Ceiling work
Ceiling Plastering and Overboarding Cost
Compare a ceiling skim with overboarding, repair and safe textured-coating investigation.
Checkatrade's June 2026 observations put a ceiling skim at £200–£350 for about 9m², £280–£440 for 15m² and £425–£725 for 25m². Overboarding and plastering is a larger scope, reported at about £1,000 on average, and textured coatings may require asbestos checks before disturbance.
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Ceiling plastering cost calculator
Start with one measured 4m × 3m ceiling, then change the dimensions, job and condition to match the agreed scope. Keep Ceiling only selected to exclude walls. Your result stays free before contact details. Suspect textured coating needs competent assessment before disturbance; this calculator cannot decide whether skimming or overboarding is safe.
Plastering Quotes · plasteringquotes.co.uk
Estimated project budget
£250–£360Midpoint: £310- Evidence reviewed 14 September 2026; published per-m² and room observations are listed in the methodology.
- Small jobs often price above a simple square-metre calculation because of setup, protection and travel.
- Confirm preparation, drying, waste, making good and VAT in the written quote.
What changes the result?
A useful calculation starts with the physical scope and the written commercial terms. These are the factors to make explicit:
- Ceiling area and working height
- Skim, repair or overboard
- Existing texture and substrate
- Lights, detectors and electrical making good
- Protection, waste and access
Use one scope for every quote
Give each business the same information and ask it to resolve the same boundaries. That makes the totals more comparable and exposes work left as an allowance or exclusion.
- Measure the ceiling separately
- Confirm why overboarding is proposed
- Do not disturb suspect textured coating
- Record fittings, protection and decoration scope
Ceiling skim price examples
The current bands rise with area but not at one perfectly linear rate because every ceiling needs protection, setup and overhead work.
- About 9m²: £200–£350
- About 15m²: £280–£440
- About 25m²: £425–£725
Skimming versus overboarding
A sound, suitable ceiling may only need preparation and a finish skim. Overboarding adds plasterboard, fixings, joint layout, detailing at edges and fittings, then a plaster finish. Checkatrade reports about £1,000 as an average overboard-and-plaster job, but size and specification must still be quoted.
Ask why the proposed substrate needs boarding and whether the structure, coving, ceiling roses, lights or detectors require separate work.
Textured coatings and asbestos
HSE lists textured coatings, including some Artex, among materials that can contain asbestos. Age and appearance alone do not prove whether asbestos is present. Avoid drilling, sanding, scraping or removing a suspect coating until a competent assessment identifies the material and safe work method.
Work through a measured ceiling estimate
The prefilled calculator measures one 4m × 3m ceiling, or 12m², with sound plaster and the typical UK factor. Its unchanged skim band is £15–£30 per m². The bare multiplication is £180–£360; the model's £250 lower small-job minimum makes the displayed range £250–£360. This is our model arithmetic, not Checkatrade's size-specific observation or a local bid.
Changing only the job to plasterboard and skim gives £300–£480 for that 12m² example. It does not price structural repairs, asbestos investigation or removal, electrical work, specialist access, waste, decoration or VAT. Checkatrade's broader £1,000 overboarding average describes a different unspecified job; neither figure proves what your ceiling needs or what a contractor will charge.
- Keep Ceiling only selected when walls are outside the job.
- Use Number of similar rooms only for ceilings with the same measurements and scope; calculate unlike ceilings separately.
- The door and window deduction affects walls, not the ceiling area.
- Copy or print the measured brief, or carry it into the optional quote request after calculating.
How much to plaster a ceiling over Artex
There is no safe automatic Artex surcharge. A professional must first establish the coating, background condition and appropriate work method. The calculator's surface-condition factor is a budgeting assumption, not an asbestos test, removal allowance or approval to skim or drill.
Tell the contractor about textured coatings before work is agreed. Ask for any survey or testing, specialist treatment, removal, protection and disposal to be stated separately. Use the Artex guide for the investigation boundary and the ceiling-board calculator for sheet quantities; neither replaces a competent assessment.
- Describe the existing finish without disturbing it.
- Ask why skim, overboard or replacement is proposed.
- Get preparation, access, fittings, waste, decoration and VAT in writing.
Questions people ask
How much does it cost to skim a ceiling?
Current observations range from £200–£350 for about 9m² to £425–£725 for about 25m². Height, condition and protection can change the quote.
How much does it cost to overboard and plaster a ceiling?
Checkatrade reports about £1,000 as an average, but the board specification, area, access and work around fittings need to be stated.
Can a plasterer skim straight over Artex?
A contractor first needs to assess adhesion, profile and the possibility of asbestos. Suspect textured coating should not be disturbed without the appropriate assessment and method.
Are light fittings included in ceiling plastering?
Do not assume so. The quote should say who isolates or removes fittings, protects wiring and reinstates lights or detectors.
How do I measure a ceiling for a plastering estimate?
For a rectangular ceiling, multiply length by width. A 4m × 3m ceiling is 12m². Measure irregular parts separately and do not deduct wall doors or windows from the ceiling.
Does the ceiling calculator include Artex removal or asbestos work?
No. It estimates a selected plastering scope; its condition factor does not price testing, specialist treatment or removal. Have suspect material and the proposed method assessed before disturbance, then obtain a written scope and price.
Method and sources
The model is a planning tool, not a quotation. These are the published sources used for this page; read the full assumptions before relying on a range. Source review: 4 October 2026.
- Checkatrade room-skimming cost guide
June 2026 ceiling-size and overboarding observations, distinct from the calculator's measured-area arithmetic; rechecked 4 October 2026.
- HSE asbestos material guidance
Official textured-coating identification, training and disturbance boundaries; rechecked 4 October 2026. The calculator does not determine a safe work method.
- MyBuilder plastering cost guide
August 2026 main table's £15–£30 skim band; rechecked 4 October 2026. The shared model's minimums, condition factors and overboarding band remain existing assumptions reviewed 14 September, not newly observed local prices.