What to charge / Plasterers · Checked 16 October 2026
Checkatrade’s April 2026 table puts a plasterer at £300 a day or £37.50 an hour. Most plastering is priced by the area, though: Fantastic Services gives £15 to £25 a m² to skim a sound wall and £450 to £850 to plaster a single room. Price guides disagree a lot on whole rooms, so the figures below sit side by side, with ceilings, repairs, what the business costs to run and a calculator for your own rate.
Rates
| Rate | Typical range | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| A day, Checkatrade 2026 table | £300 [1][2] | Last updated April 2026. Its room plastering guide gives the same £300 a day for labour. |
| An hour, Checkatrade 2026 table | £37.50 [1] | Checkatrade does not say whether VAT is included. |
| A m² to skim an existing wall | £15 to £25 [3][1] | Fantastic Services, 2026. £18 to £32 in London and the South East. Checkatrade gives £24 a m². |
| A m² to re-plaster or board and skim | £25 to £45 [3] | Fantastic Services. £30 to £58 in London and the South East. |
| A m² to skim a ceiling | £20 to £35 [3] | Fantastic Services. Ceilings cost more than walls because the work is overhead. |
| An hour, HaMuch average | £25 [4] | From £15 to £50 depending on area. Its average day rate is £170, from £120 to £400. |
| Minimum charge for a small job | £120 to £150 [3] | Fantastic Services, to cover setting up, mixing and cleaning. |
Job prices
What customers are typically quoted, from published UK price guides. Use them as a check on your own quotes, not a fixed price list.
| Job | Typical price | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Skim one small wall, up to 10m² | £150 to £300 [3] | Fantastic Services. £200 to £400 in London |
| Skim the walls of a small room | £400 to £600 [3] | Fantastic Services. £500 to £780 in London |
| Skim the walls of a large room | £600 to £850 [3] | Fantastic Services. £750 to £1,100 in London |
| Skim a room | £550 [4] | HaMuch average |
| Plaster a small room, 9m² | £1,100 [2] | Checkatrade average from a July 2024 table. A large room of 18m² is £1,900 |
| Skim a ceiling, average room | £250 to £450 [3] | Fantastic Services. £320 to £580 in London |
| Skim a medium ceiling, 15m² | £280 to £440 [5] | Checkatrade, average £360. A small ceiling is £200 to £350 and a large one £425 to £725 |
| Overboard and plaster a ceiling | £1,000 [5] | Checkatrade average. Around £700 for a box room |
| Re-plaster a chimney breast | £200 to £400 [3] | Fantastic Services. £250 to £520 in London |
| Plasterboard and skim a stud wall | £30 to £45 a m² [3] | Fantastic Services. £38 to £58 a m² in London |
| Patch repair | £120 to £250 [3][2] | Fantastic Services, small damaged area. Checkatrade gives £200 to repair a small crack |
| Fit coving | £85 [4] | HaMuch average |
| Render an external wall | £50 a m² [4] | HaMuch average |
Fantastic Services says its 2026 figures include VAT where applicable. Checkatrade’s room and ceiling prices come from 2024 tables read from archived copies of its guides, and its room prices are well above the other guides, so treat them as a top end. HaMuch figures are averages from its own trade database.
Your numbers
Start from what you want to earn, add what the business costs to run, and divide by the hours you can actually charge for. Travel, quoting, paperwork and chasing payments are not chargeable hours, so be honest about them.
The starting numbers are examples, not a recommendation. Change them to match your year. The result is before income tax and National Insurance, and before VAT if you are registered.
Before you set a price
Pricing well
Customers can compare a price per m² or per room. Measure the walls and ceilings, say whether it is a skim or a full re-plaster, and quote the job. Keep your day rate for repair work where you cannot see what is behind the old plaster until it comes off.
Mixing, setting up and cleaning take the same time for a small patch as for a full wall. Fantastic Services puts the usual minimum at £120 to £150. Tell callers your minimum before you book a small job, and suggest they save up other patches for the same visit.
Removing wallpaper, hacking off blown plaster, beading corners, boarding over Artex and taking the rubbish away all take time. List what your price covers and what costs extra, so a wall that turns out worse than expected does not come out of your margin.
Fantastic Services says a typical room takes one to two days including drying, and the plaster needs a few more days before it can be painted. Saying this at the quote stage stops a decorator turning up too early and the blame landing on you.
Guide prices for a single room run from £450 to £850 at Fantastic Services up to £1,100 for a small room at Checkatrade. If a customer quotes a low figure back at you, ask whether it was for a skim or a full re-plaster, and walk them through what your price includes.
A good rate only helps if the customer reaches you. Most callers who hit voicemail ring the next name on the list. If you miss three calls a week and two in five would have become a £550 job, that is about £2,858 of work a month going to someone else. See what a missed call costs, or how While You Work answers calls for plasterers while you are on a job.
Questions
Checkatrade’s April 2026 table gives £300 a day, or £37.50 an hour. HaMuch’s national average is lower at £170 a day, from £120 to £400 depending on the area, though its city figures are higher, for example £252 in London and £219 in Manchester.
Fantastic Services gives £400 to £600 to skim the walls of a small room and £600 to £850 for a large one, or £500 to £780 and £750 to £1,100 in London. HaMuch’s average to skim a room is £550.
Fantastic Services gives £15 to £25 a m² to skim a sound wall, £25 to £45 to re-plaster or board and skim, and £20 to £35 for a ceiling. Checkatrade gives £24 a m² to skim a wall.
Fantastic Services gives £250 to £450 to skim an average ceiling, or £320 to £580 in London. Checkatrade gives £200 to £350 for a small ceiling, £280 to £440 for a medium one and £425 to £725 for a large one, and around £1,000 to overboard and plaster.
Most do. Fantastic Services says the usual minimum is around £120 to £150, because setting up, mixing and cleaning take the same time on a small patch.
The National Careers Service gives £21,000 for a starter and up to £38,000 with experience for employed plasterers. Under BATJIC from 10 August 2026, an Advanced Craft (NVQ3) worker is paid at least £16.76 an hour.
Figures checked on 16 October 2026. Price guides change, so check the source before you rely on a figure. Where a source says whether a price includes VAT, the page says so; where it does not, treat the figure as unconfirmed on VAT.
Quote these figures
You are welcome to use the figures on this page in an article, a newsletter or a course. Please credit While You Work with a link to this page:
<a href="https://whileyouwork.co.uk/what-to-charge/plasterer/">UK plasterer rates 2026, While You Work</a>More pricing guides: plumber rates, electrician rates, builder rates, roofer rates, painter and decorator rates, locksmith rates, driving instructor rates, cleaner rates, gardener rates, carpenter rates, tiler rates, handyman rates, window cleaner rates.
While You Work answers in your business name when you cannot, and emails you the details within a minute. From £39 a month plus VAT, and cancel within 14 days of your line going live for a full refund.