Skimming and replastering sound similar but they are very different jobs, with different costs and different results. Choosing the wrong one either wastes money or leaves you with a fresh surface over a failing wall. Here is how we decide which is right when we look at homes across Cheshire, Merseyside and North Wales.
Skimming is a thin finishing coat of plaster, usually 2 to 3mm, applied over an existing sound surface. That surface might be old plaster, plasterboard, or a wall that has been patched and prepared. The aim is a smooth, flat finish ready for paint.
It relies entirely on what is underneath being solid and well bonded. If the old plaster is firmly attached to the brick or block and the wall is flat enough, a skim coat gives you a like new finish at a fraction of the cost of stripping back. A typical room can be skimmed in a day and painted about a week later once it has dried to a pale pink.
Replastering means taking the old plaster off back to the brick, block or lath, then building the wall up again from scratch. On a solid wall that usually means a backing coat such as bonding or hardwall at around 11mm, followed by a skim finish. On some jobs it is quicker and more reliable to dot and dab plasterboard onto the wall and skim that instead.
It is messier, takes longer and costs more because you are paying for stripping, waste removal, backing coats and drying time between them. A room that would take a day to skim might take three to four days to strip and replaster, and the backing coat needs to firm up before the skim goes on. The upside is that you end up with a wall that is genuinely sound rather than one that looks good for a year or two.
The honest answer is that it depends on the condition of the existing plaster, not how it looks. A tired wall with cracks, old wallpaper marks and a few dents is usually a skim. A wall that sounds hollow, moves when pressed or has plaster crumbling behind the paper is a replaster.
We check by tapping the wall across its whole area. Sound plaster gives a dull solid note. Loose or blown plaster sounds hollow and papery. It is common in older Cheshire and Merseyside terraces to find lime plaster that has come away from the brick in patches, especially on chimney breasts and external walls. Skimming over that just adds weight to something already letting go.
For a standard bedroom of about 12 square metres of walls, skimming across Cheshire and the North West typically comes in somewhere between £350 and £600 depending on access, preparation and how many patches need sorting first. Ceilings are priced separately and cost a little more per square metre because they are harder work.
Full replastering of the same room, including stripping, waste and a backing coat, is more often in the £900 to £1,600 range, and higher if plasterboarding is needed or the walls are damp and need treatment first. These are guides rather than quotes. The biggest variables are how much old material has to come off, whether the brick behind is in decent condition, and whether any damp problem has been fixed before we start.
The most common one is asking for a skim because it is cheaper, over walls that a plasterer has already said are blown. The skim will look fine on the day, then crack along the same lines within months, and you end up paying for the replaster anyway plus a wasted skim. A good tradesperson should tell you straight if a skim is not going to hold.
The other is replastering everything because one wall is bad. Most rooms are mixed. The external wall may need stripping back while the three internal walls only need a skim. Pricing each wall on its own merits usually gives the best result for the least money, so ask for a breakdown rather than a single figure for the room.
Free, fixed-price quotes. Most jobs visited within the week.
Photos of the room or elevation help a lot. Phone if it’s urgent.
