Plasterers in Warrington since 2009
Walls you can run your hand along.
Skimming, re-plastering after rewires and damp, Artex ceilings, rendering and lime, from a family firm in Wilderspool. Dust sheets down first, floors swept last, and a written price before we start.
- 4.9 from 212 Google reviews
- 12-month guarantee
- Fixed written quotes
Flat enough that a torch held along it finds nothing to catch.
The torch test
Hold a torch flat to a wall and every ridge throws a shadow.
Plasterers call it raking light, and it is how we check every wall before we pack up. This is a 1970s Artex ceiling lit that way. Scroll, and we skim it.
- Stage
- Before: Artex, torch held flat
- Shadow left on the surface
- 100%
Move your pointer over the wall to move the torch.
What we do
Ten jobs, one trowel, every room in the house.
From a door-handle hole in a Westbrook hallway to a Lymm cottage re-plastered in lime. Every card dries as you read it, which is the one thing plaster always does.
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Skimming
Two coats of finishing plaster over sound walls and ceilings, trowelled flat and polished, ready for a mist coat in days.
From £380 a room -
After a rewire
Chases and back boxes filled in bonding, then the whole room skimmed so the patches do not ghost through the paint.
From £520 a room -
Re-plastering after damp
Salt-laden plaster hacked off to the damp specialist’s line and renewed in a renovating or sand and cement backing.
From £48 per m² -
Artex ceilings
Tested first, then sealed and skimmed over, so a 1970s swirl becomes a flat ceiling without anything being sanded or scraped.
From £340 a ceiling -
Patching and repairs
Blown plaster, door-handle holes, a ceiling down after a leak. Cut back to sound, built up and feathered in.
From £140 -
Boarding, dot and dab
Plasterboard on adhesive dabs over solid walls, or screwed to studs and ceilings, taped and skimmed.
From £32 per m² -
Coving and cornice
Plaster coving cut and fitted with mitred corners, and runs of old cornice repaired to match the profile.
From £22 a metre -
Rendering
Sand and cement or through-coloured monocouche on walls, extensions and garden walls, with beads and a drip at the base.
From £52 per m² -
Lime plaster
Haired lime in three coats for solid-walled cottages in Lymm and Grappenhall that need to breathe.
From £75 per m² -
New-build cracks
Shrinkage cracks in Chapelford and Westbrook homes raked out, filled and made ready for paint, room by room.
From £240 a house
After the electrician
Chases filled the day before, the room skimmed the day after.
A rewire leaves a trench up every wall and a hole at every socket. Filling them alone never works: the patches dry at a different rate and ghost through the paint. So we fill in bonding, let it go off overnight, and skim the whole wall.
After the damp specialist
Off to the line, back in a plaster that copes with salts.
Once a new damp-proof course is in, the old plaster holds the salts the damp left behind. We hack it off to the height on the specialist’s report, usually a metre, and re-plaster in a renovating plaster or sand and cement. Never gypsum straight onto a wet wall.
Artex ceilings
Test it first. Then we skim it, and nothing gets sanded.
Half the 1970s semis in Birchwood and Padgate still have a swirl or a stipple overhead. Textured coatings put up before 2000 can contain a small amount of white asbestos. Left alone and in good condition it is low risk. Sanding, scraping or drilling it is how it stops being low risk.
- 1
Have a sample tested
By a UKAS-accredited lab, about £30 to £60 by post. We can take the sample with the right kit, or you can order a home kit.
- 2
Clear, or sound? We skim over it
A bonding coat seals the texture, then two coats of finish. Skimming over a sound ceiling seals it in without disturbing it.
- 3
Loose, or coming off? Not us
Removing it is work for an asbestos removal contractor. We will say so plainly, and come back to plaster once they have gone.
Lymm and Grappenhall
Old cottages want lime, not gypsum.
The solid-walled cottages around Lymm Cross and down Church Lane in Grappenhall were built to let moisture in and out again. Gypsum and cement seal that in, and the damp comes out as a blown patch by the fireplace. Haired lime goes on in three coats, each left to cure before the next. It takes weeks, and the wall breathes for another century.
Listed? Changing the plaster can need listed building consent from Warrington Borough Council, even inside. We tell you before you pay for anything.
