The stock off the King's Road and around the squares is largely Georgian and Victorian terraced housing, solid walled, with lath and plaster ceilings and original cornice in the principal rooms. Most of it has been worked on repeatedly, so what is on a wall is rarely one thing: lime underneath, gypsum patches over it, and somebody's bonding in the middle.
The lower ground floor is where that matters most. It is below outside ground level, the wall is in contact with damp earth, and whatever finish goes on it has to account for that or it will not last a heating season.
After a basement dig out, plaster is not the first coat
A great many houses here have had the lower ground floor lowered and tanked. What goes on those walls afterwards is not a question of plastering taste, it is a question of what the waterproofing system expects.
On a cavity drain membrane the finish is boarded off the membrane on battens or dabs, never plastered directly onto it: plaster stuck to a membrane has nothing to grip and it defeats the drainage path the membrane exists to keep open. On a cementitious tanked wall a render and skim can go straight on, but it has to be a mix compatible with the tanking rather than whatever is in the van. Getting that wrong shows up as a tide mark eighteen months later, and by then the decorating has been done twice.
Mews houses, which are their own thing
The mews behind the main streets were stables and coach houses and were converted, usually more than once. Ceilings are low, spans are short, the structure is often a mix of original timber and later steel, and the cracking follows the junctions between the two.
Because the rooms are small, a flat finish is unforgiving: there is nowhere for a wave to hide and the whole wall is in one view. They are also the hardest addresses on this list to get a van to, so materials and waste get planned rather than improvised.
Basements, mews houses, and the neighbours either side
Chelsea is Georgian and Victorian terraces, small mews houses behind them, and an unusual number of basements that were coal cellars or nothing at all until relatively recently. The basement conversions are where most of the plastering problems in this postcode come from.
A room dug out below ground is below the water table for part of the year and there is no plaster that solves that. What works is a tanking or cavity drain system installed and detailed properly, with a plaster finish applied to what that system requires rather than straight onto the structure. Skimming a below-ground wall because it looks dry in August is a job that fails in January, and it takes the decoration with it.
The mews houses have the opposite problem, which is space. Single rooms wide, a staircase that a full sheet of board will not turn on, and no front garden to stand anything in. Boards get cut outside and brought in to size, and the sequencing matters far more than it does in a normal house because there is nowhere to put anything down.
Both sit in conservation areas and many are listed, so external work and a good deal of the internal detail need consent from Kensington and Chelsea first. The terraces are also joined, which means noise travels and the people either side get told what is happening and when before it starts, not after they complain.
“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
