Ballarat and surrounds
Plaster Repair in Ballarat
Painters Ballarat repairs plaster as part of getting walls and ceilings ready to paint across Ballarat and surrounding areas. Cracks, holes, dents, water-stained or sagging ceilings, popped nails, loose tape joints, damaged cornices and old hard plaster that has come away from the lath. We fix it, sand it flush, seal it and paint it so the repair disappears. Free written quote once we have seen the damage.
- Fast free quotes
- Local Ballarat crew
- Tidy prep and clean-up
Most painting jobs include a bit of plaster repair, and some start with a lot of it. A door handle through a wall, a ceiling that sagged after the hot water service leaked, cracks that opened up over a dry summer, a cornice that dropped when the roof was being worked on. Painting over those problems without fixing them properly just highlights them. We do the repair and the paint together so the finish is even and the job is quoted as one.
The method depends on what the wall is made of. Modern homes have plasterboard, which is patched with new board, set with base coat and top coat, then sanded and sealed. Older Ballarat homes often have hard plaster on brick or lath-and-plaster, which needs different fillers and sometimes re-keying or patching with a compatible plaster so it does not crack again. Cornices, ceiling roses and decorative mouldings can usually be repaired in place, or matched and replaced in sections.
For big areas, like a whole ceiling that has to come down, or new walls in a renovation, we work with a plasterer and handle the finishing and painting. For everything up to that size, we do the repair ourselves.
Scope
What's included
- Cracks in walls, ceilings and along cornices, including recurring movement cracks
- Holes and dents from door handles, furniture, picture hooks and old fittings
- Water-damaged and stained ceilings, sagging plasterboard, re-fixing and sealing
- Popped nails and screws, loose or bubbling tape joints
- Hard plaster and lath-and-plaster patching in older homes
- Cornice, ceiling rose and moulding repairs; finishing new plasterboard for paint
Signs
When you need it
- Cracks that keep coming back after being filled and painted
- A brown stain or a bow in the ceiling after a leak or storm
- Holes or gouges that a tub of filler will not hide
- Nail heads popping through the paint in lines along the studs
- Cornice pulling away from the wall or ceiling
- Bubbling or soft plaster near a bathroom, laundry or chimney
Process
How the job is done
- 01
Find the cause
A crack from normal movement is fixed differently to one from a leak or a structural issue. We look at what caused the damage and tell you if something else needs attention first.
- 02
Cut out and repair
Damaged board cut back to sound material and patched, cracks raked out and filled with a flexible or setting compound, sagging sheets re-fixed to the joists, cornices re-bedded.
- 03
Set, sand and seal
Base and top coats of compound feathered out wide, sanded flush, dust removed, and the repair sealed with a primer so it does not flash through the paint.
- 04
Paint to blend
The repaired area is painted, usually the full wall or ceiling, so the patch is invisible rather than a fresh square in a faded room.
- 05
Clean up
Plaster dust is managed with sheeting and vacuuming as we go, and everything is cleaned before we leave.
Local knowledge
Plaster Repair in Ballarat
Ballarat houses move. Reactive clay soils in much of the city swell through wet winters and shrink over dry summers, and that shows up as cracks around door frames, at cornice lines and across ceilings, particularly in the older brick homes around the centre, Ballarat East, Redan and Canadian. Those cracks need a flexible repair and sometimes a look at drainage and downpipes, not just a smear of filler.
The Victorian and Edwardian stock brings its own issues: lath-and-plaster ceilings that have lost their key and started to sag, hard plaster walls that sound hollow where they have separated from the brick, and ornate cornices and roses that previous owners have either painted into a blob or damaged. We repair those sympathetically. In the newer estates the problems are more often plasterboard nail pops and joint cracks as the frame settles, which are quick to fix once, properly.
Pricing
What it costs
Plaster repair is priced on the number and size of repairs, the type of plaster (plasterboard is faster than hard plaster or lath), whether a ceiling needs re-fixing or replacing in sections, cornice and decorative work, access and ceiling height, and how much painting is needed to blend the repair. Several small repairs done in one visit cost less per repair than one-off call-outs. Water damage often needs a sealer and full ceiling repaint to hide the stain. Your free written quote itemises the repairs.
Why us
Why choose us for plaster repair
- Repairs and painting done by the same crew, so the patch disappears
- We look for the cause, not just the crack
- Experience with hard plaster and lath in older Ballarat homes
- Dust controlled with sheeting and vacuuming throughout
- Fast free written quote
- Small jobs welcome and bundled with painting where it saves you money
Related
Related services
Areas we service for plaster repair
Not listed? We cover Ballarat and surrounding areas. See every suburb we service.
FAQ
Plaster Repair questions
Why do the cracks keep coming back after I fill them?
Because the wall is moving and rigid filler cannot move with it. Ballarat clay soils swell and shrink with the seasons, and old houses flex. Recurring cracks need to be raked out, filled with a flexible compound or taped and set like a plasterboard joint, then sealed and painted. If a crack is wide, stepped or growing, we will suggest getting the cause checked.
Can you fix a water-damaged ceiling?
Yes, once the leak is fixed. Stained but sound plasterboard is dried, sealed with a stain-blocking primer and repainted. Sagging or soft sections are cut out and replaced, or the sheet re-fixed to the joists if it has only dropped. Old lath-and-plaster ceilings are assessed for key failure. We then repaint the whole ceiling so no outline shows.
Do you repair hard plaster and lath-and-plaster walls?
Yes. Many older Ballarat homes have hard plaster on brick or lath-and-plaster walls and ceilings, and patching them with ordinary plasterboard filler leads to cracks. We use compatible setting plasters, re-key or re-fix loose sections, and patch with matching material so the repair behaves like the rest of the wall. Cornices and roses can be repaired in place or matched.
Is plaster repair included in your painting quotes?
Minor filling of nail holes and hairline cracks is standard prep on every painting job. Anything beyond that, like holes, sagging ceilings, cornice work or recurring cracks, is listed as plaster repair with its own line in the quote so you can see the cost. Doing repair and paint together is cheaper than two separate trades.
Will the repair be visible once it is painted?
Not if it is done properly. The key steps are feathering the compound out wide, sanding flush, sealing the repair so it does not flash, and painting the whole wall or ceiling rather than a spot, because old paint has faded. On textured or heritage surfaces we match the finish as closely as possible and tell you in advance if a perfect match is unlikely.
Get a free plaster repair quote
Tell us about the job and we'll come back with a free written quote.