Plasterer in Tamworth

Tamworth is an old market town with a Norman castle at its heart, where the River Tame and River Anker meet, but most of its homes are much newer. The town grew fast in the second half of the 20th century, and today it’s a mix of older streets near the centre, large post-war and 1970s estates, and newer developments on the edges. RCR Connections Ltd plasters and renders homes right across the borough, including Amington, Belgrave, Bolehall, Coton Green, Dosthill, Gillway, Glascote, Glascote Heath, Hockley, Kettlebrook, Leyfields, Perrycrofts, Stonydelph, Two Gates and Wilnecote, and the villages just over the boundary such as Fazeley, Hopwas, Polesworth, Dordon and Kingsbury.

Plastering and rendering is our whole trade. The team has 62 years of combined experience. Whether it’s a single ceiling in a Glascote terrace or a full re-render on a Stonydelph semi, we’ll tell you plainly what the job needs.

Read on for each service explained with Tamworth houses in mind, the faults we find most often on the town’s estates, a plain answer to which council deals with your planning (it isn’t always Tamworth Borough Council), and what to expect from first photo to final coat of paint.

Our plastering and rendering services in Tamworth

Plastering

Full plastering means applying a backing coat to brick or blockwork to straighten it, then a smooth finish coat. On new plasterboard it means taping the joints and applying the finish. In Tamworth, much of this work comes from extensions, garage conversions and kitchen knock-throughs, which are very common on the town’s 1970s and 1980s family homes.

We pick the backing to suit the wall. Lightweight blocks used in many newer extensions take plaster differently from older brick, and we prepare each surface so the plaster bonds properly and doesn’t crack or come away later.

Skimming

A skim is a thin coat of finishing plaster over an existing surface that’s still sound. It gives a fresh, flat finish over cracked, marked or patchy walls and ceilings, and it’s usually the quickest way to get a room ready for decorating.

Many Tamworth houses have walls with years of filler, nail holes and torn lining paper. Once the old paper is stripped, a skim is often the obvious next step. Before we quote, we check for hollow areas and damp, so we’re not skimming over a problem.

Re-plastering and patch repairs

When plaster is blown, crumbling or salt-damaged, it needs hacking off and replacing. That’s re-plastering. It’s common in the older terraces around Kettlebrook and Glascote, and on walls that have had damp-proofing work.

Patch repairs are the everyday version: filling the chases from a rewire, making good where a boiler or radiator has moved, repairing walls after a kitchen or bathroom refit, and fixing damaged corners. A good patch is built up in layers, keyed into the surrounding wall and finished flush so you can’t see it once it’s painted. Where a room has more patches than original wall, a full skim usually gives a better finish.

Artex skimming

The houses built during Tamworth’s big expansion are just the age where textured ceilings were most fashionable, so we see a lot of them. Stipples, swirls and combed patterns are everywhere across Belgrave, Stonydelph, Glascote Heath and Amington.

Getting rid of the pattern doesn’t mean getting rid of the ceiling. If the texture is fairly shallow and the ceiling is solid, we seal it and skim straight over in a couple of coats. If it’s deep, cracked along the joints or dipping a little, we screw fresh plasterboard up through it into the joists and skim the new board instead. Both routes bury the old coating rather than break it up.

Burying it is the point. Before 2000, some textured coatings were made with asbestos, and a ceiling that’s left intact and covered over poses far less risk than one that’s scraped. If you’re set on removal, get a sample tested before anyone touches it. You can read more in our guide to skimming over Artex.

Dry lining and boarding

Dry lining is fixing plasterboard to walls and ceilings, either with adhesive dabs (dot and dab), on battens, or on timber or metal studs, then skimming or taping and jointing it.

Tamworth garage conversions are a good example: the garage walls, ceiling and any new stud wall all need boarding, often with insulated plasterboard on the cold walls, before skimming. We also board loft conversions, new partitions, and ceilings replaced after leaks. On solid walls we check there’s no damp before boarding, so moisture doesn’t get trapped.