Lime plaster in three coats on solid brick: a 10 mm scratch coat, an 8 mm float coat and a 3 mm setting coat.
Chapelford and Westbrook
A crack in a new-build is usually the house drying out.
Chapelford Village went up on the old RAF Burtonwood land, and plenty of its houses are under ten years old. New timber and new plaster shrink as the heating runs through the first winters, and fine cracks open at the corners and along the board joints. Most are nothing. Here is how to tell, by width, the way a surveyor would.
Crack width, by BRE category
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Under 0.1 mmCategory 0, hairline
Filled and painted over. Normal in the first year of any new plaster.
-
Up to 1 mmCategory 1, very slight
Raked out, filled and sanded. Typical along board joints and ceiling corners.
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Up to 5 mmCategory 2, slight
Under two years old? Report it to your developer first. Otherwise we cut it out and tape it.
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Over 5 mmCategory 3+, moderate or worse
Stop. Especially diagonal from a window or door corner. That is for a structural engineer before any plaster.
Under two years old? Most defects are your builder’s to put right under the NHBC Buildmark warranty. Report them to the developer before you pay anybody, us included.
Estimate a room
What it costs, and the day you can paint.
Pick a room and what state it is in. The numbers come from the price list below; your quote will be fixed and written after we have seen it.
Your guide price
£660 to £760
- Area
- 41 m²
- On site
- 2 days
- Mist coat from
- Day 6
Includes VAT, materials, sheeting and clearing up. Not a quote.
Get this as a fixed quote
How we leave your house
Dust sheets down first. Floors hoovered last.
- Floors sheeted and taped from the front door to the room, with hard protection on stairs and carpets.
- Doors masked so the rest of the house stays out of it.
- Furniture moved and covered, and put back where it was.
- Mixing done outside or on a board in the garage, never on your kitchen floor.
- Swept and hoovered every night, and the old plaster bagged and taken away the same day.
When can I paint?
Dark brown-pink means wait. Even pale pink means paint.
Fresh plaster goes on dark and dries to a pale, chalky pink from the edges in. Paint it while there are darker patches and the paint traps the water, then bubbles or peels. Open a window, keep the heating gentle, and never point a heater at it.
-
Skim on new plasterboard
2 to 4 days
Thin coat on a dry, absorbent board.
-
Skim over old plaster
3 to 5 days
The everyday job. Longer in a cold room in January.
-
Artex ceiling skimmed over
4 to 6 days
Bonded first, so it dries from one side only.
-
Backing coat and skim
10 to 14 days
After hacking off. Allow about a day per millimetre of backing.
-
Lime plaster, three coats
21 to 42 days
Each coat cures before the next. Paint with limewash or a breathable paint.
-
Sand and cement render
7 to 14 days
Before masonry paint. Monocouche is never painted.
Guide prices
What plastering costs in Warrington, 2026.
Starting points, for a straightforward room in a house we can park outside. Your quote is fixed, written and itemised by room before we start.
- VAT and materials included
- Sheeting and clearing up included
- No deposit on jobs under £1,500
- Quotes are free
-
Skim a box room, walls
from £380
Up to about 20 m². One day on site.
-
Skim a double bedroom, walls and ceiling
from £640
About 40 m². Two days, dust sheets and floor protection included.
-
Skim a living room or through lounge, walls and ceiling
from £880
The long front-to-back room in a Victorian terrace. Two to three days.
-
Skim a ceiling on its own
from £280
Medium room, sound plaster or board.
-
Artex ceiling skimmed over
from £340
After a test that comes back clear, or shows asbestos in sound condition. Bonded and two coats.
-
Rewire chases filled and the room skimmed
from £520
Back boxes and chases built up in bonding first.
-
Hack off and re-plaster after a damp course
from £48 per m²
To the specialist’s line, renovating or sand and cement backing, skimmed.
-
Patch repair, up to 1 m²
from £140
Cut back, built up and feathered in. Minimum charge.
-
Ceiling patch after a leak
from £180
Old plaster cut out, new board fixed, taped and skimmed.
-
Dot and dab plasterboard, skimmed
from £32 per m²
Over solid walls. Studwork and ceilings priced the same.
