Ceiling plastering: how we work and what it costs

How much does ceiling plastering cost per m²?

Plastering a ceiling ready for paint costs €23.99 per m². That is slightly more than a wall, which costs €22.99 per m². You work overhead, and light falling at an angle across a ceiling shows every imperfection.

After plastering, the ceiling still has to be painted. That appears as a separate item on the quote, along with a few items that vary from job to job.

Prices exclude VAT. For renovation work on a home over 10 years old, 6% VAT usually applies; otherwise 21%. The VAT rate is stated in the quote.

Plastering costs €23.99 per m², and priming and painting in RAL 9010 or 9016 afterwards costs €19.99 per m². Here is how the cost of ceiling plastering works out for three ceilings:

Prices exclude VAT.

Adding a floor protection runner of up to 60 m² at €199.99, the living room comes to €1,519.39 in total. If the whole job is smaller than 50 m², a small-job surcharge of €249.99 applies. The call-out charge is a one-off €99.99 per job.

With a high ceiling, an open void or a stairwell, scaffolding is sometimes needed. We can arrange that for you. The scaffolding is hired in externally, and its cost is added. If you line up all the items next to the m² price, you can see what plastering costs per m²; the other rates are on our prices page.

Which ceilings can be plastered?

Almost any interior ceiling can be plastered ready for paint. What is needed beforehand depends on what is currently overhead, from concrete to timber panelling.

With a plasterboard ceiling, plastering is not the only route. You can also have it covered with renovation fleece and painted, for €26.49 per m². Which finish suits depends on the joints and whether the boards hang flat; when finishing plasterboard, we look at that ceiling by ceiling.

If an existing ceiling has a loose or hollow layer, it has to come off first, otherwise the new layer will eventually come away with it. Removing that old layer is a separate item, for a thin or a thick layer.

If you want curtain tracks, recessed spotlights or a suspended ceiling, mention that at the site survey. What goes in or on the ceiling must be known before the plaster goes on.

Plastering, painting or spraying: does your ceiling need plaster?

Not every ceiling needs plastering. Plastering makes a ceiling flat. Painting and spraying add colour, but do not make an uneven ceiling any flatter.

If your ceiling is already flat, you do not need a plasterer: you can simply have the ceiling painted or spray painted for a sleek finish. We do spack spraying, a thicker sprayed layer with a light texture, on request.

Won’t a plastered ceiling in a new-build home simply crack again?

That risk exists, and it is the main objection to a plastered ceiling in a new home. A new-build home settles and shrinks in its first years, while the construction moisture leaves the concrete and cement.

Traditional plaster is hard and does not move with the structure. With a hollow-core slab ceiling, the joints between the slabs run through the ceiling as long lines. If the substrate moves there, such a joint can reappear as a straight crack in your plastered ceiling.

That is why, with new-build, we first check whether plastering is the best choice. Renovation fleece on the ceiling bridges small shrinkage cracks instead of showing them. Hairline cracks in a new home are usually ordinary shrinkage cracks in new-build homes, from a house that is still settling.

In existing buildings, where the house has stood for a long time, that risk is much smaller. There, a plastered ceiling ready for paint is often exactly what you are looking for: smooth, sleek and without joints.

What happens when you have your ceiling plastered?

Having your ceiling plastered by Bouwsector België means one of our own plasterers does the work, such as Bram, who has been plastering for us for 7 years. We have 32 on permanent contracts, as part of 97 in-house tradespeople, together with 40 wallpaperers and 25 painters. No subcontractor comes near your ceiling.

In the phone consultation we ask what kind of ceiling you have, how high the room is and whether there is already a layer on it. Your free quote follows within 24 hours.

If you agree, we come round for the site survey: we measure the ceiling and tap an existing layer to hear whether it sounds hollow. At the site survey and wall inspection we record everything, so there are no surprises afterwards.

On the working day we first cover the floor with a floor protection runner. With a ceiling, more falls onto the floor than with a wall, because everything comes straight down. Then we apply the layer and finish it ready for paint. A plasterer does 100 m² a day on average.

Then the ceiling has to dry. According to the plaster manufacturer Knauf, a gypsum plaster can be sufficiently dry after about four weeks under good conditions. Then a primer goes on first and only then the paint: priming after plastering is a fixed step you do not skip.

If the walls also need plastering, wallpapering or painting, we plan that ourselves in the right order. That way you can have your walls and ceilings plastered in a single job.

We work throughout Belgium, in Flanders, Brussels and Wallonia. We carry out the site survey at your home anywhere in the country.