How Long Does it Take to Plaster a Room?
The time required to plaster a room varies considerably, and it depends on the size of the walls, whether you're plastering the ceiling, and how many coats you're applying (among other factors!).
As a rough guide, you're looking at between six and twelve hours for a smaller room, eight to twelve for medium-sized spaces, and up to two or three days for larger areas.
The job isn't finished when the plaster is applied since boarding adds about one or two hours to the project, plus skimming - an average of 1.5 hours to scrim, lay and tidy the finish.
Your plastering timescale for a room can also depend on how quickly the plaster dries, which varies based on the surface material behind it. If you're applying to plasterboard, you'll need to wait two to three days, but backing plaster needs closer to a week.
Factors in the Time it Takes to Plaster a Room
Our first point to make is that rushed plastering rarely goes well.
The application needs confident sweeps of the trowel and a consistent approach to avoid a poor finish on corners and joins.
Next, we need to think about the typical types of plastering jobs and how this impacts the cost and time required if you're hiring a professional.
- Skimming, or replastering, is a simpler assignment where you plaster over the top of older plaster to give a uniform, neat appearance. These jobs cost from £400 for a small room to approximately £650 for a larger space.
- Applying fresh plaster is more involved since your plasterer will need to strip back the old application and often use a dry lining layer. Prices start at £650 for small areas, up to around £1,200. Other considerations here are the need to hire a skip, which your tradesperson may or may not include.
- Plastering a ceiling is a complex job, and you'll usually hire a contractor given the specialist tools required. Ceilings can take from six to twelve hours at £275 up to around two to three days and £525 for larger ceilings.
Other considerations include the temperature of the room and ventilation. A warm space and good airflow can be positive or negative.
On the one hand, they'll help the plaster dry faster, so it'll be ready for painting and decorating.
Conversely, if your first coat of plaster dries before you've got back to applying the second coat, it might take longer to dampen the wall to a decent level of workability.
Other Considerations in Scheduling a Plastering Project
The more intricate the room, the more angles and walls, and the greater the number of windows and doors you need to plaster around, the more complex the plastering.
Some rooms with four walls, even angles and straight edges are fairly simple. Still, a more challenging space almost certainly requires a professionally skilled plasterer if you want to achieve a perfect finish.
Contractors will undoubtedly complete the work faster, especially if two or three tradespeople work simultaneously.
Another factor is the tools you have to hand.
Skilled plasterers can complete simple, straightforward plastering jobs with a bucket and trowel. But, if you need to plaster the ceiling and the walls, it won't be easy to get into tight corners or lift plasterboard panels.
It's best to get started with the ceiling, working down to the walls as you progress. Walls should be formed from the middle, working upwards, achieving an even coat over the top half and then working on the lower section.
The ideal is to start in the corners and edges and build towards the centre since the drying times on these spaces usually take a little longer, giving you extra breathing room before you need to think about starting the second layer.
How to Speed Up the Plastering Process
Plastering from scratch inevitably takes longer. Older properties, where you're plastering after a damp course treatment, require:
- Full removal of all the old plaster back to the bricks.
- Backing coats of sand or cement to provide a good grip.
- Potentially a PVA solution application to enhance adhesion properties.
- Two coats of plaster, often with a third skim coat to even out the finished wall.
The issue here is that when you're replacing damp contaminated plaster, it takes much longer for the application to dry out, depending on how thick the masonry work is and the thickness of the plaster over the top.
Therefore, when we talk about speeding up plastering, it's essential to evaluate the quality of the finish you want and the process involved, and then look at ways to make it more efficient.
However, there are a few ways to cut down on your timeframes, which we'll explain below.
Speeding Up the Time Required for Plaster to Dry
If you're keen to move on to decorating as quickly as possible, you can speed things up significantly by improving the ventilation to the area.
Opening windows and doors and placing a dehumidifier in the room will remove moisture from the air and help the plaster cure quickly.
It's best to avoid using heat sources where possible. Although decorator's heaters will help plaster dry more promptly, it can also mean that the application dries in patches or gets overly dry and begins to form a crumbly texture.
Plaster must be allowed sufficient time to dry naturally, as speedy drying results in cracks, so improving ventilation is the ideal option.
Getting Plaster Ready for Painting
Once your plaster has cured (i.e. has dried throughout), you'll know because the colour will be uniform throughout the room - usually, a pale pink, without patches.
Newly plastered rooms have a thin dust layer on top of the plaster, so you'll get a far better finish if you brush the dust away before applying any primer or paint.
Professionals will always use a mist coat before proceeding to full paintwork. A mist coat is a mixture of water and paint, thinned down, preferably with a non-vinyl emulsion.
Vinyl paint forms a layer on top of the plaster, so matte paint is better since it will absorb nicely into the application and provide a primed surface ready for your final coat of paint.
Mist coats vary in consistency and can be up to about 65% paint to 35% water, but that is variable and depends on the type of plaster you're using, the wall condition and the paint quality.
Creating a Perfectly Finished Plaster
Before you get to the painting stage, it's worth looking at the minor surface details to smooth over any imperfections and knock back any tiny dents.
