Plastering

What does this service include?

Plaster and plasterboard works: smoothing gotelé stippled walls, building new partitions, fitting suspended ceilings, sealing damp and leaving surfaces ready to paint. On the Costa del Sol most older homes have gotelé that owners want gone, and many modern homes are built with plasterboard partitions rather than brick — we handle both types of work.

We cover:

• Gotelé smoothing (scraping + plaster paste + sanding + priming)
• Plastering over new build or walls in poor condition
• Plasterboard partitions with metal stud framework
• Plasterboard suspended ceilings, plain or with cornices
• Suspended ceilings with recessed LED spots
• Repair of holes, knocks and chips
• Sealing of superficial damp with water-repellent plaster
• Façade rendering (exterior plaster with cement bond)
• Cornices, mouldings and ceiling roses
• Crack treatment with fibre mesh

How long does it take?

• Gotelé smoothing in a 12 m² room (walls and ceiling): 1–2 days
• Gotelé smoothing in a 70 m² flat throughout: 5–7 days
• Plasterboard partition 8 m² (3 m long × 2.6 m tall): 1 day
• Plasterboard suspended ceiling in a 15 m² room: 1–2 days
• Plasterboard ceiling throughout an 80 m² flat with LED spots: 4–6 days
• Full plastering of walls, 80 m² new-build home: 3–5 days

The plaster drying time between coats matters: 24–48 hours per layer. That’s why a flat with gotelé takes nearly a week even on a small surface area.

How much does it cost?

2026 prices all-in — branded materials, qualified labour, flat finish ready to paint:

• Gotelé smoothing: €25 – €40 / m²
• Plastering on new build (projected plaster): €25 – €35 / m²
• Simple plasterboard partition (one board per face, no insulation): €45 – €60 / m²
• Plasterboard partition with acoustic rockwool insulation: €60 – €85 / m²
• Plain plasterboard suspended ceiling: €40 – €55 / m²
• Ceiling with perimeter shadow gap or double level: €65 – €95 / m²
• Decorative cornice moulding: €28 – €50 / linear metre
• Spot crack or hole repair: €120 – €250 per point + travel

Service minimum: €500 – €750 for small jobs.

Our prices don’t compete with the cheapest independent plasterer in the area. They compete with the finish quality expected by owners coming from the UK, Germany or Scandinavia: no visible undulation under raking light, no cracks at 6 months, and a project manager who explains progress in English.

How do we work?

1. Free visit. We see the state of walls/ceilings, assess prep level needed (simple smoothing vs. heavily out-of-plumb walls that need fully scraped down).
2. Firm quote. m², coats needed, timescale, drying between phases.
3. Protection. We cover floors with site plastic, protect joinery and furniture that can’t be moved.
4. Work in layers. Scraping / prep → first plaster coat → drying → second coat if needed → sanding → priming.
5. Handover. Smooth flat surface, ready to paint. If we paint too, we chain straight on.

Frequently asked questions

Is it better to smooth gotelé or plaster over it and paint? Smoothing is the right solution. Some “paint over the gotelé” to cut costs, but it’s rough to the touch and the paint flakes in damp zones. Smoothing is an investment that lasts 25+ years.

Plasterboard or brick for a new partition? Plasterboard for non-load-bearing partitions: fast, light, good insulation if it has rockwool, easy to run services through. We only recommend brick when heavy loads need hanging (large TV unit, full bookcase) — though with Knauf anchors plasterboard holds more than it looks.

Does plasterboard insulate acoustically well? With 70 mm or more of rockwool between boards, yes — a standard wall with 2 boards + 70 mm rockwool reaches 50 dB of insulation, better than a double-hollow brick partition. Without insulation, yes you’ll hear conversations.

Does plasterboard withstand plumbing damp? If you use green moisture-resistant plasterboard and waterproofing resin in wet zones, yes. For bathrooms we recommend cement board (Aquapanel) under the tiles in the shower area — safer than moisture plasterboard.

Warranty? 2 years on plastering and partition labour. If plaster falls or cracks under normal conditions, we repair it at no cost.

Do you speak English? Yes. Bilingual Spanish–English team and an English-speaking project manager assigned to each job. We coordinate with international clients who aren’t in the country during the works — photographic progress reports, quotes and invoices also in English.