Monocouche renders, including K-Rend monocouche

K-Rend monocouche is one brand of this type of render. Monocouche means a one-coat, through-coloured render, where the colour is in the material from the start rather than painted on. It’s sprayed or trowelled on in two passes, left to firm up, then scraped to a fine texture. That scraped face is the finished article: no masonry paint, no repainting cycle.

On the town’s 1970s and 80s estates, owners often pick it to replace tired pebbledash or to cover brickwork that has weathered patchily, while extension builders like it because a block wall can be made to look sharp quickly. For more on how it works, see our K-Rend monocouche page.

Silicone render

Silicone render is a thin top coat, a couple of millimetres of textured finish, laid over a base coat that has reinforcing mesh pressed into it. The silicone content is what sets it apart. Water sits on the surface in droplets and runs off, rather than being absorbed, so the wall dries quickly after rain and is less inviting to algae. It’s also forgiving of minor movement and comes in a huge colour range.

Homes by the canals and rivers, under big trees, or with one side that never sees the sun are all good candidates. It’s also the usual skin on insulated render. Our comparison of K-Rend monocouche, silicone and sand and cement render sets the three side by side.

Sand and cement render

Sand and cement is the render most Tamworth houses already have, usually under several coats of masonry paint. We mix it on site and apply it in layers by hand: a scratch coat to grip the wall, then a float coat, finished smooth or textured and painted once it has cured. For patching existing render, building up plinths, garden walls and outbuildings, it’s hard to beat.

What it doesn’t do well is breathe. On the older solid brick houses near the town centre, sealing the wall in cement can hold moisture in. If that’s a risk, we’ll talk you through more vapour-open options.

Insulated render

An insulated render job starts with insulation boards bonded and fixed to the wall, then a base coat with mesh, then a decorative finish. The result is a thicker, warmer wall and a completely new look for the house.

Some of the homes from Tamworth’s post-war decades have solid walls, and some were built with non-traditional systems. For some of them, insulated render is a sensible upgrade. It has to be assessed properly first, it always needs building regulations approval and sometimes planning permission, and it involves extending sills, moving pipes and meters and adjusting the eaves. We’ll lay all of that out before you decide.

Render repairs

A render failure in Tamworth usually follows a familiar chain. A crack opens, rain soaks in, winter frosts expand the water, and a patch of render turns hollow and eventually lets go. Gutters that overflow onto the wall, render taken right down to the ground over the damp-proof course, and corner beads that have rusted are the usual accomplices.

We trace the cause before we patch. Then the fix might be raking out and filling cracks, cutting hollow areas back to firm edges and re-rendering them, re-forming corners, adding a bellcast bead so water drips clear of the base, or tidying up around new windows. Repairs to painted render can be hidden with a fresh coat over the whole elevation. Repairs to older through-coloured render are harder to hide, because the original will have faded, and we’ll tell you that before we start. Our article on signs your render needs repairing before winter is worth a read.

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

Tamworth homes and what they need

The old town and its older streets

The streets around the castle, the town centre, Victoria Road, Albert Road and Hospital Street, and older parts of Kettlebrook, Glascote, Wilnecote and Dosthill, include Victorian and early 20th century houses. Most have solid brick walls and plaster that was originally lime-based.

Inside, the usual list is lower walls that need re-plastering once rising or penetrating damp has been dealt with, old ceilings that need repairing or boarding over, and knock-throughs into rear wings. Old lime plaster can move and breathe in a way modern gypsum can’t, so on a damp-prone wall we choose the material with care. Several of these streets sit within the borough’s conservation areas, which matters for anything outside.

Post-war and expansion-era estates

Tamworth took in a lot of people from Birmingham in the post-war decades, and large estates were built to house them, in places like Belgrave, Stonydelph, Glascote Heath, Amington and Leyfields. These homes are typically semis, terraces and some flats, built from the 1960s into the 1980s.

Common jobs include:

• smoothing textured ceilings by skimming or over-boarding
• re-boarding and skimming ceilings that have cracked along the board joints
• skimming walls after old wallpaper is stripped
• plastering through after rewiring or new central heating
• boarding and skimming garage conversions and single-storey extensions
• rendering or re-rendering fronts and gable ends

Some homes from this era use non-traditional construction. If yours does, let us know, as it affects which rendering options are suitable.