-
Plaster coving, supplied and fitted
from £22 per metre
100 mm or 127 mm cove, mitred corners, caulked in.
-
Sand and cement render, painted
from £52 per m²
Beads, drip and two coats. Scaffold priced on the quote if it needs one.
-
Monocouche render, through-coloured
from £62 per m²
One-coat render that never needs painting.
-
Lime plaster, three coats
from £75 per m²
Scratch, float and setting coat in haired lime. Slow, and worth it.
-
New-build snagging, every crack filled
from £240
A whole house in a day, sanded and ready for paint.
-
Day rate
£260
One plasterer, materials agreed on the day.
Recent rooms
Eight jobs from around the borough this year.
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01 / 08 Latchford A Victorian terrace off Knutsford Road: through lounge and both bedrooms skimmed after the paper came off. -
02 / 08 Chapelford A 2017 four-bed: forty-one shrinkage cracks filled, and three sent back to the developer first. -
03 / 08 Grappenhall A cottage near St Wilfrid’s: gypsum patches cut out and the front room re-plastered in haired lime. -
04 / 08 Stockton Heath An Edwardian semi off London Road: rewired top to bottom, every chase filled and every room skimmed. -
05 / 08 Great Sankey A rear extension boarded, taped and skimmed, with the old back wall dot-and-dabbed to match. -
06 / 08 Birchwood A 1970s semi: three Artex ceilings tested clear, sealed and skimmed flat in two days. -
07 / 08 Padgate A bathroom leak through the landing ceiling: cut out, re-boarded and skimmed the next morning. -
08 / 08 Lymm A village cottage near the Cross: blown lime made good in lime, so the walls can keep breathing.
Photographs are representative of the work, not of the addresses named.
How it goes
From a photo on your phone to a wall ready for paint.
- 01
Call, text or send a photo
A photo of the room with the light on is often enough for a rough price the same day.
Same working day - 02
We come and look
Lee measures up, checks the plaster with a tap and a torch, and asks about Artex and damp.
Within the week - 03
A written, fixed price
Itemised by room, with the days on site and the day you can paint. That price is the price.
Within 48 hours - 04
Sheets down, then plaster
Floors and furniture covered, doors masked, and the room left swept and hoovered every night.
One day to three weeks - 05
Dry, then paint
A text when it is dry enough for the mist coat, and a 12-month guarantee on the plaster.
Three to fourteen days later
- Years plastering Warrington
- 17
- Rooms skimmed since 2009
- 3,100+
- Guarantee on every room
- 12 mo
- From 212 Google reviews
- 4.9
Reviews
What Warrington says once the paint is on.
- ★★★★★
Once the wallpaper came off, the walls in our terrace looked like a ploughed field. Two days later you could run your hand along them. Sheets everywhere, hoovered at the end of each day.
Sarah, Stockton Heath
Through lounge skimmed · August 2026
- ★★★★★
Every crack in our 2019 four-bed filled and ready for paint in a day. Lee told us which ones to report to the developer first, which saved us paying for those.
Daniel and Priya, Chapelford
New-build snagging · May 2026
- ★★★★★
They knew our cottage wanted lime and not gypsum, and explained why without making us feel daft. Three weeks, and the damp patch by the fireplace has gone.
Margaret, Grappenhall
Lime plaster · March 2026
- ★★★★★
We had the Artex tested first like they said. It came back clear, so they skimmed three ceilings in two days. The house looks twenty years younger.
Tom, Birchwood
Artex ceilings · January 2026
- ★★★★★
The electrician left chases in every room. Smoothset filled and skimmed the lot the following week, on the days they said they would.
Jo, Great Sankey
Skim after a rewire · November 2025
- ★★★★★
Rendered the back and side of our semi. Neat beads, a proper drip at the bottom, and not a speck on the patio when they left.
Ravi, Lymm
Rendering · September 2025
The paperwork
Small firm, proper paperwork.
Four of us, one van each, and a yard off Wilderspool Causeway. No subcontractors you have not met.
