Plasterer in Mere Green

Mere Green is the busy northern centre of Sutton Coldfield, built up around the crossroads of the Lichfield Road and Mere Green Road. Around its shops sit leafy residential streets that run out towards Four Oaks, Little Sutton, Hill Hook and Roughley. RCR Connections Ltd is Birmingham based, covering the whole of the Midlands, and our crews plaster and render across Mere Green and the neighbouring parts of the Royal Town.

Below you will find a short history of how a farming hamlet on common land became a suburban centre, a guide to the main types of house you find in Mere Green and what their walls are made of, and practical advice on the plastering jobs that come up most often here, from inter-war semis to 1960s estates and the large detached homes of recent decades.

Free, no-obligation quote in Mere Green: WhatsApp me on 07453 614095 with a few photos, or send us a message.

How a pool on the common became a suburb

The name

The name is exactly what it sounds like. A mere is an old word for a pool, and the green was common pasture beside it. William Dargue’s history of Birmingham place names records “Mare Fields” in 1667 and “Mare Green” in 1821, and the 1841 census writes it as “Meere Green”. The pool itself, later known rather repetitively as Mere Pool, lay south-east of the road junction.

Part of Hill

For centuries this was simply part of the area called Hill, one of the scattered hamlets of the parish of Sutton Coldfield. A small cluster of buildings appears on the 1834 Ordnance Survey map, but the place was not named on it, and Mere Green was still treated as part of Hill until the early twentieth century.

A Roman pottery

Long before the hamlet, there was industry here. A resident digging a garden pond in Sherifoot Lane turned up broken pottery that proved to be second-century Roman. Excavation found a small kiln and a waste pit full of misfired jars, bowls, tankards and mortars. The grey ware made here has been linked to markets at the Roman settlement at Wall, near Lichfield, and the potters would have used the woodland that once covered this part of the Midlands as fuel.

The Corporation School

On Mere Green Road stands a building with a plaque reading “Corporation School, erected AD 1826”. It was a charity school for local children, built by a local man, Solomon Smith, on the site of the old Mere Pool. It has since been used as a restaurant, and it is one of the oldest buildings you will pass in the centre.

St James’, Hill

Further along Mere Green Road is St James’ church, the parish church of Hill. The first church, with its west tower, was built in 1834 to designs by the Birmingham architect D. R. Hill, in a plain Gothic style of rendered brick. Around 1906 it was greatly enlarged in red sandstone by C. E. Bateman, one of the best known Arts and Crafts architects in the Birmingham area. The two halves of the building are quite different in character. The church is Grade II listed and, for plasterers, has a point of particular interest: decorative plaster leaf friezes around the windows.

Hill Hook and its mill

To the north, Hill Hook was a seventeenth-century watermill on common land. It became a popular spot for visitors before it was demolished in 1970, and its pool was later restored in 1986. Today the Hill Hook nature reserve keeps a pocket of open water and woodland among the houses.

The railway and the twentieth century

The line from Birmingham to Lichfield through Sutton Coldfield and Four Oaks brought commuters within reach of the area in the late Victorian period, and the halt at Butlers Lane was added in 1957 to serve the growing estates. Between the wars and especially after 1945, the fields around Mere Green were filled with houses, and by the middle of the century it had become a continuous part of Sutton Coldfield’s urban area.

A modern district centre

The crossroads has become one of the main shopping centres in the north of Birmingham, with supermarkets, independent shops, restaurants and the Mulberry Walk development. Sutton Coldfield joined the City of Birmingham in 1974, and Sutton Coldfield Town Council was created in 2016, so there are now two tiers of local council in the town.

Mere Green’s homes, street by street

Along the Lichfield Road

The main road north from Sutton was one of the first places to be built up. Here you find substantial Edwardian and inter-war houses, many detached, with solid or early cavity brick walls, high ceilings and lath and plaster on the ceilings. A number have been converted to offices, care homes or flats.

