Kitchen plastering and decorating in Chelmsford

Thinking about kitchen plastering and decorating in Chelmsford?

After a knock-through in a Chelmsford home, the new opening, beam and surrounding walls need plastering before the new kitchen goes in, then decorating once the plaster has dried.

Some people in Chelmsford are keeping their units but want the whole room redecorated in a tougher, wipeable paint after years of steam and cooking marks. Chelmsford sits about 17 miles north-west of Southend-on-Sea, and our Essex coverage takes in everything in between.

What does the job involve?

Here is what usually goes into kitchen plastering and decorating, adjusted to your Chelmsford kitchen after we have measured it:

Edges around units, worktops and splashbacks cut in neatly at the end
Chases around new sockets, cable runs and pipework filled and made good
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
Ceilings skimmed or overboarded, after textured coatings in older homes are tested for asbestos
Walls re-boarded or skimmed so units and tiles fix to a flat surface

What should you budget for kitchen plastering and decorating in Chelmsford?

Use these ranges to plan your budget. They include VAT, reflect costs in the East of England, and are firmed up once we have seen your Chelmsford kitchen. Labour in the East of England generally costs more than the UK average, which lifts these ranges a little.

What should you budget for kitchen plastering and decorating in Chelmsford?
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%.

House types around Chelmsford and what they mean for a kitchen

The housing mix across Essex includes Victorian terraces, 1930s semis, post-war new town houses and chalet bungalows, so no two kitchen fits are quite alike. In Harlow and Basildon, new-town houses often have a compact galley, while chalet bungalows and 1930s semis tend to have a small kitchen next to the dining area.

Limescale is a fact of life in most of Essex because the water is hard, so a filter for a boiling water tap and regular descaling make sense. Busy commuter towns often have tight on-street parking, and estate houses with small front gardens can make it awkward to unload long worktops.

Do you need approval for kitchen plastering and decorating in Chelmsford?

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.

Most kitchen fits need no planning permission, but weatherboarded listed cottages and homes in village conservation areas may need consent for a new external vent.

Worth knowing before the fit

Pick the final paint colour for your Chelmsford kitchen while the plaster dries, testing samples on the dried mist coat rather than on bare plaster.
Before final decorating in your Chelmsford kitchen, check that the new worktops and floor are covered, as paint splashes are much easier to prevent than to remove.
If the house is listed or has solid walls, ask whether lime plaster is needed before the old plaster in your kitchen is stripped out.
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.

Questions about kitchen plastering and decorating in Chelmsford

How much does kitchen plastering and decorating cost in Chelmsford?

Guide prices in Chelmsford 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.

Which parts of Chelmsford do you work in?

All of them. Our Essex coverage takes in the whole of Chelmsford, including the CM1 postcode district, as well as surrounding towns such as Billericay. If you are unsure, send us your postcode.

How long should new plaster dry before painting?

Fresh plaster usually needs three to six weeks to dry fully before full decorating, depending on its thickness, the time of year and how well the room is ventilated. It turns from dark to an even, pale colour as it dries. A diluted mist coat can usually go on sooner to seal the surface, with the final coats applied once drying has finished.

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.

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.

Kitchen plastering and decorating in neighbouring towns

Neighbouring towns where we offer kitchen plastering and decorating: