Most of what we take off a ceiling is paint. Underneath it the plaster is usually fine, and about a hundred and forty years old.

Pleister — plasterwork, since 1998

A deep plaster ceiling rose in cream, modelled with scrolls, shells and foliage

One

Mouldings and cornices

Run in place with a zinc template, the way the original was, rather than glued up from lengths of foam. Slower by about a week per room, and it is the only method that survives the next owner stripping the paint.

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A pierced plaster ceiling rose around a single pendant fitting

Two

Ceilings

Lath and lime, re-keyed from above where there is a floor to lift and stitched from below where there is not. We will tell you which one your ceiling needs before we quote, because the difference is most of the price.

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A coffered ceiling with run cornices and modelled flowers in each panel

Three

Casting and replacement

A mould taken off a surviving section, cast in lime putty and chalk, aged back to match. Where nothing survives we say so and work from the house next door, and we mark on the drawing which parts are ours.

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What we don’t do

Three things we turn down every year. There is no button on this band because there is nothing here to order — it is just the part that saves both of us a difficult conversation in month four.

Foam and polyurethane
It looks right for about six years, it cannot be repaired, and it has to come off again before anyone can do the job properly. If that is the budget, we would rather you used another firm than that we fitted it.
Wet walls
Lime plaster on a wall that is still taking up water will fail, and it will look like our failure. We will find the water first, or we will wait, and neither of those is billed as plastering.
Gypsum over lime
It traps the moisture the lime was there to move. It is quicker and cheaper and it is the single most common thing we are asked to undo, usually about fifteen years after somebody else did it.

Pleister

Two plasterers and one apprentice. Surveys are free within the province and charged at cost beyond it.

Before you ask for a survey

Bring a photograph of the worst corner and, if you have it, the year the house was built. We need to know whether anyone has been at it with gypsum, because that changes the method and the price more than the size of the room does. Listed buildings need consent before we touch anything, and getting it is on us if you would rather not.

Pleister is a fictional example. The firm, the dates and the methods described do not refer to a real business. Photographs are stock images and do not show this work.