Inter-war semis

The streets around the centre contain many 1920s and 1930s semi-detached houses with bay windows, rendered or pebbledashed upper floors and tiled porches. Walls are usually cavity brick with lime-based or early gypsum plaster inside. Ceilings are a mix of original lath and plaster and later plasterboard.

Post-war estates

Large estates were built in the 1950s, 60s and 70s on the farmland between Mere Green, Roughley, Little Sutton and Hill Hook. These are mostly brick and block houses, bungalows and semis, with gypsum plaster, plasterboard ceilings and, very often, textured coatings added in the 1970s.

Large detached houses

Mere Green and the roads towards Four Oaks and Little Aston have a high proportion of large detached homes, many built or rebuilt from the 1980s onwards. Some replace older houses on big plots. These are typically dry-lined, with complex ceilings, vaulted spaces and big open-plan kitchens.

Flats and retirement apartments

Around the centre there are blocks of flats and purpose-built retirement apartments, many from the last thirty years. Work here usually involves internal walls, ceilings after leaks from above, and fire-stopping details that have to match the building’s specification.

Older cottages and survivors

Among the suburban streets you will still find older cottages and farm buildings from the days when Hill and Little Sutton were hamlets. Several small stone houses in the Sutton area are traditionally credited to Bishop John Vesey, the sixteenth-century benefactor of the town, though the dating of individual buildings varies between sources. These older walls need lime-based materials.

What plaster looks like inside these houses

Lime and hair

In pre-1930 houses, the original wall plaster is usually lime and sand, sometimes with horse or cattle hair to bind it, applied in two or three coats. It is softer than modern plaster and can be repaired with lime. Where later owners have patched it in gypsum, the edges of those repairs often crack.

Early gypsum

From the 1930s onwards, gypsum plasters became common. Many inter-war houses in Mere Green have a gypsum-based backing and finish that has lasted well, but may have hairline cracks, bulges near window reveals and blown patches where pipes or cables have been chased.

Sand and cement

Some post-war builders used sand and cement backing coats with a gypsum finish. These are hard and strong, but where they were applied to older masonry they can trap damp.

Plasterboard and skim

Most houses built since the 1960s have plasterboard ceilings, and many later homes are dry-lined on the walls too. The finish is a thin skim of gypsum plaster.

Problems we see in Mere Green homes, and what causes them

Cracks over bay windows

Bay windows on inter-war semis often have a crack line above the bay or at the corners of the ceiling. Bays move slightly as their shallow foundations respond to the seasons, and where the ground is clay, dry summers can make that worse. Once a surveyor is happy the movement is old and stable, we cut out and reinforce the cracks with scrim before skimming.

Sagging lath and plaster ceilings

Original ceilings in the older houses along the Lichfield Road and nearby streets can bow when the plaster keys behind the laths break, often after years of vibration from traffic, loft work or a water leak. Small areas can sometimes be secured with plaster washers and skimmed. Larger failures are safer taken down and replaced with new plasterboard.

Textured ceilings

Swirled, stippled and combed ceilings are common in the 1960s and 70s estates. Rather than stripping, we usually over-board and skim, which gives a smooth new surface with very little dust. If you are not sure what the coating contains and it may be older, have a sample tested before anyone disturbs it.

Damp on ground floors

Damp patches near the floor in Mere Green houses most often come from bridged damp courses, high garden or patio levels, leaking pipes or condensation rather than true rising damp. The plaster is only replaced once the cause has been sorted out.

Water damage from above

In flats and in houses with en-suite bathrooms, a leaking shower or tank can bring down a ceiling or stain it badly. When the plumber has stopped the leak and the joists have dried out, we replace the damaged board, tape the joints and skim to match.

Patchy, uneven walls after redecorating

When old wallpaper comes off, the wall underneath often shows decades of filling, picture hooks and ripped lining paper. A full skim is usually quicker and better than trying to fill and sand a wall like that to a paintable standard.

Typical projects across the area

Open-plan kitchen extensions

Single-storey rear extensions are everywhere in Mere Green, often with a kitchen, dining and family area under a flat or pitched roof with roof lights. After the builder has completed the structure and services, we board and skim the walls and ceilings, form the reveals around bi-fold doors and roof lights, and blend the new work into the original house.