Newer homes

Newer estates around the edges of Tamworth, and in-fill developments across the town, mostly have plasterboard on dabs or studs. Jobs here tend to be repairs to cracked joints and popped screws as the house settles, skimming to give a better finish than the original tape and joint, and boarding out lofts and garages.

Flats and maisonettes

There are plenty of flats and maisonettes in Tamworth, both privately owned and managed. We can plaster inside them, but for outside work such as rendering, the freeholder or management company usually needs to agree. Flats and maisonettes also don’t have the same permitted development rights as houses.

Problems we often find in Tamworth houses

Houses of the same age tend to develop the same faults. These are the ones that come up most often around the town.

Cracked board joints and nail pops

Ceilings in many 1960s to 1980s homes are plasterboard with a thin skim, or boards with taped joints. Over decades, small movements open up straight-line cracks along the joints, and nails or screws can push through as little round bumps. Filling them rarely lasts. Over-boarding the ceiling, or cutting back and re-taping the joints before a full skim, gives a much more durable result.

Plaster damaged around new windows and doors

When old windows and doors are replaced, the plaster around the reveals is often damaged. Fitters will sometimes leave rough edges or filler that never quite looks right. We make good the reveals with proper beads so the corners are sharp and straight, and blend the repair into the surrounding wall.

Tired pebbledash and painted render

Plenty of Tamworth homes were finished with pebbledash or painted render on the front, gable end or whole house. After years of weather, it can crack, go hollow and lose stones. Small areas can be repaired. Where it’s failing in lots of places, removing it and re-rendering, or rendering over it once it’s been checked and stabilised, may be the better long-term choice.

Damp patches on chimney breasts

Many houses with chimneys that are no longer used show damp patches or salt stains on the chimney breast. Common causes include an uncapped stack, poor flashing and a lack of ventilation in the blocked-off flue. Those need fixing first. Then the affected plaster can be replaced with a suitable material.

Condensation in bathrooms and bedrooms

Cold rooms and bathrooms without good extraction often suffer from condensation and mould. New plaster won’t solve that alone. Better ventilation and steady heating are the first steps, and on cold outside walls, insulated boarding can help.

Skim, over-board or replace? A quick ceiling guide

Ceilings cause more questions than anything else we work on in Tamworth. Here’s a simple way to think about the three options.

Skim when the ceiling is firmly fixed, reasonably flat and only has fine cracks or a shallow texture. It’s the least disruptive option and usually the quickest.

Over-board when the ceiling has cracks along the joints, a deep texture, small dips or a slight sag, but is still firmly attached overall. New plasterboard is screwed through into the joists, then skimmed. It gives a flat, solid result without the mess of removing the old ceiling, and it keeps any old textured coating sealed in.

Replace when the ceiling is badly sagging, water-damaged, crumbling or coming away from the joists. The old ceiling comes down, new boards go up and the ceiling is skimmed. It’s the messiest option, so it needs good protection and planning, but sometimes it’s the only safe choice. If the ceiling has a textured coating that may contain asbestos, it must be tested before anyone takes it down.

If any part of a ceiling looks as if it’s dropping, keep out from under it and tell us when you send photos.

Garage conversions and extensions in Tamworth

Converting a garage or adding a single-storey extension is one of the most common home improvements on Tamworth’s estates, and plastering is a big part of both.

For a garage conversion, the walls are usually single-skin brick or block, so they’re cold and can be damp-prone. Insulation and boarding, often insulated plasterboard on battens or a stud wall with insulation, is normally needed to meet building regulations. The ceiling is boarded, and the new infill wall where the garage door used to be is plastered to match. We then skim the whole room for a consistent finish.

For an extension, we board the ceiling, plaster the new walls and make good where the extension joins the existing house. Getting a clean, straight join between old and new is important, as the junction is often where cracks appear first. Outside, a new extension is often rendered, either to match the house or to give it a contrasting modern finish. If the new finish looks different from the rest of the house, check whether that needs planning permission.

