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A skim coat is a thin layer of plaster troweled over an entire wall or ceiling, so a surface full of patches, scars or old texture comes out flat and even. It is the step that makes a repaired wall look like it was never repaired. MN Plastering has done this work in Maryland homes since 1987.
The Service
Spot patches fix holes. A skim coat fixes the whole surface, so you can no longer read where the old damage was when light hits the wall from the side. These are the jobs we skim most often:
Floors, furniture and doorways covered. Wallpaper, paste residue and loose paint removed.
Loose plaster re-secured with plaster washers, holes rebuilt, cracks opened and taped. A skim coat over loose plaster just cracks again.
Bonding agent on the old surface, then plaster troweled on by hand, wall by wall, corner to corner.
We look at the work with a light held flat to the wall and touch up anything that shows.
New plaster sealed with a primer made for it. We can paint the room too, or leave it ready for your painter.
Choosing the Fix
When a plaster wall looks rough, people usually hear three options. Here is how we think about them.
Skim coat
Keeps the original plaster and its sound-deadening mass. Adds only a few millimeters, so outlets, window casings and trim still sit right. Best when the plaster underneath is mostly sound or can be secured.
Drywall over plaster
Covers everything fast, but adds thickness at every opening. Trim has to come off, outlets need extenders, and in older houses the wall plane is rarely flat enough for sheets to sit tight.
Tear out
The most dust, debris and disruption. It makes sense when the plaster is failing across most of the wall, or the wall is being opened for wiring or insulation anyway.
More on that trade-off in plaster vs. drywall in Baltimore homes.
What Drives the Price
We price skim coating by the room, after seeing the walls. The square footage matters less than these four things:
You get a written estimate before any work starts, and we are glad to price rooms separately so you can choose which to do now.
Recent Skim Coat Work
Most of our skim coating comes as part of a bigger repair: the ceiling gets fixed, then skimmed so the fix disappears. A few recent examples, by street or neighborhood only:
Catonsville
Wallpaper stripped from the living room and part of the dining room, plaster damage repaired, then the walls and ceilings skim-coated and painted, along with the kitchen ceiling. The trim was painted too, including the chair rail, stair spindles and a built-in bookcase.
Phoenix (21131)
The homeowner pulled the chair rail and wanted walls that looked like it was never there. Each wall was skimmed corner to corner and ceiling to baseboard. Read the case study.
Mount Vernon
A damaged section of an old plaster ceiling rebuilt in three coats, then the full ceiling skimmed so the new plaster and the old read as one surface, and painted with the ceiling trim.
For a sagging ceiling that was secured with plaster washers and then finished the same way, see the Rogers Forge ceiling case study. If the cracks keep returning after paint, read why plaster cracks come back.
Why MN Plastering
Since 1987
A family plastering business working in Baltimore-area houses for nearly four decades.
Real Plaster Skills
Hand-troweled finishes, three-coat repair and plaster washers, not just joint compound.
Licensed & Insured
MHIC #118059. Full liability coverage. A+ rated with the Better Business Bureau.
Written Estimates
You know the price before we pick up a tool.
FAQ
Not sure if we cover your area? Call us — we serve all of central Maryland.
☎ (443) 806-8077