Two-storey side extensions

Many semis have been extended over the side driveway. Here we work on both floors, joining the new bedroom and landing to the existing house so the walls and ceilings read as one.

Loft conversions

Dormer loft conversions are popular on inter-war semis and 1960s houses alike. Sloping ceilings, dormer cheeks and stairwells all need careful boarding and finishing, often with insulated board to meet the thermal requirements set by building control.

Garage conversions

Turning an integral garage into a study, playroom or annexe is a common job on the post-war estates. We line the walls with insulated board, finish the ceiling, and skim the space ready for decorating.

Plastering a whole house

When a house is bought after a long ownership, the new owners often strip it back: rewire, new heating, new kitchen and bathrooms, and new plaster throughout. We can work room by room alongside the other trades and leave the house ready for the decorators.

Coving and cornice

Many people want a period-style coving in an inter-war house, or a clean shadow gap in a modern one. We can fit plaster coving, repair runs of original cornice and make good where old cornice meets new ceilings.

Big houses, big ceilings

Vaulted rooms and galleries

Large detached homes around Mere Green often have double-height hallways, galleried landings and vaulted ceilings. These need proper scaffold towers or staging, careful setting out of boards, and enough people to lay a large ceiling in one go so there are no visible joins.

Long, flat walls in modern light

Open-plan rooms with large windows and spotlights show every ripple on a wall. We take extra care with straightedges and finishing to give a flat result where low-angled light will pick up imperfections.

Feature finishes

Some clients want a polished plaster or a Venetian-style finish in a hall, bathroom or living area. Others prefer a classic smooth skim. We will talk through the options and the right background for each.

Outside the house: render

Bay and gable finishes

Inter-war semis in Mere Green often have rendered or pebbledashed bays and upper floors. Where the old dash is cracked, hollow or blown, we patch or replace it and can re-coat to give a uniform finish.

Modernising a frontage

Owners of 1960s and 70s houses sometimes choose to render the whole house to give it a fresh, modern look. We apply K-Rend monocouche and silicone renders, or a traditional sand and cement render with masonry paint. Our K-Rend monocouche rendering page explains how the system works, and our Birmingham rendering page has more on the choices available.

Extensions that match

A new extension can look tacked on if the brick does not match the house. A render finish over block gives a crisp, consistent look and can tie old and new together.

Planning in the Royal Town

Birmingham City Council

Planning and building control for Mere Green are handled by Birmingham City Council. Sutton Coldfield Town Council is a consultee on planning matters but does not decide applications.

The Four Oaks conservation area

Next door to Mere Green is the Four Oaks Estate, designated by Birmingham as a conservation area in 1986. If you live inside its boundary, changes to the outside of your home, including rendering, may need planning permission, and trees are protected. Check the council’s conservation area map if you are unsure.

Listed buildings

A small number of buildings in and around Mere Green are listed, including St James’ church. Inside a listed building, consent is needed before removing or replacing historic plaster, so talk to the council before work starts.

Everyday plastering

For an ordinary house outside the conservation area, internal plastering needs no permission. Extensions and loft conversions will go through building regulations, and we work to the specification approved for your project.

Chimney breasts and old fireplaces

Blocked-up fireplaces

Almost every inter-war semi in Mere Green was built with fireplaces in the main rooms and often the bedrooms too. Most have since been boarded or bricked up. If the flue was sealed without any ventilation, moisture trapped in the chimney can show as damp, stained patches on the breast, often months or years later. A small vent in the blocking panel and a capped, ventilated pot at the top usually cure it.

Opening one back up

Plenty of owners now want a fireplace again for a log burner or simply as a feature. Once the builder or stove installer has opened the opening and fitted the lintel and liner, we make good the plaster around the opening and the breast so the new surround sits cleanly.

