Written price after a look at the job
Coving
Coving in London
Plain coving fitted and mitred on site, and period cornice matched into existing runs so a repair does not announce itself.
Dust sheeted, swept and cleared down daily
One person on site, start to finish
Work planned around parking and access
Coving does two jobs. It covers the junction between wall and ceiling, which is where cracks appear first in an old building, and it gives a room back some of the shape it was built with.
In London the work splits fairly cleanly. Newer flats and extensions take plain gypsum coving, cut and fitted on site. Period property has existing cornice that needs matching, extending or rescuing, and that is a different job with a different price.
Plain coving, fitted properly
The line gets set out first, marked round the room so the cove sits at a consistent height rather than following a ceiling that dips. On a wall that is out of true that means packing and scribing rather than pushing the cove up tight and hoping.
Mitres get cut by hand on site. Internal and external angles both, and in a bay window that means several short cuts that all have to meet. Joints are filled and rubbed in so the run reads continuous, because a mitre half a millimetre out casts a shadow that no paint will hide.
Period cornice, matched and extended
Where a room has original cornice and part of it has gone, usually where a wall was moved or a chimney breast came out, the new section has to match the old one. That means taking a profile from what survives and running the replacement to it, not finding something close in a catalogue.
Fibrous plaster sections can be cast to a template and fitted in, or a short run can be worked in place. Either way the join is the test. It should be impossible to point at once it is painted, which is why the profile is taken from the actual room rather than assumed.
Cornice buried under paint
A lot of London cornice has had a hundred years of paint put on it and the detail has gone soft. Egg and dart turned into a row of bumps, dentils closed up, and enrichment that is just a texture under the emulsion.
Some of that can be opened back out patiently, and the improvement in a room is out of proportion to the cost. Some of it has gone too far and the honest answer is to leave it. Which one you are looking at gets decided on site with you, not promised beforehand.
Cracks at the wall and ceiling line
The joint between wall and ceiling moves, because the two are doing different things, and in an older building it moves more. That is why a hairline crack appears there first and why it comes back after filling.
Coving covers the junction and gives the movement somewhere to go. Where there is already cornice and it is cracking away from the ceiling, the fix is to cut the joint out, check what is holding the cornice up, and make it good rather than running another bead of filler along it.
When to get it looked at
- Cracks along the wall and ceiling joint that keep returning
- A room that lost its cornice when a wall was moved
- New extensions and conversions with a bare ceiling line
- Original cornice lost under decades of paint
- A bay window where the coving mitres have opened up
- Rooms being redecorated where the detail is worth putting back
Coving on site
Photographs of finished work go here. Until they do, each frame is labelled with what belongs in it rather than filled with a picture of somebody else's job.
Coving across London
Central and South West London
ChelseaKensingtonFulhamBatterseaClaphamWandsworthHammersmithPutneyPimlicoWestminsterBalhamTootingEarlsfieldSouthfieldsBarnesRichmondTwickenhamChiswickActonEalingShepherd's BushNotting HillHolland ParkBayswaterPaddingtonMaryleboneBelgraviaKnightsbridgeBrixtonStreathamDulwichCamberwellKenningtonVauxhallNine ElmsStockwell
Coving: frequently asked questions
Can you match my existing cornice?
Usually. A profile gets taken from a surviving length and the new section is run or cast to match it. Very ornate enriched cornice is a specialist casting job, and if that is what you have you will be told so rather than sold a near miss.
Is coving fitted before or after plastering?
After. The walls and ceiling want to be finished and set first, so the cove sits on a true surface. It goes on before decorating, and the joints are made good so the decorator is painting a continuous run.
Will coving stop my ceiling cracking?
It covers the wall and ceiling joint, which is where most of that cracking shows, and it gives the movement a place to hide. It will not stop a ceiling cracking across its middle, which is a different problem and usually a lath and plaster one.
How long does a room take?
A standard room with square corners is generally a day, including the mitres and making the joints good. A bay window, a run of period cornice to match, or several rooms together will take longer and get priced accordingly.
Other work
Plastering
Backing coat and finish on walls taken back to brick, or fresh board skimmed flat and ready for paint.
Read moreSkimming
A finish coat over walls and ceilings that are sound, flattening out years of patching and filler.
Read moreRendering
Rear elevations, side returns and extensions rendered in a reinforced system, with the top coat chosen to suit the wall.
Read moreCoving in London
Call Frank or send the job details and he will come and look.
Get in touch
Tell Frank what the walls are doing and he will come and look at them. The visit is free and the price comes after it, in writing.
- Phone07788 866598
- WhatsAppMessage 07788 866598
- CoveringCentral and South West London