Bexleyheath filled in between the wars, when the trams and then the Rochester Way brought the town within reach of London, and the housing reflects it almost street for street: bay fronted semis and short terraces, cavity brick, picture rails, and ceilings that are lath and plaster in the original rooms and boarded in whatever was added later.
That makes the work predictable in a way that is genuinely useful when pricing. A house here is usually a skim rather than a replaster, because the backgrounds are sound and it is ninety years of paint, paper and patching that has taken the surface off flat. Where a wall does sound hollow it is said before the price is given.
Bay window ceilings, which crack first
Nearly every house here has a bay, and the small ceiling over it is the first thing in the house to show a crack. The bay is carried on its own shallow foundation and moves independently of the main wall, so the joint between the two opens and closes with the seasons.
Filling that crack alone puts it back for a year. Where the movement is seasonal and the ceiling itself is sound, the repair is taped and bedded across the joint so it has something to move against, then skimmed. Where the bay ceiling is lath and plaster and has let go of its laths, filling it is not a repair at all whatever it looks like from below.
Artex, and the honest answer about it
The seventies and eighties went through this stock and left swirled and stippled ceilings in a very large number of these houses. The right way to deal with it is almost always to plaster over it rather than take it off: it comes flat, it is quick, and it avoids disturbing a coating that in pre-2000 houses can contain asbestos.
Where a customer does want it removed, it is a sample and a lab result first, not a scraper. Frank holds be Accredited asbestos awareness training, which means knowing when to stop and who to call, not a licence to remove it.
Pebbledash and render on the outside
A lot of Bexleyheath was finished in roughcast or pebbledash, and by now a fair amount of it is hollow. Tapping it tells you more than looking at it: sound render rings solid, failed render sounds like a drum, and the hollow areas are rarely where the cracks are.
What follows depends on how much is gone. Patching works where the failure is local and the finish can be matched. Where most of an elevation is drummy, hacking off and re-rendering the whole face is the cheaper job in the end, and that gets said plainly rather than sold as a patch that will need doing again.
The Broadway flats, and extensions on every third house
Away from the interwar streets, Bexleyheath has a dense centre around the Broadway with flats over shops and a lot of later blocks behind it. Those are a different job again: shared entrances, no parking, stairs rather than lifts, and neighbours on the other side of every wall who did not order the work and should not have to live in it.
Communal areas get protected for the length of the job and cleaned daily rather than at the end, cutting and mixing happen inside the flat rather than on the landing, and the noisy part of the day is kept to sensible hours. None of that is a favour, it is what keeps a managing agent willing to have you back.
The other half of the enquiries here are extensions, and Bexleyheath has had a lot of them. Every one leaves the same three problems: a junction between new blockwork and ninety year old brick, a beam where a wall used to be, and a ceiling that is new on one side of the room and original on the other. Getting those to read as one surface is most of the work, and it is done by bringing the new out to meet the old rather than trying to drag the old back flat.
“Good honest business, we called SMB after we had a bad experience with previous contractors. ... The work is immaculate (we had our house skimmed), the detail, care and attention is spot on.”
“Frank and Steve did a fantastic job on my hallway! Really professional team and their work is seamless. I was really impressed, and they even fixed my skirting board and put it back on for me, a very appreciated extra! Would highly recommend.”
“They did a great job. I had an awkward hallway area and a large ceiling to skim. I thought they'd finished earlier in the day as it looked great to me then, but they went over the whole area to make sure that the finish was perfect.”
“Excellent work! Scott plastered our living room including some tricky details around fireplace and bay window. Great finish looks really good, all the work was tidy and well communicated all done on time. Would highly recommend.”
“Frank completed a wall for me that needed plastering, he was on time, very polite and nothing seemed an issue. ... Although only a small job, kept my house tidy, even outside the house, cleaned up after he finished and done a perfect job, highly recommended from myself.”
“Hi, Had the team in plastering for a week. What a joy. There were no problems they turned up on time everyday and very polite. Would recommend them to anyone. Thanks very much guys.”
“I don't often leave reviews, but Frank was so helpful and pleasant to work with that he deserves 5 stars. Very responsive and professional. He did a great job and left our place clean and tidy. Thanks again Frank!”
“Frank very kindly stopped by to plaster a chipped wall. Perfectly done and really helpful and kind guy. 100% calling if I ever need any more plastering done!”
“Although we didn't require any work, Frank was extremely helpful and knowledgable on his visit to inspect our issue. He was prompt and on time and responded quickly.”
“Very, very happy with Franks work finishing off kitchen walls after having been let down by a builder. It was a tricky job as the granite worktops ect had already been installed but I couldn't be happier with the result.”
“Really happy with the work. Great finish and very professional. Turned up on time, kept things tidy, and did a top-quality job. Would definitely recommend.”
“very pleasant experience in communication and the level of service provided. tradesman was very polite. He came around for a diagnosis before outlining the job in details with cost and what needs doing.”
“Just had Scott round, Arrived on time started straight away and just got on with the job. Pleasant at all times clean & tidy worker will definitely use again. Work looks good and he stuck to his price. Thanks Scott was was good to meet you.”
“Very professional, was very clear on what exactly will be done. Agreed a price and kept me update all the way through. Happy with the work completed and after care as well. Very helpful and highly recommended.”
“Scott called me before booking a date to come and do work. He reasured me about somethings i was worried about. He come in time he said he would and helped me with another job as well. Very helpful and happy with service”
“Great job by Scott plastering the small room, he managed to sort out the uneven ceiling and walls. Will be using Scott again to sort out a couple of other rooms.”
Plastering, screeding and rendering out of Bromley, across South East London, the Kent border and Central London, on every kind of property, domestic and commercial. If you are outside that it is still worth asking, because it depends on the size of the job and how the week is already booked.
Yes, always in writing, and after somebody has looked at the job rather than off a description. If something turns up behind the plaster once work starts, you are told before it is dealt with, not after.
Most of the work is in occupied property. Floors get sheeted, doorways get sealed where the rest of the house is in use, and noisy work is kept to the middle of the day so the neighbours can live with it.
Yes. Domestic and commercial both, and a commercial fit out tends to run to a tighter programme with more of the work happening out of hours, which is planned for rather than charged for as a surprise.
It depends what is already booked and how big the job is. A single room repair usually fits in sooner than a whole property. The honest date gets given at estimate stage rather than an optimistic one.
Yes. Hacked off plaster, board offcuts and packaging all leave with the job. Nothing gets left in a communal hallway or stacked in a front garden.
Nearby
Bromley, South East London, Kent and Central London
CoveringBromley, South East London, Kent and Central London
Qualifications and training
City & Guilds Level 2 Diploma in PlasteringFrank McBride, College of North West London, 2021Federation of Damp: Damp Proofing Technician trainingFrank McBride, January 2026be Accredited health and safety trainingAsbestos awareness, abrasive wheels, confined space, accident and incident, environmental awareness