We’re happy to work as part of your builder’s team or to be booked directly. Either way, share the programme with us early so the plastering slot fits.

Landlords and rental homes

Tamworth has a lot of rented housing, and the gap between one tenant leaving and the next moving in is never as long as you’d like. Typical jobs are patching damaged walls, re-plastering after a leak or damp works, smoothing textured ceilings and making good after electrical upgrades. Tell us the re-let date when you send photos. We’ll say straight away whether it’s achievable once you allow for drying time before the decorator, and if it isn’t, what could be done in the time.

Planning and building control around Tamworth: your questions answered

Which council do I deal with?

Start here, because it catches people out. Tamworth Borough Council handles planning for the town itself. But some places with a Tamworth postcode or a Tamworth feel sit outside the borough: Fazeley, Mile Oak and Hopwas are in Lichfield District, while Polesworth, Dordon and Kingsbury come under North Warwickshire. Your council tax bill will confirm which one is yours.

Can I re-render my house without planning permission?

Often, yes. A house (not a flat or maisonette) has permitted development rights, and putting back render that looks much the same as what’s there now normally falls within them. The question to ask is “will it look different?” Going from brick to render, from pebbledash to smooth, or from white to charcoal all change the appearance, and that can need permission.

What changes in a conservation area?

Quite a lot. Conservation areas are designated land, and on designated land, rendering any part of the outside of a house isn’t covered by permitted development at all, so an application is needed. Tamworth Borough Council goes further and says any works proposed within a conservation area will require planning consent. Five of the borough’s areas also have Article 4 Directions, which strip back permitted development rights further still. Listed buildings need listed building consent for significant work.

The council lists seven conservation areas, each with a boundary map and an appraisal and management plan on its website:

• Albert Road/Victoria Street (Article 4 Direction)
• Amington Green (Article 4 Direction)
• Amington Hall Estate
• Dosthill
• Hospital Street (Article 4 Direction)
• Tamworth Town (Article 4 Direction)
• Wilnecote (Article 4 Direction)

Its planning team takes questions at planningadmin@tamworth.gov.uk. Just over the boundary, Polesworth has its own conservation area, managed by North Warwickshire Borough Council. If you do need to apply, we can give you product data, colour references and photos of the existing wall.

Does building control get involved?

For most plastering inside, no. For rendering, it can. The energy rules in Approved Document L say that adding render to the outside of a wall, or stripping it back to the bricks and rebuilding the layers, is renovation of a thermal element. If the work covers more than half of any single wall, that whole wall is expected to be upgraded for insulation as far as is technically, functionally and economically feasible. Insulated render is always building-regulated, and garage conversions normally are too. Your options are the local authority’s building control service or a registered building control approver, and it’s best to involve them before work starts.

How a Tamworth job runs

First, the photos. Send pictures to 07453 614095 on WhatsApp: the whole wall or ceiling, any problem areas up close, and the outside if it’s render. A rough measurement and your postcode help. A slow video round the room is even better.

Then a quote. We can quote a lot of Tamworth jobs from photos alone. If we can see signs of damp, a ceiling that might be loose, a big rendering job or a conservation area address, we’ll pop out and look first. Either way, you get a written quote showing what’s included.

Booking the work. We’ll agree a date and tell you roughly how long you’ll be without the room, including drying. Plastering slots in after the electrician and plumber have done their first fix and before the kitchen, floors and painting.

On the day. Dust sheets and floor protection go down first, and furniture is covered. Outside, we protect windows, doors, paths, plants and next door’s property. Any loose material comes off and is bagged up. Beads go on, the surface is primed or bonded, and then the plaster or render goes on. Render needs several visits, with time between coats, and depends on the weather.

Finishing off. We take the waste away, sweep through and tell you exactly when and how to paint.

Preparing a room

Clear the room as much as possible and take down anything hanging on the walls or at the windows. If sockets and switches need loosening off the wall, book an electrician for that. Whatever has to stay, we’ll cover.

Drying and aftercare

Plaster

Watch the colour. Wet plaster is dark, and it lightens to a uniform pale pink as it dries. A skimmed room might be ready in a few days in good conditions. A re-plastered wall with a thick base coat can take a fortnight or so in winter. Ceilings usually dry faster than walls.

