Get plastering done once and done right. Our Staines-upon-Thames-based team hangs, scrims, floats and skims to a polished, paint-ready finish — spotless site, fixed price, and we come back if anything ever moves.
A plain-English overview of what the DAB team delivers, who it's for and when it matters. No marketing filler.
Plastering is the trade of applying flat, smooth mineral coats to walls and ceilings so they are ready for decoration. It covers new-build boarding and skimming, re-skimming tired rooms over sound existing plaster, hardwall backing on masonry, bonding coats on dense blocks, dry-lining stud walls with plasterboard, and rendering to external elevations.
Homeowners refurbishing a room, landlords turning around a rental between tenants, developers finishing new-build shells, and interior designers who need surfaces truly flat before wallpaper, panelling or specialist coatings. We work directly with private clients and as trusted subcontractors for local builders across Staines, Egham, Ashford, Chertsey, Sunbury, Weybridge and Windsor.
You need plastering when walls are patched, cracked, uneven, artexed, blown, damp-repaired, freshly boarded, extended or newly stud-lined. A clean skim is also the quickest way to lift an entire room before selling or letting.
Plastering looks simple and it isn't. The order of coats, suction control, PVA dilution, joint scrimming, angle beading and trowel timing decide whether a wall photographs beautifully or telegraphs every mistake under a low-angle light. Fifteen years on the trowel is the difference between a wall that lasts twenty years and one that maps and cracks within a season.
The specific ways this job goes bad when it's ignored, DIY'd, or handed to the cheapest quote in the WhatsApp group.
DIY or unskilled skims applied over dust, without scrim tape at joints or with the wrong bonding agent will hairline within weeks. The only real fix is to strip and start again — twice the cost.
Plastering over a live damp problem seals moisture into the wall. Salts push through, paint blows off, and skirtings rot. A proper trade knows when to specify a salt-neutralising undercoat or a re-plaster with waterproof additive.
Wonky walls show every hairline in wallpaper, throw shadows across feature lighting, and make skirting mitres impossible. Once decorated, the only fix is another skim.
A price that only covers 'top coat' quickly balloons when the plasterer arrives, condemns the existing surface and re-quotes on the day. Our written quotes state exactly what's included, so the number you agree is the number you pay.
The exact system our team runs on every job — from your first message to the certificate in your handover pack.
We visit, tap-test existing plaster for hollow sections, check moisture where relevant, measure every wall and ceiling, and photograph problem areas. Free, no obligation.
Within 2–3 working days you receive an itemised quote: preparation, materials, coats specified (bonding / hardwall / multi-finish), scrim and beading, dust protection, and rubbish removal.
Furniture moved or sheeted, floors covered edge-to-edge, sockets isolated where needed, sound loose plaster hacked off, joints scrimmed, external and stop beads set plumb, suction controlled with diluted PVA or a coat of Blue Grit as the substrate requires.
Multi-Finish or Board Finish laid on in two tight coats, flattened, then polished with clean water at the correct set. Angles ruled straight, reveals crisp, ceilings rolled and finished off the trowel.
Walls left ready for a mist coat once fully dry (typically 5–7 days). Site swept, dust-sheets rolled, offcuts removed. Any snag, we come back — that's the promise.
What you actually get when you hire us for this job — measurable, provable, and reflected in every one of our verified reviews.
Two-coat skim delivered flat to a 3mm-in-2m tolerance so your decorator can mist-coat and finish without additional filling.
Dust-sheeted, taped, hoovered daily. Our clients on Yell say it themselves — 'tidiest tradesperson I've ever met.'
Correct suction control and joint reinforcement mean the wall stays crack-free through seasonal movement and central-heating cycles.
Written fixed quote covers labour, materials and rubbish removal. Variations only occur if the scope changes, and always with a written revision first.
£10M public liability covers your home and neighbouring property. Copies of the policy schedule available on request.
5.0 stars across 9 verified Yell reviews from clients in Staines and the surrounding Surrey towns.
The specification-level answers the internet usually skips.
British Gypsum Thistle Multi-Finish for standard interior top coats, Board Finish where plasterboard is the substrate, Hardwall on dense masonry, Bonding Coat on smooth or low-suction backgrounds, and Dri-Coat where a re-plaster follows a damp-proof course. Angle beads and stop beads galvanised or stainless as the location dictates; scrim tape self-adhesive on plasterboard joints and hessian scrim where lath-and-plaster meets new work.
New plasterboard: tape, two-coat skim. Existing sound plaster in good condition: re-skim after a PVA or Blue Grit primer. Bare brick or block: two or three coats of hardwall floated to a devil-float finish, followed by a two-coat skim once the backing is set. Damp-repaired walls: waterproof render up to 1m, salt-neutralising undercoat, then top coat. Ceilings: overboarded onto joists at 400 or 600mm centres, taped, then skimmed — no chasing artex or old lath.
Skimming (top-coat only), re-skim (over existing plaster), full re-plaster (strip, back-coat, top-coat), dry-lining (metal or timber studs, insulated board where thermal upgrade is needed), rendering to external walls (sand-cement or K-Rend through-colour), Venetian and polished plaster feature walls, tape-and-jointing for commercial fit-outs, and specialist repairs to lath-and-plaster in period homes.
Post-electrical chases and re-wires, plumbing first-fix reinstatement, damp course reinstatement, artex removal by over-board (see Ceilings service), fire-damage repair, extension wall tie-ins, structural opening infills after RSJ installation, and full renovation shells.
Domestic plastering is priced by the room or wall, worked around the household, and finished for direct decoration. Commercial tape-and-joint work follows a programme, requires higher throughput, and is typically finished to level 4 for eggshell paint or level 5 for critical lighting. We do both — the standard doesn't change.
The questions we're asked at almost every survey. Not on the list? Call 07834 974462 — the DAB team is happy to talk it through.
Guide prices in Surrey run roughly £180–£300 per wall for a re-skim of a standard-sized room, and £450–£700 for a small ceiling. Every property is different — our free on-site survey lets us quote a fixed price, not a rate.
A single wall re-skim is a same-day job. A full room typically takes 1–2 days on site, plus 5–7 days drying before decoration. Full-house re-plasters are scheduled in phases so you can stay in occupation where possible.
Not directly. We over-board with 9.5mm plasterboard onto the ceiling joists and skim, which is faster, cleaner and safer than scraping — and avoids any question of asbestos disturbance in ceilings pre-2000.
No fixed-term paperwork — instead a straightforward promise: if the plaster develops a genuine defect (not shrinkage crack from a settling new-build), we return and put it right. It's why most of our work comes from repeat clients and referrals.
Multi-Finish takes around 5–7 days to fully dry in normal conditions. It should go from pink to a uniform pale beige. Mist-coat first (watered-down emulsion 70:30) so the paint bonds, then decorate normally.
Yes — our team includes a Gas Safe plumber and an NICEIC electrician, so we can chase, wire, plumb and re-plaster as a coordinated job across Staines-upon-Thames and surrounding Surrey towns.
Managed properly, no. We sheet floors edge-to-edge, tape polythene over doorways, isolate rooms with dust-barriers, and hoover down at the end of every day. Reviewers repeatedly call our sites 'immaculate'.
Yes — we work across Staines-upon-Thames, Egham, Ashford, Chertsey, Sunbury-on-Thames, Weybridge, Windsor, Feltham and Kingston upon Thames as standard, and further on larger projects.
Marble-deep, marble-cool, without the weight or the joins. Our team lays and burnishes Italian polished plaster finishes on feature walls, hallways, media surrounds and bathrooms — a finish photographers actually ask to shoot.
Read moreTextured ceilings dropped, over-boarded and re-skimmed to a smooth, paint-ready finish. No scraping, no asbestos disturbance, no dust bombs — just flat ceilings, dust-sheeted from wall to wall.
Read moreOne owner-led team, one point of contact, one fixed programme. From strip-out to snag list — plastering, joinery, electrics, plumbing, tiling and decoration coordinated so you're never chasing anyone.
Read more
Free on-site survey. Fixed written quote in 2–3 working days. No pressure, no hidden costs, no unknown extras. The DAB team replies personally.
07834 974462