What does plastering cost per m²?

What does plastering cost per m², materials included?

Our m² prices for plastering always include materials: you do not buy any plaster or other plastering material yourself. Corner beads, floor protection and removing an old layer are not included; they appear as separate items in the quote.

Prices exclude VAT. The VAT rate is stated in the quote: for the renovation of a private home more than 10 years old it is usually 6%, otherwise 21%. Prices from our 2026/2027 price list, valid from 1 September 2026.

Which price applies to you depends mainly on what goes on the wall afterwards. If it is going to be painted, you need a coat that is ready for painting: flat enough to paint straight onto. If wallpaper is going on, a skim coat is often enough, a thinner layer with its own price scale.

The m² price for plastering ready for painting is a fixed price. If your wall needs something extra on top, such as removing a loose layer, that appears in the final quote after the site visit, not only on the final invoice.

For a skim coat, the price scale looks at the total surface area of the job, not at a single room. If you have several rooms done at once, we add up the square metres before deciding which band you fall into.

What comes on top of the m² price?

The m² price covers the plaster layer itself. A few items are separate lines in the price list, because they differ greatly from job to job. That way you see beforehand what belongs to your job, instead of it vanishing unnoticed into a single amount.

A corner bead goes on an external corner and gives that corner a straight, sturdy edge. The more external corners a room has, the more linear metres appear in the quote. So count your external corners beforehand, because corner beads in plastering are charged per linear metre.

Floor protection for plastering covers the floor during the work, at a price that depends on the surface area. Removing plaster is listed separately, because a loose or hollow layer has to come off before a new one will bond properly.

Whether that is needed for your wall becomes clear at the site visit; having old plaster removed then appears as its own line in the quote.

The small-job surcharge and the call-out fee are in the same price list. Whether they apply to your job, you will see in the quote.

If you only have one wall done, that surcharge weighs heavily in what plastering a single wall costs.

With a high ceiling, a void or a stairwell, scaffolding is sometimes needed. We can arrange it for you. The scaffolding is hired in externally, and its cost is added.

Smoothing textured render (spachtelputz) with plaster and plastering in the bathroom have no fixed rate in the list. That price follows after the site visit, because the substrate varies too much to price remotely. Exterior rendering is always on request.

What does plastering a ceiling cost?

Plastering a ceiling ready for painting costs €23.99 per m², slightly more than a wall. You are working overhead, and light falling across the ceiling at an angle shows up every irregularity. That is why plastering a ceiling is genuinely a job for a skilled tradesperson.

Not every ceiling needs plastering. If the ceiling is already flat, painting or spraying may be enough. Rolling a ceiling costs €13.99 per m² and spraying a ceiling €14.99 per m², both for one coat in RAL 9010 or 9016. Whether painting a ceiling is enough for you therefore depends on how flat it is.

Spraying textured compound, a thicker layer with a light texture, is something we do on request. The price follows after the site visit.

A plasterboard ceiling can also be finished with renovation fleece. Papering ceilings with renovation fleece and painting them costs €26.49 per m². Which finish suits depends, for finishing plasterboard, on what goes on afterwards.

Is the lowest price per m² also the lowest bill?

No. The biggest misunderstanding with plastering prices is that you only need to compare the m² price. A low price per m² says little if materials, floor protection or removing an old layer are charged on top.

So ask what is included in every price, and compare a plasterer’s quote line by line with another. With us, the plaster is always included in the m² price, and the items that differ per job are listed separately and beforehand in the quote.

The second misunderstanding is that a thick coat ready for painting is always the best choice. If wallpaper is going on the wall, you pay for a layer you do not need.

A skim coat makes the wall flat enough, and the wallpaper absorbs the last small irregularities. It is therefore worth knowing what a skim coat is and what it costs before you opt for a finish ready for painting.

With wall finishing in a new-build home, there is something else to consider. A new-build home settles and shrinks in its first years, while the construction moisture leaves the concrete and cement. A hard, thick plaster layer does not move with it and shows a shrinkage crack as a fissure.

That is why, for new builds, we recommend renovation fleece wallpaper, with a skim coat underneath where the wall needs it. Fleece bridges small shrinkage cracks. If you are still undecided between plaster or renovation fleece, we weigh it up together with you.

How do you work out how many m² need plastering?

The price per m² relates to the surface that is plastered, not to the floor area of the room. If you take the floor as your starting point, you will arrive at a different figure for walls than the one in the quote.

For a first estimate, measure the width and height of each wall. Work out the ceiling separately, because it has its own rate. What exactly is counted, we measure at the site visit, so the quote is based on the actual surface and not on an estimate.

If you would like an idea beforehand, use our m² calculator. It lets you work out the area of your walls before you request a quote. For a complete home we have also done the sums: plastering a whole house.

What does it cost to hire a plasterer at Bouwsector België?

For most jobs you work with the m² prices above. For a small job without materials, the price list has a day rate of €499.99 for a plasterer, and for work charged hourly €47.50 per hour. Whether you are better off with a plasterer by the hour or by the day depends on the job.

The work is done by one of our 32 in-house plasterers. They are part of a team of 97 in-house tradespeople, together with 40 wallpaper hangers and 25 painters. If wallpaper or paint needs to go on after the plastering, we schedule that ourselves in the right order. If you hire a plasterer through us, you do not have to look for a wallpaper hanger or painter yourself.

Before you submit your request, measure walls and ceiling separately and count the external corners. Then the m² and the corner beads are already right in the free quote you receive within 24 hours.

At the site visit we re-measure everything and check whether a loose layer has to come off, so that item does not appear only on the final invoice. After the site visit and wall inspection you know exactly where you stand.

If you want walls and ceilings plastered, we use the same amounts as on the prices page.