A few habits help it along. Leave a window on the latch and the doors open, keep the house at a normal, steady temperature, and resist the urge to point a heater at the wall, because forced drying causes cracks. When the time comes to paint, a thinned-down coat of matt emulsion goes on first as a sealer. Save vinyl silk and kitchen-and-bathroom paints until the plaster has properly finished drying.

Our guide on how long plaster takes to dry before painting goes into more detail.

Render

Render won’t cure well in frost, driving rain or baking sun, so if the forecast turns, we’ll move the date rather than risk the finish. Once cured, silicone and through-coloured renders are finished. Sand and cement needs to cure fully before it gets a breathable masonry paint.

From then on, the main enemy is water. Make sure gutters and downpipes do their job, get leaks fixed promptly, keep soil, gravel and paving below the bottom of the render, and clean off any algae with a soft brush rather than a jet washer. Low-lying homes near the Tame and Anker can stay damp at the base for longer, so keeping that bottom edge clear is worth the effort.

Choosing a plasterer in Tamworth: warning signs and good signs

Warning signs:

• A quote given without seeing photos or the wall.
• No mention of damp, hollow plaster or the state of the ceiling.
• A one-line quote that doesn’t say what’s included.
• No insurance, or vague answers about it.
• No photos of previous work.
• No advice on drying and painting.

Good signs:

• They specialise in plastering and rendering.
• They ask how old the house is and how it was built.
• The quote is written and lists preparation, boards, beads, protection and waste.
• They carry public liability insurance and are happy to confirm it.
• They can show you recent jobs. Ours are on our projects page.
• They tell you how long to wait before painting, and how to do the first coat.

What goes into a Tamworth quote

Every job is different. When we work out a quote, these are the things we’re looking at.

• How big it is. Square metres of wall and ceiling, or of the elevations to be rendered.
• What it’s like now. A sound wall that just needs a skim is quicker than one that’s blown, damp-stained or badly out of true.
• What the ceiling needs. A skim, a new layer of board, or full replacement.
• Any texture. Artex needs sealing or boarding first. Asbestos testing, if you want it, is separate.
• Which render. Sand and cement, silicone, through-coloured and insulated systems have different materials and numbers of stages.
• Getting to it. Scaffold, narrow side passages, parking and how far everything has to be carried.
• The fiddly bits. Reveals, sills, corners, beads, and how many windows and doors there are.
• What has to come off first. Old plaster, pebbledash or render takes time to remove and has to be disposed of.
• How the house is built. Non-traditional homes may need a particular system.

Send photos on WhatsApp to 07453 614095 for a realistic figure.

Nearby areas we cover

We cover all of Tamworth and the surrounding towns and villages. These pages have more detail:

• Rendering in Tamworth, for outside work in the town
• Polesworth, Atherstone and Coleshill in North Warwickshire
• Lichfield, Shenstone and Burntwood in Lichfield District
• Sutton Coldfield, Four Oaks and Water Orton
• Nuneaton and Bedworth

See all our plastering and rendering services.

Fitting plastering around other work

After a rewire

Rewiring an older Tamworth house leaves chases in walls and holes in ceilings. We fill and patch them, then skim the rooms that need it, so you can redecorate in one go.

New kitchens and bathrooms

Ripping out tired units and tiles often damages the plaster behind. Before the fitter comes back, we make the walls flat and sound, using moisture-resistant board in showers and wet areas.

Loft conversions

New loft rooms are usually boarded and skimmed. We can tape and skim the new boards and repair any cracks in the ceilings below caused by the building work.

Garages turned into rooms

Many 1970s and 1980s houses on Tamworth’s estates have integral garages that families now use as playrooms or offices. The block walls are usually dry-lined with insulated board and skimmed, and the old door opening is filled and plastered to match. We’ll make sure there’s a damp-proof membrane and that the new floor and walls meet neatly. Building regulations usually apply to a garage conversion, so it’s worth having approval in place before the boards go up, as an inspector may want to see the insulation before it’s covered.

