Restoration Plastering in Nelson
Smooth, durable walls and ceilings for reto-line build, renovations, repairs and alterations — finished so well you cannot tell where the work was done.
Restoration plastering is the last thing that happens before a room becomes a room. Everything underneath it — framing, wiring, insulation, linings — gets covered up and forgotten. What people actually live with is the surface, and whether that surface is flat, straight and quiet under the light.
Which is why a plastering job is either invisible or it is all you can see. There is not much in between.
What we plaster
Reto-line build — Full interiors taken from bare linings to a finished, paint-ready surface, worked to the builder’s programme.
Renovations — Walls opened up, rooms reconfigured, ceilings raised — and the whole lot brought back to a single consistent finish so old and new are indistinguishable.
Repairs — Cracks, holes, water damage, popped fixings, failed old plaster and the mess left behind when something gets removed from a wall.
Alterations and make-good — The patching that follows electricians, plumbers and builders, done properly rather than left as a lump under the paint.
Ceilings — Repairs, resurfacing and the removal or covering of old textured and stippled ceilings.
Where it usually starts
Most calls we take are one of these:
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A wall has come out and the join between the old and new ceiling looks obvious.
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A leak has been fixed but the stained, sagging ceiling underneath is still there.
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Hairline cracks keep reappearing in the same corners no matter how many times they are filled.
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An old textured or stippled ceiling looks dated and needs to be made flat.
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A new build is at lining stage and needs stopping before the painter arrives.
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Someone has attempted a patch themselves and it now shows through the paint in every light.
How we do it
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Assess the substrate. Before anything goes on, we work out what is underneath and why the surface failed. Plastering over a moving crack or a damp wall guarantees you will be looking at the same problem again next year.
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Protect the space. Floors, joinery and fixtures get covered. We work in occupied homes regularly and treat them accordingly.
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Prepare. Cutting out loose material, squaring up damaged edges, sealing where needed, and reinforcing joints and cracks so they do not come back through.
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Build the coats. Plaster goes on in layers, each allowed to dry properly before the next. Rushing this stage is the most common cause of the shrinkage and cracking you see in poor work.
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Sand and finish. Sanded back to a flat, even surface, then checked under raking light from more than one angle.
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Clean up. Dust controlled during the job and the space left swept and tidy at the end of it.
Why the preparation matters more than the plaster
Every plastering failure we get called to repair comes from the same short list: the surface underneath was not sound, the crack was not reinforced, the coats went on too thick or too fast, or the moisture that caused the original damage was never dealt with. The material itself is rarely the problem.
So when we quote, we are pricing the preparation as much as the finish. If a job needs the cause fixed first, we will tell you — even when that means the work is not ours to do.