How we chose
We built the candidate list from Google Places listings across Telford, Companies House records and each firm's own website, then checked claimed scheme memberships against the TrustMark register, which covers plastering and rendering work [1][6]. Before we score anyone, we check that each business is who it says it is, is trading today and can actually be reached, and that any claimed registration checks out. We then score every eligible business against our scoring system, which looks at the things you care about when hiring: what customers say, the qualifications and registrations that matter for this trade, how the business responded when we contacted it, how long it has traded, insurance and safeguards, how clearly it prices, and how useful its website is. Anything we cannot verify stays neutral rather than counting against a business. Each ranking carries its evidence date so you can see how fresh every check is.
How to hire
Match the plasterer to the surface. Internal skimming over plasterboard suits most general plasterers; lime plaster on older Telford cottages, particularly around Ironbridge and Wellington, needs someone who works in lime rather than gypsum, since the wrong material traps moisture. External rendering, pebble-dash repair and insulated render systems are specialist jobs: ask how many similar elevations they coated last year and go and look at one. Dry lining, coving and screeding each need their own kit, so ask directly rather than assuming.
Plastering has no single statutory register, so your checks carry the weight. Look the firm up on the TrustMark register, which covers plastering and rendering firms that meet its standards [1]. Check limited companies on Companies House for active status and a matching trading name [6]. Ask to see public liability insurance, and ask what happens if fresh work cracks or blows within the first year: you want a written making-good promise, not a shrug [3]. Then ask for two recent local jobs at a similar scale, and look at the corners, reveals and ceiling lines, where rushed work always shows.
Get three itemised written quotes that state the preparation (what comes off, what is bonded, what is boarded), the system and materials by name, the number of coats, protection of floors and woodwork, waste removal and VAT [3]. Agree access, water and power, parking for the van and mixer, working hours and a day-by-day plan, since plastering timetables hinge on drying between coats. Confirm whether the price assumes you clear rooms and strip wallpaper first, or whether they do it. Put the scope, the price and the start and finish dates in writing before work begins.
Manage moisture and dust while the job runs. Fresh plaster needs steady ventilation to dry, so agree how rooms are aired without freezing the house in winter [5]. Dust gets everywhere despite sheeting, so agree protection for soft furnishings and electronics and a daily clean-down. Rubble and old plasterboard taken away for payment must go with a licensed waste carrier, which you can check on the public register [4]. Do not pay the final slice until you have inspected every wall in daylight with the sheets off.
Pricing
As of autumn 2026, rough Telford guides look like this. Skimming a medium bedroom with sound walls commonly falls between £350 and £600; a full room needing boarding first often lands between £600 and £1,000; skimming a ceiling alone is frequently £200 to £400 [5][3]. External rendering often runs £45 to £75 per square metre depending on the system and scaffolding, so a typical semi-detached re-render can reach several thousand pounds.
Condition moves the price most: blown plaster that must come off, artex that needs testing and careful handling, and high ceilings needing towers all add labour. Boarding, coving and waste removal shift the total too. Get the preparation steps, the materials by name, the VAT position and the making-good terms in writing, and treat any figure set without seeing the walls as a guess, not a price [3].
Red flags
Quotes per room without seeing the walls, tapping for hollow patches or asking what sits underneath the existing finish.
Promises to skim straight over blown, damp or mouldy plaster with no plan to cut back, treat or ventilate the cause.
Cannot show insurance, gives no written making-good promise, or the Companies House record does not match the trading name [6].
Asks for full payment before the plaster has dried enough for you to inspect it in daylight with the sheets off.
Leaves wash-out, rubble and old plasterboard for you to deal with, or cannot name the licensed carrier taking the waste [4].
Corrections and business responses
Tell us what needs checking, or ask to claim a listing and reply to an assessment.