Is this the ceiling repair and replacement you need?
Cracks and patch repairs
A crack that has been filled before and keeps coming back.
Overboarding
A ceiling that is sound but tired, boarded over and skimmed flat.
Full replacement
A ceiling that moves or is springy, taken down and put back.
Not sure which one you have? We can tell you on the visit. We work on flats, terraces, semis, detached and period houses, new builds and commercial premises.
How it works
01
Tell us about the job
Ring, message or send the form. A rough idea of the rooms is enough to start.
02
One of the team comes and looks
A free visit at a time that suits you. Nothing is signed and nothing is owed.
03
A written price
You get a written price after a look at the job, itemised, with no obligation.
04
Agree a date
If the price is right, the work is booked in and the site is left tidy each day.
No charge for the visit, and no obligation after it.
The same wall at every stage
Before, during and after
Kitchen ceiling leak repaired and skimmed
BeforeDuringFinished
What will my ceiling repair and replacement cost?
The price depends on whether the ceiling is repaired, overboarded or replaced, and on what is above it once it is open. We visit first, then you get a written price after a look at the job.
Repair, overboard or replace
Three different jobs, and the ceiling decides which one it is.
Cornice and roses
Period detail is worked around rather than lost, which takes longer.
Taking the old one down
A lath and plaster ceiling coming down is dust, waste and sheeting.
CoveringBromley, South East London, Kent and Central London
Ceiling repair and replacement on site
A closer look at the preparation and the work behind the finish.
Ceilings are the thing people put up with for years. A crack gets filled and comes back, a corner starts to bow, a patch appears after a leak upstairs and never quite goes. None of it is urgent until a piece comes down, and by then the job is bigger than it needed to be.
What is actually wrong decides everything about the cost, and it is not always visible from the floor. A hairline crack in a modern boarded ceiling is a filling job. The same crack in an original lath and plaster ceiling can mean the nibs above the laths have let go and the ceiling is being held up by its own friction.
Hallway ceiling skimmed, afterCChristopherGoogle...The work is immaculate.Second bedroom walls and ceiling skimmed, afterRRosieGoogle...their work is seamless.Period ceiling rose cornice taped repairGGeoffGoogle...the finish was perfect.Blown plaster exposed brick, beforePPhilGoogle...Great finish looks really good.Ceiling repair in progress period roomAAndrewGoogle...done a perfect job.
“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.”
SMB Plastering and Sons is based in Bromley and covers Beckenham, Orpington, Sidcup and the towns around them. Send a postcode and we will tell you whether the job is one we can get to.
If it is a settlement crack in a sound boarded ceiling, often yes, raked out properly and then skimmed rather than surface filled. If it is moving, filling it is a job you do again next year.
Age is the first clue: anything Victorian or Edwardian that has not been replaced. Pushing gently up on it is the second. A boarded ceiling is solid under your hand and a failing lath ceiling gives.
Overboard if the old ceiling is tired but not moving and the room can afford the loss of height. Take it down if it is moving, if the joists need getting at, or if you want the height back.
Very. A century of dust sits on top of a lath ceiling and it all comes into the room. The room gets cleared or sheeted and taped and the doorway sealed before anything comes down, and the waste is bagged as it goes.
A ceiling in a house built after about 1950 is almost certainly plasterboard on joists, and it behaves predictably: cracks follow the board joints, sagging means the fixings have pulled, and both are straightforward. Anything Victorian or Edwardian that has not been replaced is lath and plaster, which is a different animal.
Lath and plaster works by the wet plaster being pushed between riven timber laths and squeezing out above them into nibs that hook over the top. When those nibs break, the ceiling loses its grip on the laths and starts to come away as one sheet. Pressing gently up on it tells you a lot: movement means it has gone, however good it looks.
Repair in place where that is honest
Where the ceiling is basically sound and the problem is local, it gets repaired rather than replaced. Cracks get raked out to sound edges rather than filled on the surface, because filler laid over a crack that is still moving reappears within a year. Loose areas are screwed back through to the joists with washered fixings, then the whole ceiling gets skimmed so there is no patch to see.
That is the cheap answer and it is often the right one. It is not the right one on a ceiling that moves when you push it, and saying so costs a job now and saves an argument later.
Overboarding, and when it is the better answer
Overboarding means fixing new plasterboard through the old ceiling into the joists above, then skimming that. It avoids the mess of taking a ceiling down, which on a lath ceiling is considerable, and it is quicker and cheaper than a full replacement.
It works where the old ceiling is tired but not moving, and the joists are sound enough to take the weight of both. It does drop the ceiling by the thickness of the board, which matters in a room that is already low, and the board goes up to the cornice rather than through it so the original run is kept. Downlights and roses come down and go back rather than being boarded around.
Full replacement, and what it actually involves
Taking a lath ceiling down is the dirtiest job in plastering. A hundred years of soot and dust sits on top of it and all of it comes into the room. The room gets emptied or everything in it sheeted and taped, the doorway is sealed, and the debris goes straight into bags rather than being swept up afterwards.
Then it is boarded, scrimmed and skimmed, and any cornice worth keeping is worked back into. It is a two to three day job on a normal room and you do not want to be using that room while it happens. When it is the right answer, it is worth doing once, because the alternative is repairing the same ceiling every couple of years.
When to get it looked at
A crack that has been filled more than once and keeps coming back
A ceiling that moves or feels springy when pushed
A brown patch left after a leak has been fixed
A ceiling sagging between the joists
Artex you want gone along with the ceiling under it
Downlights going in where the ceiling is already tired
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