Old fireplaces

Blocked-up fireplaces can leave damp stains on chimney breasts. We check the flue is vented and use suitable plaster so the stains don’t come back.

More questions about plastering and rendering in Tamworth

Can you plaster a garage conversion?

Yes. We board the walls and ceiling, often with insulated plasterboard on the cold walls, then skim. If the garage door opening is being filled in, the new wall is plastered to match. Building regulations usually apply to garage conversions, so your builder or designer should have approval in place.

My house was built in the 1970s and the ceilings have cracks along straight lines. Why?

Those are almost certainly the joints between plasterboard sheets. They can open up as the house moves slightly over the years. Over-boarding or re-taping and skimming gives a lasting fix.

Can you render over pebbledash?

Often, yes, if it’s firmly bonded. If it’s loose or hollow, it needs removing first. Remember that switching from pebbledash to a different finish changes the look of the house, so you may need planning permission, especially in a conservation area.

Can new plaster go on a wall that’s had damp?

Yes, but only once whatever caused the damp has been put right and the wall has had a chance to dry. Where a damp specialist has injected a new damp-proof course, they’ll usually specify the plaster to use, and we’ll stick to it.

I live in Fazeley. Who do I ask about planning?

Fazeley is in Lichfield District, so planning questions go to Lichfield District Council rather than Tamworth Borough Council.

Do you plaster flats and maisonettes?

We do. Inside work is the same as in a house. If you want the outside rendered, the freeholder or managing agent will normally have to give permission.

How long does a typical room take?

A skim on a single room is often done in a day, but it depends on the size, ceiling height and how much preparation is needed. Drying then takes a few days or more before you can paint.

Do I need to move furniture out?

It helps a lot. Anything that can’t move goes in the middle of the room and we cover it.

What’s the best render for a north-facing wall?

Walls that get little sun stay damp for longer and can pick up green growth. A water-repellent finish such as silicone is often a good choice. We’ll talk through the options.

Tamworth homes we plaster

Tamworth mixes an old market town round the castle with Victorian terraces and the big estates built when the town grew in the 1960s, 70s and 80s. Here’s where we work most, the homes you’ll find there and the plastering jobs that come up.

• Tamworth town centre and the castle area. Georgian and Victorian buildings and flats over shops. Old plaster, lath ceilings and careful repairs.
• Kettlebrook and Bolehall. Victorian terraces. Blown plaster, damp-damaged walls at low level and replastering after a rewire.
• Glascote and Amington. 1950s and 1960s council estates, with newer homes at Amington. Artex ceilings covered and rooms replastered after new wiring.
• Wilnecote and Two Gates. Older terraces, 1930s semis and newer estates. Through lounges, kitchen extensions and ceilings.
• Belgrave and Dosthill. 1970s and 1980s estates. Textured ceilings, garage conversions and loft rooms.
• Stonydelph and Glascote Heath. Homes from the 1970s and 1980s growth of the town. Board joint cracks, nail pops and new plaster after kitchens and bathrooms.
• Fazeley and Mile Oak. Canal-side cottages and post-war homes. Ceilings, lime repairs on the older houses and patch repairs.

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 Tamworth.

Outside, we also fit K-Rend monocouche and silicone render, see rendering in Tamworth. Along the A51, we’re also the plasterer in Lichfield.

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

Get a free quote in Tamworth

WhatsApp 07453 614095 and send a few photos, email rcrconnectionsltd@gmail.com, or get in touch through our contact page. Quotes are free and there’s no obligation. We’re working Monday to Friday 7am to 5pm and Saturday 7am to 1pm, and our office is Studio 9, 50-54 St Paul’s Square, Birmingham B3 1QS.

Popular areas we cover

Plastering: Plasterer in Solihull, Plasterer in Birmingham, Plasterer in Sutton Coldfield, Plasterer in Shirley, Plasterer in Coventry, Plasterer in Wolverhampton.
Rendering: Rendering in Solihull, Rendering Contractors in Birmingham, Rendering in Tamworth, Rendering in Redditch, Rendering in Bromsgrove, Rendering in Walsall. See every town on our areas we cover page.