Usually, you'll be able to deal with these before the final skim coat of plaster, but the plaster can set quickly in corners and around electrical fittings.
You can complete small filling jobs and sand them away with sandpaper and fine decorative filler, with a mist coat applied over the top.
Benefits of Hiring a Professional to Plaster a Room
It's common to think that hiring a plasterer will be massively more expensive than doing the work yourself, but it can be cheaper to use a professional.
There are many reasons a skilled plasterer can cut back on your costs, but primarily they're more efficient and will provide all the tools and equipment required to finish your plastered room - without needing to buy tools you'll use perhaps once.
Mistakes and errors can be very expensive, with the need to purchase additional plaster, re-do walls, and correct faults, so a quicker job with a smooth finish is usually more achievable.
Learning as you go is certainly an option. Still, the payoff is in quality - and it's very challenging to achieve an excellent finish if you don't have the skills and knowledge required to judge when to apply second coats, mix a perfect solution, and deal with tricky corners.
Plaster is a hard and durable material that requires very little maintenance for the long term.
Having a high-quality application from the start is the most affordable option, avoiding cracks appearing over time and difficulties such as peeling paint or blistering, which will cost more to repair.
What is the Average Cost of Plastering a Room?
The cost to hire a contractor to plaster a room depends on the dimensions and whether you're replastering or starting from scratch.
Fresh plaster in a new-build or taking back damaged plaster to brickwork is a bigger job.
Here we've looked at typical costs to replaster, or skim, rooms of standard dimensions to 3 mm thick, indicating how long you'd expect a professional plasterer to need to finish the work.
| Room Size to be Replastered | Average Price Range | Anticipated Time Required |
| Small room | £390 - £510 | One day |
| Medium room | £430 - £560 | One to two days |
| Large room | £550 - £700 | Two to three days |
If you need to plaster from brickwork, the costs and timescales will be slightly higher:
| Room Size to be Plastered | Average Price Range | Anticipated Time Required |
| Small room | £610 - £690 | Two to three days |
| Medium room | £660 - £900 | Two to three days |
| Large room | £1,000 - £1,375 | Three to four days |
| Small ceiling | £200 - £350 | Six to ten hours |
| Medium ceiling | £280 - £440 | Eight to twelve hours |
| Large ceiling | £425 - £725 | Two to three days |
A final consideration in the costs of plastering a room is the mess - plastering does create a fair amount of debris, spills and splashes, so hiring a contractor can reduce the potential mess you'll need to clear up afterwards.
It is advisable to clear the plastered area before work begins or cover all furniture and furnishings, including the floor, if you want to streamline the process.
FAQs - How Long Does it Take to Plaster a Room?
Now we've looked in detail at some of the variables behind how long it'll take to plaster a room; we’ll answer some of the frequently asked questions about home plastering projects.
How Are Plastering and Skimming Different Jobs?
Both plastering and skimming involve applying plaster to your walls, but there is a considerable difference between both projects!
Skimming is usually used where an old plaster wall needs to be updated or repaired or where there are rough patches on the wall that require an upgrade.
Plastering means the same process, but a much thicker layer of plaster (and often multiple coats) is used to create a robust, durable wall surface to decorate.
How Expensive is it To Plaster One Room?
If you're buying new plastering materials, you're looking at about £2 to £10 per square foot. Premium materials and those mixed with fast-drying compounds will cost more, but a plasterer will usually use trade plaster, which is most economical.
The plastering cost varies depending on how much plaster you need to apply and any additional treatments required to get the wall into a good stable condition.
How Many Bags of Plaster Do I Need Per Room?
It depends on the size of the space - very large rooms might be multiple times the dimensions of a small box room!
Generally, you’ll need around three bags to plaster the internal walls in a standard-sized room in a residential property.
Can I Skim a Wall Myself?
Potentially, yes, you could apply a skim coat of plaster to a wall, and using the plaster isn't particularly technical.
However, achieving a perfectly flat and smooth surface isn't something you'll be able to accomplish without a lot of hard work and experience.
Skimming is a more accurate job than general plastering, and even if you want to address one problematic area, you'll usually need to prepare the whole wall, including joints.
The skim coat moisture is equally important since a normal plaster compound is too thick for a skim coat. So it's essential to use a pliable, workable material that will adhere to the primary plaster layer and provide a uniform, even surface that is ready for painting or decorating.
References:
- https://expandusceramicsquestions.com/qa/how-long-should-it-take-to-plaster-a-room.html
- https://www.scrapality.com/2020/06/why-is-it-important-to-hire-a-professional-plasterer.html
- https://wall2walldecorating.co.uk/how-long-before-painting-over-new-plaster/
- https://householdquotes.co.uk/how-much-does-plastering-cost/
- https://thediyhelpdesk.com/how-long-does-plaster-take-to-dry-a-complete-guide/
- https://propertyworkshop.com/plasterwork/how-much-to-plaster-a-room/
By Johnny Fuller
Home Improvement editor at NWrenovations.com
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