Removing a breast

Taking out a chimney breast to gain space counts as structural work, so building control is involved and proper support for what remains above. After the builder has done that, we plaster the patched wall and ceiling so there is no trace of where the breast stood.

Original features worth keeping

Picture rails, dado rails and plaster details

Inter-war houses often keep picture rails, plaster ceiling roses and simple cornice. When we skim a room we work carefully around these, or take rails off and refit them, so the character survives.

Old distemper on ceilings

Some older ceilings were finished in soft distemper rather than paint. New paint will not stick to it properly and new plaster will not bond. It must come off with warm water or be locked down under a specialist sealer before any new finish goes on, and we check for it with a damp cloth before starting.

Original doors and joinery

Architraves, skirtings and doors in 1930s houses are worth protecting. We mask them, and where a skim would leave the architrave sitting proud or sunk, we discuss with your joiner whether to remove and refit it.

Quieter, warmer houses

Noise between semis

The party wall between a pair of semis is usually a single leaf of brick or block. Where you can hear the neighbours, an acoustic lining with resilient bars or independent studwork and a dense acoustic board can make a real difference. It takes a little floor space, so we talk through the trade-off first.

Cold rooms over garages

Bedrooms above integral garages in 1960s and 70s houses are notoriously cold. Improving the garage ceiling with insulation and a new board helps, as does insulating the room’s floor when carpets come up.

Solid-walled older homes

Houses along the main road that pre-date cavity walls can be lined on the inside with insulated board when they are replastered. Done carefully, with attention to ventilation and to the window reveals, this keeps rooms warmer and stops cold, damp corners.

En-suites and family bathrooms

Boards behind the tiles

Larger houses in Mere Green often have several bathrooms, and en-suites squeezed into bedrooms in the 1980s and 90s are now due for replacement. When the old suite and tiles come out, the board behind is often soft from years of small leaks around the tray. We replace it with moisture-resistant or cement-based board, and leave walls flat and primed for the tiler.

Ceilings and fans

Steam from a shower without a working fan will eventually stain and crack the ceiling. We fit new moisture-resistant board where needed and finish it ready for a bathroom paint, and we will mention it if the fan is not clearing the air properly.

Boxing in

Soil pipes, waste runs and new concealed cisterns need boxing in. We form neat boxings in board and finish them to match the walls, with access panels where the plumber needs them.

Condensation on the post-war estates

Why newer can mean wetter

Houses built from the 1950s to the 1970s were often sealed up later with double glazing, blocked air bricks and filled fireplaces, while family life produces more moisture than ever from showers, cooking and drying clothes. Cold corners in bedrooms on north-facing walls, behind wardrobes and in the angle between wall and ceiling are where black mould tends to start.

What helps

Mould on a wall is usually a ventilation and heating issue, not a plaster fault. Trickle vents, working extractors, a little background heat and keeping furniture slightly away from cold outside walls all help. Where a particular wall is very cold, an insulated lining can lift its surface temperature. We treat and remove affected plaster before any new finish goes on.

Stairs and landings in semis

Tall walls in a small space

The stairwell in an inter-war or 1960s semi is usually narrow, with a tall wall running up past the landing. It is the one area of the house most people struggle to decorate themselves, and the plaster here often carries old cracks from where the stairs meet the walls. Proper stair staging goes in first, cut out and tape the cracks, and skim the full height in one go.

Landing ceilings and loft hatches

Landing ceilings around loft hatches take a battering from people climbing in and out of the roof. A new hatch lining and a skimmed ceiling tidy up the whole area.

Bungalows near Roughley and Hill Hook

Simple layouts, specific problems

The bungalows built around the outer edge of Mere Green have ceilings directly beneath the roof void. Temperature changes, loft insulation work and people walking on joists all lead to cracks in the ceiling joints. Over-boarding or reboarding the ceiling with a fresh skim is the usual fix.

Adding rooms in the roof

Many bungalows have been converted to add rooms in the roof. These need sloping ceilings, knee walls and dormers boarded and skimmed neatly, with insulation that satisfies building control and leaves the room comfortable in summer as well as winter.

