# Plastering – what to charge in 2026 (UK)
This guide is for plasterers doing domestic work – skimming, boarding, rendering and dry lining. It covers realistic 2026 day rates, common job prices, and how materials and margins usually work.
Quick rule of thumb: in 2026, most self‑employed plasterers sit somewhere around £220–£320/day outside London, higher for fast or specialist spreaders in London and on big work.
1. Day rates – 2026
These are labour‑only bands, pre‑VAT. There isn't as much polished data as for plumbers and sparks, but cost guides, local adverts and salary surveys point to these ranges.
Newly qualified / first year self‑employed
- London & South East: £180–£220/day
- Midlands: £160–£200/day
- North of England: £150–£190/day
- Scotland / Wales / rural: £140–£190/day
Experienced (around 3–5 years on your own)
- London & South East: £230–£300/day
- Midlands: £200–£250/day
- North of England: £190–£240/day
- Scotland / Wales / rural: £180–£230/day
Highly experienced / fast / specialist (render/dry lining)
- London & South East: £280–£360+/day
- Midlands: £230–£300/day
- North of England: £220–£280/day
- Scotland / Wales / rural: £210–£270/day
Salary surveys for plasterers show average employee earnings in the mid‑£30,000s (around £18/hour), which lines up with day rates in these bands once you factor in self‑employment overheads.
2. Common plastering jobs and 2026 price ranges
These are typical labour + standard materials prices that homeowners are seeing in 2026.
Skim a small bedroom (around 2m x 2.5m box room – walls only)
- Typical price: about £220 including materials.
- Includes: Prep, PVA where needed, two‑coat skim to walls, basic protection/clean‑up.
- Price goes up if: Bad existing surfaces, lots of filling, wallpaper stripping, awkward access.
Small bedroom – walls and ceiling (2m x 2.5m)
- Typical price: about £300 including materials.
- Includes: As above, plus skimming the ceiling.
- Price goes up if: Artex removal, overboarding first, coving involved.
Skim a standard double bedroom
- Typical price: commonly £350–£550 depending on size and condition.
- Includes: PVA/prep, two‑coat skim walls and ceiling, basic clean‑up.
- Price goes up if: High ceilings, bad walls, lots of making good, furniture in the way.
Skim a full lounge (walls and ceiling)
- Typical price: roughly £450–£800 depending on room size and condition.
- Includes: As above.
- Price goes up if: Big rooms, cornice/coving to work around, heavy prep.
Full house skim (typical 3‑bed)
- Typical price: ballpark £2,500–£4,000+ for a 3‑bed house, depending on how many ceilings, condition, and whether it's occupied.
- Includes: Skimming most walls and ceilings; often done over several days with a small team.
- Price goes up if: House occupied, lots of chases to fill, previous blown plaster, stairwells.
Dot‑and‑dab plasterboard and skim (per room)
- Typical price: Labour + materials often works out around £40–£60/m² for board + skim on domestic jobs.
- Includes: Boarding, taping, skimming.
- Price goes up if: Lots of cutting around openings, poor backgrounds, ceiling work.
External sand/cement render (standard finish)
- Typical price: often £40–£80/m² labour + materials for traditional render, depending on thickness and finish.
- Includes: Mesh where needed, scratch coat, top coat, standard finish.
- Price goes up if: Scaffolding, complex elevations, coloured/top quality finishes.
Patch repairs / making good
- Typical price: small patches usually priced by half‑day/day rate – £150–£300 depending on size, plus materials.
- Includes: Patch plaster around sockets, small areas after removals.
- Price goes up if: Colour matching existing texture, blending into old finishes, multiple visits.
These sit in the same rough territory as Checkatrade's "cost to plaster a room" and similar guides for 2026.
3. What plasterers actually earn (2026)
ONS and salary surveys give the baseline; self‑employed plasterers can do better if they price right.
