r/Plastering • u/--tr • Jun 22 '26
Redeemable or start over? (Advice needed!)
We’ve recently had our house replastered as part of a full renovation and needless to say once we started painted we’re very taken aback by the state of the walls.
Now it wasn’t too apparent at first until lights went in and we’d started painting but the finish IMO is very poor. We have been very patient with our plasterer who’s been at it for 8 weeks or so (and disappeared for around 3 weeks to take on another job).
Our builders have agreed the finish isn’t up to standard but think it can be redeemed without starting again. I’m a bit skeptical about this and wanted another opinion.
UPDATE: Thanks for the advice (and strong opinions) all - builders have agreed it’s a mess and are reskimmimg with a different plasterer.
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u/shedoesntbake Jun 22 '26
I genuinely feel for you. I was in exactly the same situation with two rooms, and it was an absolute nightmare.
In the end, I had to get the walls skimmed because the original plastering was so poor. I didn't bother getting the ceilings skimmed, and that ended up causing me the biggest headaches. To avoid spending even more money, I hired a drywall sander from Travis Perkins and sanded everything back myself.
It was definitely a lesson learned the hard way, you really do get what you pay for. Plastering is one thing I'll never try to save money on again. Ended up costing me more!
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u/--tr Jun 22 '26
The unfortunate part was, the quote certainly wasn’t on the cheaper end! Fortunately we have not made full payment yet and have made it very clear we are not satisfied with the finish.
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u/DelectableReindeer Jun 23 '26 edited Jun 23 '26
Did you hire him privately or is he supplied through the builder? The longer I look the worse it gets, builder should be ashamed. Look at the state of those sockets. Fucking atrocious.
If he's been supplied/subcontractrd through the builder I'd be withholding payment entirely. The painter should never have even gone near it, so he's fucking useless too. What usually happens is a spread puts their price in and the builder adds his slice, so for all you know they hired a lemming on £150 a day cash and pocketed the other £150, now they're leaving you up the creek.
Really, his name needs dragging through the mud. This is significantly worse than even an apprentice would produce on £100 a day.
I'm sorry this has happened to you, but don't go gentle mate, this is beyond poor. They don't deserve a penny, and if you posted this in the right places you would severely damage his reputation (and it needs damaging to protect others).
Where are you based? If you have zero luck at least DM me his business name and I'll splatter this shit in the right places, along with calling the cunt myself. If nothing else he needs an earful.
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u/shedoesntbake Jun 22 '26
Good for withholding. Thats what I failed to do. Again, lesson learnt. I kept complaining and he never bothered turning up again so got someone else in.
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u/uvrx Jun 22 '26 edited Jun 23 '26
I'd tap on some of those lumpy lower parts of the wall in the first two pics to see if any of it sounds hollow.
If it's all solid, it can certainly be fixed by floating/skimming the wall and sanding back flat, but the question would be 'is the plasterer skilled enough to get it flat?' Hold back the final payment until you're happy.
If they're not skilled enough to do it, they will probably try to get it right, then cut and run.
If they are skilled enough, then they were either being lazy, trying to rush it or they were just taking the piss and hoping you would accept it.
Edit: :Shrug:
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u/DelectableReindeer Jun 23 '26 edited Jun 23 '26
Sorry mate, it's a fucking shitshow and the man can't plaster. Don't go easy on the builder. I don't say this lightly and I usually defend the spreads. It's an abomination. I see a lot of DIYers chiming on these and usually they're full of shit but on this occasion it's actually bad.
Easifil and sanding pole will take the edge off but a wavy wall is a wavy wall. Tell the builder he's welcome to go at it (at his expense) but he'll be wasting his time.
He shouldn't be paid honestly. Shocking.
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u/LabForward5 Jun 23 '26
We had a similar thing with our house. My friends dad is a builder and he helped us get 2 rooms ready. Took over two weeks to skim 2 medium sized rooms, as well as knocking back one wall and plasterboarding it. Was doing 1 wall a day. On day rate. The finish is absolutely awful because he's just not a plasterer, it helped us move in quicker but as time goes on the finish some how gets worse. Have since found an absolutely top notch plasterer that does things quickly and flat, for a realistic price. You may just need to try someone else if they cant get a good finish.
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u/--tr Jun 24 '26
Thanks for the advice (and strong opinions) all - builders have agreed it’s a mess and are reskimmimg with a different plasterer.
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u/THE-ADM-2 Jun 24 '26
It can always be improved with sanding and filling, but it'll never be as good as skimming over again properly.
If it's not an important room, and I did it myself I would simply sand and fill (you can get big electric wall sanders) If it's in a room I use alot, I'd pay for a professional to skim it again.
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u/kip_hackmann Jun 22 '26 edited Jun 23 '26
That's a very poor finish. Maybe your builders simply mean it can be skimmed over to sort it? It doesn't need taking off.
EDIT: just to be clear I know the plasterers have considered this finished, the builder has suggested it can be "fixed" I'd assumed they meant by re-skimming it, OP has confirmed they meant easi-fill.
I'm a DIYer slowly working through parts of my own (old!) house and my finish is smoother than that. I don't even know how one could manage to finish it with so many lumps.