What our written quote covers

Clear scope

Our quote lists each wall and ceiling in the job, says whether the existing plaster stays under a skim or is hacked off, the boards and beads involved, and how waste is dealt with. Surprises do happen behind old plaster; when they do, work pauses and we show you what we have found before going further.

Timescales

We tell you how many days we expect to be on site and how long the rooms will need to dry before decorating, so you can plan the trades that follow.

Through-lounges and knocked-through rooms

A 1930s favourite

From the 1960s onwards, many owners of Mere Green’s inter-war semis knocked the front and back reception rooms into one through-lounge. The work was often done with a steel or concrete beam and a downstand across the middle of the ceiling, and the plaster around it was patched rather than properly finished. Decades later, cracks along the beam and uneven ceiling levels either side are common.

Putting it right

We can box the beam neatly in board, add beads to give it crisp edges, and skim the ceiling across both halves so the room reads as one space. If the two original ceilings sit at slightly different heights, over-boarding one side or adding a shallow bulkhead hides the step. Where the opening is being widened or a new beam fitted, building control will want to see the structural work before it is covered.

Mature trees and moving walls

Leafy streets, thirsty roots

Much of Mere Green’s appeal comes from its trees: big oaks, limes and conifers in front gardens and along the roads. On shrinkable ground, though, large trees close to a house draw water out of the soil in summer, and the ground can shrink and swell with the seasons. The result is cracking that opens in late summer and partly closes over winter.

What that means for plastering

Seasonal cracks will come back if they are simply filled. If a crack keeps reappearing in the same place, or doors and windows start to stick, get advice from a surveyor or your insurer before redecorating. Once the cause has been dealt with, or the movement has been shown to be minor and stable, we reinforce the crack lines with mesh or scrim and skim so the repair stays hidden.

Newer homes and their first few years

Shrinkage cracks

Homes built in the last few years often develop fine cracks at tape lines, beside door linings and in the angle of wall and ceiling, as timber dries and the building settles. This is normal. It is best to wait until the house has been through a full year of heating before having the cracks dealt with, so most of the movement has happened.

Dents and damage

Dry-lined walls are less forgiving than solid plaster when furniture or doors hit them. Dents and holes can be cut back, patched with a board insert where needed, and skimmed to blend in.

Garden offices and outbuildings

Plastered rooms in the garden

Larger gardens around Mere Green and Little Sutton have room for garden offices, gyms and annexes. Many are timber-framed buildings lined with plasterboard. We board and skim these just as we would a room in the house, with insulated or moisture-resistant boards where the building needs them, so they feel like a proper room rather than a shed.

Selling, buying and letting

Getting a house ready to sell

Before a house goes on the market, cracked ceilings, stained patches and tired walls can put buyers off or trigger awkward questions on a survey. A targeted round of repairs and skimming before the photographs are taken is often worthwhile.

After a survey

When buyers’ surveys flag damp, cracking or blown plaster, we can look at the issue, explain what we think is causing it and, where needed, carry out the repair so the sale can go ahead.

Rental properties

Landlords in the area often need a quick turnaround between tenants. We can fit repairs and re-skims into a short gap, room by room, so the decorators can follow on.

Care homes, offices and shops

Working in occupied buildings

The Lichfield Road and the streets near the centre include care homes, surgeries, offices and shops. Work in these buildings has to fit around residents, patients and customers, and that means careful planning, extra dust control and sometimes evening or phased working.

Fire safety and specification

Commercial and multi-occupancy buildings often need fire-rated boards and specific fixing details. We follow the specification set out by the building’s designer or fire risk assessor and keep records of what has been installed.

Working alongside your other trades

Getting the order right

On a renovation, plastering sits in the middle. Electrics and plumbing first fix, joinery such as door linings and stair work, and any steelwork need to be finished before we start. Second fix, kitchen fitting and decorating follow after the plaster has dried. Getting this order right avoids damaged new walls and extra repairs.

Communication

We are happy to speak directly to your builder, electrician or kitchen company to agree dates and what each wall needs. A short message the day before saves a wasted visit.

