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Plaster and render repairs in Barnsley
Cracks, loose patches, water damage and holes left by other trades, put right inside and out.
Inside the house
- Cracks in walls and along ceiling lines
- Plaster that sounds hollow or has come loose
- Ceilings stained, sagging or brought down by a leak
- Chases and holes left after rewiring or plumbing
- Walls damaged when tiles, units or fireplaces were removed
- Plaster that has perished after damp or salt damage
- Rough patches where an old repair was never finished
Outside the house
- Cracked render, from hairlines to open splits
- Bulging or hollow render that is about to fall
- Missing sections on gables and chimney stacks
- Pebbledash with bald patches or loose areas
- Broken edges round new windows and doors
- Render that has failed at the bottom of the wall
- Green staining and streaks below sills
Find the cause, then fix it
Plaster and render are the surface. When they fail, the reason is nearly always something else: water, movement, or the wrong material on the wrong wall. A repair that ignores the cause is money spent twice.
So before any filling or patching, we check the obvious suspects. Is a gutter overflowing down that wall? Is the ground outside higher than the floor inside? Has a hard modern plaster been put on a soft old stone wall? Is there a leak above that ceiling?
If the answer points to a roofer, a plumber or a structural engineer and not to us, we will tell you.
Patch it or redo it?
A rough guide to how we decide. You get the reasoning with your quote.
Patch
The damage is in one place, the rest of the surface is firmly fixed and the cause has been dealt with.
Skim or re-coat
The surface is sound but there are lots of small defects, or a patch would be too visible on its own.
Take it off and start again
Large areas are hollow, the plaster or render crumbles when touched, or the wrong material was used in the first place.
Repair questions
Is a crack in my plaster something to worry about?
Most are not. Fine cracks along ceiling joints or above doors are usually old settlement or boards moving with the seasons. A crack that is wide enough to fit a coin in, is getting longer, or runs diagonally through brickwork outside should be looked at by a structural engineer before anyone plasters over it.
Can you patch plaster, or does the whole wall need doing?
Small areas can be patched and feathered in. On a painted wall a careful patch will not be noticed. If there are several patches on one wall, skimming the whole wall often costs little more and gives a better result.
My ceiling came down after a leak. What happens now?
First the leak has to be fixed and the timbers left to dry. Then the damaged board or lath is cut out, new plasterboard goes up and the ceiling is skimmed. If your insurer is involved, we can give you a written quote to pass on to them.
Why is my render cracked?
The common causes are water getting behind it, movement where two different materials meet, missing mesh at window corners, or a hard cement mix on a soft old wall. We find the reason before repairing, otherwise the crack returns.
Will a render patch match the rest of the wall?
On painted render, yes, once the wall is repainted. On coloured render it is harder because the existing wall has faded. If a patch is going to stand out we will tell you and price for redoing the whole face as well, so you can choose.
Tell us what has gone wrong
Where is it, and when did you first notice it?
Something cracked, loose or water damaged?
Call and describe it. We will tell you what we think it needs.