How Much Does Plastering & Rendering Cost?

The plastering & rendering costs in this article are correct as of 2022

Plastering is often a forgotten feature of our homes, yet it is a vital component that impacts everything from damp to decoration. If you’re considering plastering rooms in your home, or changing the render on the outside of your property, you’ll want to know what kind of plastering costs you can expect to pay. We’ve spoken to some of the expert tradespeople on MyBuilder to find out how much plastering really costs.

Plastering cost calculator

The most relevant factor for the cost of a plastering job is the size of the area to be plastered, be it a single wall in a small room or several rooms and ceilings in a large house. Plasterers will measure up the job and consider any relevant factors before judging how much time the job will take and how much material will be needed. Replastering - adding a new, thin top coat of plaster suitable for adding paint or wallpaper too - will be considerably cheaper than a full plastering job, which involves removing old plaster if necessary, constructing a new base, skimming the surface and finishing up. A simple skimming job in a medium sized room would cost around £400 - whereas a full plastering job may cost £700 or more, before VAT and any other costs. Prices in London are likely to be higher than in other parts of the country.

Common Plastering Jobs

There are a number of straightforward plastering jobs that an experienced plasterer should be able to price up for you. Single walls, whole rooms, and rooms plus ceilings are typical projects for internal plastering, whereas outside the home, you may want your entire property to be externally rendered.

How much does plastering a wall cost?

Depending on the size of the wall, a simple reskimming job may only cost £100 - £200, whereas a full plastering job could be double that.

How much does plastering a ceiling cost? 

Plastering a ceiling is more expensive than plastering a wall due to the techniques and difficulty involved. A proper plastering job for the ceiling of a small room may begin at around £250 or so, rising to £600 or more for a larger room.

How much does it cost to plaster a room?

The cost of plastering a room depends on the size of the room, as mentioned above. Typical costs for a small room with a complete replastering all the walls of a small room would range from about £400 to £700, while simple reskimming would come in at £300 to £500. In a larger room, costs of £1,000 to £1,500 are more likely - while skimming would be £500 to £700.

How much does external rendering cost?

External rendering is also entirely dependent on the scale of the job - a typical render and finish of a small property, such as a bungalow, might begin at around £2,000, going up from there - while to render and finish a large property, such as a detached four-bedroom farmhouse, could begin at £5,000, going up to £8,000 or more.

Other plastering costs

If you have external rendering carried out, you will need scaffolding for anything over a single storey - the cost of scaffolding for a single wall may be around £300, while for an entire home £1,000 is a more typical cost. If you are replastering and the original plaster needs to be removed, you may need a skip for the waste, which can cost a few hundred pounds depending on the size of the skip.