Snagging

When the decorators start, small marks and dings come to light. We return to sort out any snags in our work so the finished rooms are right.

Places we cover around Mere Green

Four Oaks and Little Aston

Four Oaks borders Mere Green to the south-west, with its large houses and private estate roads, and Little Aston lies beyond, across the boundary into Staffordshire. See our Four Oaks plastering page.

Little Sutton and Roughley

Little Sutton, to the east, keeps some of its older buildings among newer houses. Roughley, further out, is mostly post-war and later housing on the edge of the green belt.

Hill Hook, Hill and Butlers Lane

The streets around Hill Hook nature reserve and Butlers Lane station are mainly 1950s to 1970s estates, with some older properties along the main roads.

Sutton Coldfield town centre and beyond

We work throughout the town, from Boldmere and Wylde Green to Walmley and Maney. See our Sutton Coldfield plastering page and our main Birmingham plastering page.

Before and after we arrive

Getting ready

• Empty the room if you can, or gather furniture into the centre under dust sheets.
• Unhook curtains and blinds, and lift down frames and wall shelves.
• Book an electrician to loosen sockets, switches and light fittings.
• Let us know about parking; driveways in Mere Green make deliveries easy, but some roads near the shops are permit-controlled or busy.

While we are there

We protect floors, stairs and doorways, keep a clear path to the van and sweep through before we leave each evening. Wet plaster and curious dogs or toddlers do not mix, so the room stays out of bounds while we are in it.

Drying and decorating

Fresh plaster dries from dark to light. Thin skims dry within days, while thicker backing coats and lime take longer, especially in winter. Give the room fresh air, gentle warmth and patience, and resist the urge to paint early. For more detail, read how long plaster takes to dry before painting. Start with a mist coat of watered-down matt emulsion before your top coats.

Mere Green homes we plaster

Mere Green has 1950s to 1970s family homes, flats round the shops and larger houses towards Four Oaks. Here’s where we work most, the homes you’ll find there and the plastering jobs that come up.

• Mere Green centre. Flats and houses near the shops. Patch repairs and ceilings.
• Roughley. 1960s and 1970s homes. Artex ceilings covered and garage conversions.
• Hill Hook. 1950s to 1970s houses. Kitchen extensions and loft rooms.
• Little Sutton. Village homes old and new. Rooms replastered after a rewire.
• Four Oaks. Large Edwardian and interwar houses. High ceilings and coving.
• Moor Hall. 1960s houses. Textured ceilings.
• Bassetts Pole. Older homes. Ceilings and extensions.

Whatever the house, RCR Connections Ltd puts 62 years of combined experience into it. We’re Birmingham based, covering the whole of the Midlands, and we work Monday to Friday 7am to 5pm and Saturday 7am to 1pm. WhatsApp me on 07453 614095 or message the page with photos of the room and your road or postcode in Mere Green.

Outside, we also fit K-Rend monocouche and silicone render for homes around Mere Green, see rendering in Sutton Coldfield. Just down the road, we’re also the plasterer in Four Oaks.

Nearby, we also cover plastering in Shenstone.

More services: Plastering repairs · Plastering and coving · Plastering extensions and lofts.

How to get started

1. Take photos of the walls and ceilings and note rough room sizes.
2. Message them over WhatsApp to 07453 614095, saying what you want done.
3. We reply with our view of the job and, where needed, arrange a visit.
4. We agree dates that fit your builder, kitchen fitter or decorator.
5. The work is carried out, the room is cleaned, and you get drying advice.

Speak to us about Mere Green work

The team has 62 years of combined experience, from lime repairs in older homes to large modern ceilings. Whether you are in a 1930s semi by the shops or a new house near Hill Hook, WhatsApp me on 07453 614095 or message the page and we will get back to you. Prefer email? Write to rcrconnectionsltd@gmail.com, or fill in the contact page. See all areas we cover for the rest of the region.

More from RCR Connections Ltd: All plastering and rendering services · Areas we cover