- Employee plasterer salary examples: one 2026 survey shows an average plasterer salary of about £37,688/year, or around £18/hour, in a typical UK town.
- ONS "construction and building trades" data shows median employee pay for these roles broadly in the high‑£20,000s to mid‑£30,000s.
Self‑employed:
- A one‑person plasterer charging £220–£300/day and staying booked can realistically turn over £45,000–£60,000/year before tax.
- After van, tools, fuel, insurance, downtime and under‑priced jobs, that might drop to £25,000–£40,000 net, depending how sharp your pricing and cashflow are.
Employed plasterers might be mid‑30s. A self‑employed plasterer with a solid 2026 day rate and decent utilisation can beat that, but only if they stop doing £150 days that take them twelve hours.
4. What's usually NOT included in plastering quotes
Plastering is where "make it nice" creeps in. Be clear about what you're not doing.
Painting and decorating Priming, mist coats, full decoration – usually not included. You leave ready‑for‑decorator, not finished.
Carpentry and prep Fitting new skirtings, architraves, moving sockets, boxing pipes – separate trades/costs unless stated.
Major substrate repairs Reboarding whole walls, replacing rotten timbers, structural fixes. Often extras if discovered after stripping wallpaper/old plaster.
Scaffolding and access Towers, scaffolds, external access – generally separate, especially for external render.
Waste removal Old plaster, lath, rubble bags, tip fees – often a separate line if it's more than a few bags.
5. Day rate vs price work – plastering
Plastering sits nicely between day‑rate and piece‑work worlds.
Domestic work
Small to medium jobs are usually fixed price per job (per room, per ceiling, per house).
Behind the scenes, many plasterers work off a day rate and a rough per‑m² expectation for skimming and boarding.
Day rate comes out when:
- It's small patching/repairs
- The scope is fuzzy ("make good after electrician")
- You're working for a builder on labour‑only.
Site and commercial work
On larger jobs and new‑builds you'll see more pure price work:
- £X per m² for boarding
- £X per m² for skimming
- £X per m² for render or dry lining
Good spreads can earn far more than a simple day rate if the m² rates are fair and the site is well run.
Domestic plastering is mostly fixed‑price, with spreads using internal day/m² rates; dry lining/render gangs on site are heavily price‑work‑driven.
6. Materials and markup for plasterers (2026)
Plastering materials aren't expensive individually, but there's still time and risk in handling them.
- For plaster (bags), boards, beads, tapes, adhesives, it's normal to add around 10–20% on top of your cost to cover ordering, delivery, loading out and waste.
- On more specialist render systems or branded boards, markups closer to 15–25% are common, especially when you're tying up cash and taking warranty risk.
- Trade accounts at merchants usually give you better than retail on plaster and boards, and buying full pallets saves more – that's part of the reason you should earn something on the materials.
You can explain it simply:
"There's a small margin on materials to cover ordering, delivery and waste. You still benefit from my trade prices – buying a few bags or boards yourself would usually cost you more overall."
What to do next
- Read: 14.2 – How to price your first job without underselling yourself
- Read: 14.4 – Why you should never be the cheapest quote
- Read: 14.9 – How to price extras and variations without losing the customer
- Read: 14.1 – Day rate vs price work vs quoted
- Download: Payment schedule and deposit terms template
- Use: Late Payment Calculator – to see what those "I'll pay you Friday" jobs really cost you over a year
Sources (UK, 2026‑relevant)
- ONS – Employee earnings in the UK (ASHE) – construction and building trades, including plasterers and dry liners.
- ERI and similar salary surveys – average plasterer salaries in 2026 (~£37k/year, ~£18/hour).
- Checkatrade – "Cost to plaster a room" and related cost guides – typical room‑plaster prices in 2026.
- Local plastering adverts and 2026 price lists – example small‑room prices (£220 walls, £300 walls + ceiling).
- Contractor markup resources – common materials markup ranges for residential work.
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