- NVQ 3 Time-served plasterers, every one carded with CSCS
- 12 months Written guarantee on every room we plaster
- £5m Public liability insurance, certificate on request
- Fixed Written, itemised quotes. No day-rate surprises
- Licensed Upper-tier waste carrier, so the old plaster goes somewhere legal
Who will be in your house
- Lee GarsideOwner and plasterer. Time-served since 2002, NVQ Level 3.
- Shaun MercerPlasterer. Lime, render and anything with a cornice.
- Aimee GarsideOffice. Quotes, bookings and the drying-day texts.
- Kieran O’NeillApprentice, second year at college.
Questions
The things people ask with the kettle on.
Anything else, ring Aimee in the office on 01632 960 418.
Can you skim straight over Artex?
Yes, once you know what is in it. Textured coatings put up before 2000 can contain a small amount of white asbestos. Have a sample tested by a UKAS-accredited lab first, which costs about £30 to £60. If it is clear, or contains asbestos but is sound and firmly stuck, we seal it with a bonding coat and skim over it, which seals it in without disturbing it. We never sand, scrape or drill an untested ceiling. If it is loose or has to come off, that is a job for an asbestos removal contractor, and we will tell you so.
How long before I can paint?
Usually three to five days for a skim, when the whole wall has gone from dark brown-pink to an even pale pink with no darker patches. Longer in winter or in a room with the windows shut. Backing coats take a week or two, lime takes weeks. We text you when it is ready.
What is a mist coat?
The first coat of paint on new plaster: a cheap, plain matt emulsion thinned with water, roughly three parts paint to one of water, so it soaks in and gives the next coats something to grip. Avoid vinyl or wipeable paint for this coat, as it sits on top and can peel.
Do I need a skim or a full re-plaster?
If the old plaster is sound and only the surface is tired or cracked, a skim. If it sounds hollow when tapped, crumbles, or has been soaked by damp, it comes off and the wall is re-plastered from a backing coat. We tap every wall at the survey and show you which is which.
How messy is it?
Less than you expect. Plastering is wet work, so there is very little dust until any old plaster is hacked off. Floors are sheeted and taped, furniture is moved or covered, doors are masked, and we sweep and hoover before we leave each day.
Our new-build has cracks. Who pays?
In the first two years most defects are the builder’s to put right under the NHBC Buildmark warranty, so report them to your developer first. Hairline shrinkage cracks are normal as a new house dries out, and many developers fill them once at the end of the first year. Anything wider than about 5 mm, or running diagonally from a window or door, wants a surveyor before a plasterer.
Do I need permission to re-plaster a listed cottage?
If the house is listed, changing its plaster can need listed building consent from Warrington Borough Council, even inside. Like-for-like repairs in lime usually do not. Lymm and Grappenhall village are conservation areas too, which matters more for render than for inside work. We tell you which applies before you pay for anything.
Do you work weekends?
Saturdays by arrangement, mostly for flats above shops in the town centre where weekday access is hard. Never Sundays.
Where we work
The whole borough, from a yard in Wilderspool.
Victorian terraces off Wilderspool Causeway and in Latchford, flats above the shops on Bridge Street and Buttermarket Street, 1970s Birchwood, the new estates at Chapelford, and the village cottages of Lymm and Grappenhall.
- Town centre5 min
- Stockton Heath5 min
- Latchford5 min
- Grappenhall9 min
- Great Sankey12 min
- Chapelford12 min
- Westbrook12 min
- Padgate12 min
- Woolston12 min
- Penketh14 min
- Lymm15 min
- Birchwood15 min
- Culcheth20 min
Free quotes
Tell us about the room.
A photo with the big light on tells us most of what we need. We reply the same working day.
- Lee, mobile07700 900 562
- Office01632 960 418
- Emailhello@smoothsetplastering.co.uk
- The yard, by appointmentUnit 4, Greenalls Avenue, Warrington WA4 6HL
Office open Monday to Friday from 7:30
| Monday | 7:30am to 5pm |
|---|---|
| Tuesday | 7:30am to 5pm |
| Wednesday | 7:30am to 5pm |
| Thursday | 7:30am to 5pm |
| Friday | 7:30am to 4pm |
| Saturday | By arrangement |
| Sunday | Closed |
Thanks. That’s with us.
Aimee will ring you back today to book a time for Lee to come and measure up.
Reference SP-1015