Plaster works

[atlasfever]

Hello:

I have collected the following names for plaster work (cornice, ceiling designs, roses, etc) and I've received prices and had some responsive and less responsive experiences:

Hayles and Howe (super pricey but responsive)
London Plastercraft (investigating at the moment)
Stevensons of Norwich (super expensive and barely responds)
Simply Mouldings (reasonable pricing and semi-responsive)

So, would anyone have any other plasterers that they could suggest? Would be great as I notice the price varies dramatically (all fibrous plaster quotes), and need to investigate prices further. It seems that london is super busy with plaster works, or there are few of them around, b/c you can't even get one to visit you outside of 8:30 to 5pm, just for the quote. I believe one conversation was "Our estimator only works 8:30 to 4:30, mon to friday." I replied, "I work then also."

Thanks

 

[TheForge]

Sean Wheatley (but based in Devon) - 01271 883 349.

 

[discobarry]

Well the done thing up here is to say to your mate 'Do you know any good plasterers who don't make tons of mess?' they say no or yes and you take it from there.

They are usually 1 or 2 man bands up here too, I wouldn't dream of looking for companies but I guess I always like to find my individual blokes as you can then just call them over and they pop over quickly and mull it over with a brew.

 

[Moo]

The hall in our humble terraced cottage has no decorative plaster-work at all, which is at odds with the really splendid stuff that I discovered in the sitting-room. Someone long ago must have really splashed out!
So, on the assumption that their funds couldn't stretch to embellishing the hall, I want to finish the job for them with a more modest version of what's in our son's house.
There's a shop in our area that carries an excellent range of ready-made ornamental plaster-work that we think we can afford, so I'm planning to choose something appropriate and get a local plasterer to fix it in place.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Just bear in mind that long bits of pre made cornice, that are designed to be glued up, are designed for very straight walls. You can't flex the stuff without breaking it (unless you go for the fake plastic stuff, which is easy, but sacrilege!) We bought the long sections of cornice for the bedroom here which has very very wonky walls, and had to break it in many places to get it up, which lead to a series of unsightly joins. It ought to have been run in situ by a specialist plasterer, where the design is made as you go along.

Gluing a ceiling rose up onto a ceiling that isn't flat is a lot easier, you can fill the inevitable gap with plaster of paris.

Can't help with the original question except to reiterate my recommendation of Skillingtons.

 

[atlasfever]

Hi,

Forgot to mention that I did connect with Skillingtons, who were responsive, but sadly can't budget a cornice made in situ -- I actually did try to move budgets around, but the difference is not just 10 or 20% more.

There is plastic cornice? That sounds bad, just bad To your point, yes, my contractor is trying to "flatten" out as much as possible, though not easy. Some bends are part of the natural age of the building, but some are from just terrible work done in recent years.

 

[d49xc]

The heavier sections need to be screwed in
That applies to the cornices as well as the ceiling roses.
Some of the larger 3m long pre-made cornice sections are quite heavy just to lift.

 

[mardinor]

You CAN bend the pre-run fibrous plaster lengths, at least if the design isn't too thick.

We had a load made to match existing run-in-situ work, and found that the trick is to soak it an hour before fitting. Not a sprinkle, I mean really douse it with a hose outside until it goes from white back to salmon pink. It will then flex a lot, at least an inch or so over a 10 foot length, as long as you screw through as well as fix with plaster grout behind. Using this trick we managed to fit a length on a wall where it was missing and it blended with the original both ends (at least when viewed from ground level!)

Hope that helps someone in future

(Now, accurately cutting mitres when all walls are out of true is another matter entirely!!)

 

[Moo]

That's absolutely fascinating! How did you learn about soaking it - did you work it out all by yourself?

 

[Svenedin]

I recommend The Cornice Man, Simon Grieve. A very nice chap based in Croydon, Surrey who made new cornice for me to match existing and did a flawless job. He left the place very clean as well. I hope I am allowed to post a link to his website.

http://www.thecorniceman.co.uk/

 

[Moo]

Was he very expensive?

 

[Penners]

We had a load made to match existing run-in-situ work, and found that the trick is to soak it an hour before fitting. Not a sprinkle, I mean really douse it with a hose outside until it goes from white back to salmon pink. It will then flex a lot, at least an inch or so over a 10 foot length

Provided your wall and/or ceiling are only mildly out-of-true, the other approach is to forget about trying to bend the run of moulding. Just fix it in situ as it is, and fill the slight gaps between the moulding and the wall or ceiling with Plaster of Paris. Provided you blend the POP in well, you won't notice the slight meanderings.

 

[Svenedin]

Was he very expensive?

He made and supplied cornice for a bedroom where the cornice was entirely missing. This was made from a template so that the cornice matched the existing cornice upstairs. To make the template he had to cut into some existing cornice but he made this good afterwards and nobody would ever know.

Making and fitting 15 metres of cornice was £550. Costs will vary according to the complexity and size of the cornice and the complexity of the fitting (how many mitres etc. In my case there were the 4 corners of the room, a chimney breast and a cupboard so a lot of mitres both internal and external).

I was very pleased with his work. I have had a lot of tradesmen working on my property recently and he was a real cut above the usual. Polite, pleasant to deal with etc but as you might expect, very busy.

This is some existing cornice



Here is the cornice he fabricated

View attachment 1

 

[plasticpigeon]

It's really nice to hear about guys who do a great job, he deserves to be busy!

 

[jocelyn plummer]

The very first restoration that I did was part of a typical Georgian four square house. The cornicing had been removed. The rooms were 14ft sq . I found a chap who worked for a local building company who carefully installed the new plaster cornice in 3ft sections to the wall. He achieved the best swan neck finish I have ever seen around the chimney breast. I seem to remember he dampened the back down. Hugely amusing as he was only about 4ft 6 himself and called me 'Jocelyn Mate'. That house has now been fully restored into the 6 bedrooms that it was originally with all the joinery and plasterwork meticulously copied. I really admire the couple who bought it from me as they have steadily worked on it over the last 15 years amidst bringing up two boys and both working.A real success story.

 

[JoceAndChris]

I think you once kindly sent me pics of that house when I was struggling with colours? Very lovely.

I wouldn't have soaked the cornice we bought, I'm sorry to say it but that sounds like a very bold and risky thing to do! The pattern was highly intricate, wouldn't it have all dissolved given such a treatment? It was very fragile stuff.

http://www.de.bondsplastermouldings.com/section.php/227/1/floral_style_cornice_coving

No, I'd never ever do this again as a DIY job. It's specialist work.

This shows well the joins needed over our wonky walls

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Though overall it isn't really seen as it just becomes one element of the room.

 

[Jake_UK]

There's few listed on here: http://www.buildingconservation.com/directory/prodlist.php?category=Plasterers,+lime

 

[Penners]

overall it isn't really seen as it just becomes one element of the room.

Exactly so. I probably sound like a cracked record on this, but I have so often found that it's terribly easy to become almost obsessed with some small detail of your restoration project. It worries you day and night while you plan and replan it.

Months later, when it's all done and you've moved on other things, it pales into insignificance, which is its rightful place in the grand scheme.

 

[DJH]

Nice painting of you Joce.

Doug

 

[JoceAndChris]

:lol: Thanks Doug. :wink:

Very wise words Mr P.