Plastering Services in Gateshead
Everything DM Plastering does, and what each job involves. Domestic and commercial plastering across Gateshead, from Ryton to Felling.
Plastering & Re-plastering in Gateshead
When old plaster has blown, crumbled or come away from the brickwork, skimming over it won’t last. The wall needs taking back to the brick or block and plastering again: a backing coat to straighten it up (the float) and a smooth finishing coat on top (the skim).
Plenty of Gateshead homes still have their original plaster, from the Tyneside flats and terraces of Bensham, Saltwell and Teams to the older semis and villas of Low Fell and Whickham. After decades of settling and redecorating it’s common to find hollow patches, cracks and walls that are far from straight. Re-plastering sorts all of that in one go.
The same goes for rooms stripped back for rewiring, a new kitchen or a full renovation, and for extensions. Walls and ceilings are plastered ready for decorating.
- Hacking off blown or crumbling plaster
- Float and skim on brick and block
- Whole rooms and whole houses
- Walls and ceilings after rewiring or renovation
- Extensions and new walls
- Straight corners and clean window reveals
Skimming & Re-skimming in Gateshead
If your walls and ceilings are basically sound but look tired, a skim is usually the answer. Old filler patches, hairline cracks and bumps from years of redecorating all show through paint. A skim is a thin finishing coat of plaster, usually 2 to 3mm, trowelled up to a smooth, flat finish.
Skimming is also how new plasterboard is finished, and how textured ceilings are brought back to smooth. Before anything is skimmed, the plaster underneath is checked. A skim over blown plaster will crack and come away, so if it isn’t sound, you’ll be told.
- Walls and ceilings re-skimmed
- Skimming over sound old plaster
- Skimming new plasterboard
- Patched and uneven walls smoothed out
- Surfaces sealed first where needed
- Ready for a mist coat and paint
Reboarding a ceiling: overboard or replace?
| Overboard | Replace | |
|---|---|---|
| Suits | An old ceiling that’s cracked but still firmly fixed | A ceiling that’s sagging, loose or badly damaged |
| Mess | Much less: the old ceiling stays up | More: the old ceiling comes down first |
| Result | New board fixed into the joists, then skimmed | A new board ceiling, then skimmed |
Plasterboarding, Ceilings & Partitions in Gateshead
Plasterboarding, sometimes called dry lining, means fixing sheets of plasterboard to a wall, ceiling or timber frame and then skimming over them. It dries far quicker than building up wet plaster, and it’s the best way to get a flat surface on a wall that’s badly out of true.
Old ceilings are the classic job. The lath and plaster ceilings in older Gateshead houses can crack, sag and eventually let go. Depending on their condition, a ceiling can be overboarded, with new plasterboard fixed through the old surface into the joists, or taken down and replaced with new board. Either way it’s then skimmed smooth.
Stud partition walls are built and boarded too, whether you’re splitting a bedroom, forming a new hallway or boxing in pipes.
- Reboarding ceilings
- Overboarding cracked ceilings
- Dry lining walls
- Stud partition walls built and boarded
- Boxing in pipes
- Skimmed ready to decorate
Artex Covering & Removal in Gateshead
Artex and other textured coatings were hugely popular on ceilings from the 1960s to the 1980s, and plenty of Gateshead homes still have them. The swirls, stipples and peaks are hard to clean, hard to repair and look dated.
The usual way to get rid of a textured ceiling is to cover it rather than strip it. The surface is sealed with a bonding coat, built up where the pattern is deep, and then skimmed to a smooth finish. It’s quicker, cleaner and cheaper than removal, and it leaves the old coating sealed in.
That matters because Artex applied before 2000 can contain a small amount of asbestos. It’s safe left undisturbed, but it should never be sanded, scraped or drilled until it has been tested. If you want it taken off completely, have it tested first, and we’ll talk you through the options.
- Artex ceilings skimmed smooth
- Textured walls covered
- Neat work around roses and coving
- Swirl, stipple and peaked patterns
- Advice on testing before any removal
Signs your plaster needs attention
- Cracks that keep coming back after filling
- Patches that sound hollow when tapped
- Plaster bulging or coming away from the wall
- Sagging or cracked ceilings, especially lath and plaster
- Crumbling, powdery plaster low down on a wall
Plaster Repairs in Gateshead
Not every wall needs re-plastering. Cracks, holes left by old fixings, blown patches, knocked corners and the chases cut for new wiring can usually be cut back and filled so the repair sits flush with the wall around it.
Older houses bring their own repairs. On lath and plaster walls and ceilings, where lime plaster was pressed onto thin timber strips, sound sections can be patched and failing ones boarded over.
If a patch would end up bigger than the wall itself, or the plaster around it is failing too, you’ll hear that. Sometimes a skim over the whole wall is the better value, and you’ll get a straight answer on it.
- Cracks in walls and ceilings
- Blown and hollow patches
- Making good after rewiring or plumbing
- Damaged corners and reveals
- Lath and plaster repairs
- Re-plastering once damp has been sorted
Whichever service you need
One plastering company, start to finish
DM Plastering is owner-run, so the person who quotes for your job is involved in doing it. Nothing is sub-contracted to other firms, and the price you’re quoted comes with no hidden costs or call-out charges.
From a small repair to a whole-house re-plaster, homes and businesses get the same approach: an honest look at what the walls need, proper preparation, a smooth finish and a tidy room at the end.
Also on request:
- Floor screeding
- Damp proofing
- Marble plastering
Not sure what your walls need?
Describe the room and the problem. We’ll come and look, tell you whether it’s a skim, a re-plaster or a repair, and give you a free written quote.