Kitchen plastering and decorating · England
Kitchen plastering and decorating in Cambridgeshire
Our kitchen plastering and decorating work covers the whole of Cambridgeshire, including Peterborough, Cambridge and Wisbech.
Why kitchen plastering and decorating for a Cambridgeshire home?
If your Cambridgeshire kitchen has blown plaster behind old tiles, hacking off and re-boarding is usually more reliable than patching over it, and gives the new tiles and units a firm base to fix to.
Landlords in Cambridgeshire often have a kitchen redecorated between tenancies, filling fixing holes and repainting walls and woodwork in a scrubbable finish that stands up to regular cleaning.
What does kitchen plastering and decorating in Cambridgeshire include?
Every kitchen is different, so we confirm the scope in writing. Most jobs of this kind include:
- Free survey visit to check walls and ceilings and give an itemised quote
- Loose or blown plaster hacked off back to the wall where needed
- Walls re-boarded or skimmed so units and tiles fix to a flat surface
- Chases around new sockets, cable runs and pipework filled and made good
- Ceilings skimmed or overboarded, after textured coatings in older homes are tested for asbestos
- Diluted mist coat on new plaster, then moisture-resistant, wipeable kitchen paint
- Ceilings, walls, skirting, architraves and door frames decorated to finish the room
- Edges around units, worktops and splashbacks cut in neatly at the end
How much does kitchen plastering and decorating cost in Cambridgeshire?
The figures below are guide prices for Cambridgeshire, including VAT and adjusted for typical costs across the East of England. The fixed price comes after we have measured up. Prices in the East of England usually run above the national guide, mainly because labour and parking cost more.
| Typical project | Guide price |
|---|---|
| Skim kitchen walls and ceiling over sound plasterPrepared and skimmed | £380–£860 |
| Hack off, re-board and skim a kitchenOld plaster removed back to the wall | £970–£1,900 |
| Kitchen decoratedWalls, ceiling and woodwork | £430–£1,300 |
Guide prices are for a typical kitchen, with labour and standard materials for plastering or decorating; asbestos testing, structural repairs, damp treatment and lime plaster are not included and are quoted separately if needed. Prices include VAT at 20%.
Kitchens in homes across Cambridgeshire
You will find Victorian terraces, 1930s semis, post-war estate houses and fenland bungalows and farmhouses throughout Cambridgeshire. Terraced houses in Cambridge and Peterborough often have a narrow galley at the back, while Fen bungalows tend to have a simple square kitchen beside the living room.
Water across Cambridgeshire is very hard, so limescale on taps and boiling water taps is common and a filter or softener is worth thinking about. Fen roads and farm tracks can be narrow for delivery lorries, and city-centre terraces often have permit parking and no rear access for long worktops.
Victorian terraces here often have a small rear kitchen, and opening it into the dining room is a common way to gain space. For a Fenland bungalow or farmhouse, the job may also involve levelling uneven floors and packing out walls before the units go in.
Rules for kitchen plastering and decorating in Cambridgeshire
Skimming, re-boarding and decorating a kitchen in England need no planning permission or building regulations approval in most cases. In a listed building, listed building consent may be needed before original plaster is removed, and older solid walls may be better suited to breathable lime plaster than gypsum. Hacking an outside wall back to brick and re-boarding it may count as renovating a thermal element under Part L, so check with building control first.
Listed houses in historic centres such as Cambridge and Ely may need consent for internal changes or a new vent, although a straightforward kitchen fit needs no planning permission.
Before you start
- Whether a wall can be skimmed or needs hacking off is often clear only once the old tiles and units are off, so allow some contingency.
- Plaster before the units go in: skimming around fitted cabinets is slower, messier and leaves edges that are hard to finish neatly.
- Older homes with solid walls may have lime plaster, which is often better repaired with lime than gypsum, particularly where the building is listed.
- If your home was built before 2000, have textured ceiling coatings tested for asbestos before anyone sands, scrapes or drills into them.
- Pick the final paint colour for your Cambridgeshire kitchen while the plaster dries, testing samples on the dried mist coat rather than on bare plaster.
- Keep a small tin of each paint used in your Cambridgeshire kitchen, labelled with the colour and finish, for touching up marks around handles and the bin.
Questions about kitchen plastering and decorating in Cambridgeshire
How much does kitchen plastering and decorating cost in Cambridgeshire?
Guide prices in Cambridgeshire are about £380 to £860 including VAT for skimming the walls and ceiling over sound plaster. The final price depends on the size of the kitchen and what is moving, and is set out in an itemised written quote.
Do you cover the whole of Cambridgeshire?
Yes. We carry out kitchen plastering and decorating across Cambridgeshire, including Peterborough, Cambridge, Wisbech and St Neots. Every job starts with a free survey visit and an itemised written quote.
Should a kitchen be plastered before or after the units are fitted?
Before. Plastering is done after strip-out and first-fix electrics and plumbing, so new cables and pipes are chased in and covered, and before the base and wall units go in. Units then fix to a flat, finished surface, and the decorator only needs to cut in around them at the end. Patch repairs after fitting are possible but harder to hide.
Can a textured kitchen ceiling be skimmed over?
Often, yes, but have it tested first if the house was built before 2000. Some older textured ceiling coatings contain asbestos, so a sample should be tested before anyone sands, scrapes or drills them. If the result is clear, the ceiling can usually be skimmed or overboarded. If asbestos is found, follow the report's advice and use a specialist asbestos contractor.
Do I need to replaster after removing kitchen tiles?
Usually, at least in places. Taking tiles off often pulls away the plaster skin or leaves adhesive ridges, so the wall may need skimming, patching or, where the plaster has come loose, hacking off and re-boarding. If you are retiling the same area, a flat, sound surface may be enough without a full skim. We check this once the tiles are off.
Kitchen plastering and decorating in towns across Cambridgeshire
Choose a town for local guide prices and postcode coverage:
- Kitchen plastering and decorating in Peterborough
- Kitchen plastering and decorating in Cambridge
- Kitchen plastering and decorating in Wisbech
- Kitchen plastering and decorating in St Neots
- Kitchen plastering and decorating in Huntingdon
- Kitchen plastering and decorating in March
- Kitchen plastering and decorating in Ely