian terraces on the valley sides with no cavity, thirsty backgrounds that need stabilising, plus later semi-detached stock around Newchurch Road and Cloughfold. That is the background Lee is working onto, and reading it correctly before the first bag is opened is what separates a finish that still looks right in five years from one that is showing its joins by the spring.
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.
Older Lancashire housing stock needs a bit more thought than a new build does. Solid stone walls with no cavity, lath and plaster ceilings in the older terraces, and backgrounds that have already been patched two or three times by somebody else all behave differently. Lee will tell you straight when a ceiling is better overboarded than skimmed over, even though overboarding is more work, because skimming onto a ceiling that has already let go is money spent twice.
What that means for a Rawtenstall job in practice is that the quote follows the property rather than a rate per square metre. Two houses on the same street can be very different jobs once you know what is behind the surface, and plastering and skimming is one of the areas where that gap is widest. Lee looks first, prices second, and tells you which of the two you have got.
The housing in Rawtenstall is mostly what the cotton and footwear trades left behind: stone-built Victorian terraces stepping up the valley sides, with later semi-detached stock filling in around Newchurch Road and out toward Cloughfold. Those older properties are solid stone with no cavity, which changes how a wall takes plaster. They are thirsty backgrounds, they hold cold, and they want stabilising and priming properly before anything wet goes near them. Skip that and the finish coat dries too fast, goes short, and cracks within a season.
The single most common call from Rawtenstall addresses is the artexed ceiling. Textured coating went onto an enormous number of ceilings around this valley in the seventies and eighties, and forty years on people want it gone. Where it is thin and firmly stuck, skimming straight over it gives a flat modern ceiling in a day. Where it has been laid on thick, or where the original lath and plaster above it has started to move, overboarding first is the sound answer even though it costs a little more.
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. Rawtenstall sits inside the area Lee covers from Rossendale, along with Cloughfold, Waterfoot, Crawshawbooth, 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.
Rawtenstall at a glance
- Postcodes
- BB4
- District
- Rossendale, Lancashire
- Also covered from here
- Cloughfold, Waterfoot, Crawshawbooth, Constablee, Goodshaw, Newchurch
- 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
- Based in the valleyRossendale is home, so Rawtenstall quotes are usually within a day or two and Lee can call back to check a job has dried right.
- Stone terraces understoodSolid stone with no cavity behaves nothing like a modern block wall. It gets prepared for what it is.
- Artex ceilings, weeklyThe most common Rawtenstall job there is. Skimmed flat where it is sound, overboarded where it is not.
Common questions
Plastering In Rawtenstall: Your Questions
Ten questions people in Rawtenstall actually ask about plastering and skimming, answered straight.
How much does plastering and skimming cost in Rawtenstall?
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 Rawtenstall specifically, the biggest variable is the background: stone-built Victorian terraces on the valley sides with no cavity, thirsty backgrounds that need stabilising, plus later semi-detached stock around Newchurch Road and Cloughfold. 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 Rawtenstall property?
A typical single room is a one-day job, two if ceilings are included. Older Rawtenstall 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 Rawtenstall?
Yes. Cloughfold, Waterfoot, Crawshawbooth, Constablee, Goodshaw, Newchurch are all covered from the same rounds as Rawtenstall, 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 Rawtenstall 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 Rawtenstall that means stone-built Victorian terraces on the valley sides with no cavity, thirsty backgrounds that need stabilising, plus later semi-detached stock around Newchurch Road and Cloughfold. 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.
How quickly can you get to a job in Rawtenstall?
Faster than almost anywhere else on the list, because Lee is based in the valley. Quotes in Rawtenstall are usually within a day or two of you ringing, and small repairs can often be slotted in the same week.
Do you cover Waterfoot and Cloughfold too?
Yes, along with Crawshawbooth, Goodshaw, Newchurch and Constablee. Anywhere in the BB4 valley is genuinely local work rather than a trip out.
My Rawtenstall terrace is solid stone. Does that change the job?
It changes the preparation rather than the finish. Solid stone with no cavity is a thirsty background that pulls water out of plaster quickly, so it gets stabilised and primed to suit before anything goes on. Done right the finish is every bit as good as on a modern wall.
Looking for something else in this town? See everything Lee does in Rawtenstall.
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Plastering In Rawtenstall?
Tell Lee what needs doing and where in Rawtenstall you are, and you will get an honest figure back, usually the same day. Free, no obligation, no call-out charge.