Plastering: ready for wallpaper or ready for paint

Our 12 permanently employed plasterers apply two finishes: a thin skim coat (dunpleister) that makes a wall ready for wallpaper, and traditional smooth plaster that you can paint directly. In a new build we more often advise renovlies, on a skim coat where needed, than painted plaster, because hard plaster cracks while the house settles.

A plasterer who works for a wallpapering company looks at a wall differently. They know who comes next and what that person needs. On this page: what our plasterers do, how to choose between the two finishes, why we sometimes advise against painted plaster in a new build, and what it costs per m².

Behangservice Nederland is a family business that has been finishing walls since 2010. Of our 51 tradespeople, 12 are plasterers, alongside 32 wallpaper hangers and 7 painters. Everyone is permanently employed and we subcontract nothing. We have one location, at Transistorstraat 7 in Almere, and work throughout the Netherlands from there.

What do our plasterers do?

Most of their work is what comes before wallpaper and paint:

• Skim coat (dunpleister or filmlaag). A thin layer that makes the wall flat, evenly absorbent and ready for wallpaper. It is the base for renovlies, glass fleece and other wallpaper.
• Traditional plaster, ready for paint. A thicker layer finished so smoothly that you can paint it without wallpaper, on walls and ceilings.
• Removing old plaster. Loose or hollow layers come off before anything new goes on, priced differently for thin and thick layers.
• Corner beads. A profile on an outside corner makes the corner straight and protects it from knocks.
• Small repairs. Holes and loose cracks are filled locally.

Because plasterers, hangers and painters work for the same company, the steps join up. The plasterer knows what the hanger needs, and a hanger of ours says straight away when a skim coat is not flat enough, after which our own plasterer fixes it before a single strip of fleece goes up. If the wall disappoints, you have one company to talk to, not three.

Ready for wallpaper or ready for paint: which do you need?

The question that decides it is simple: what goes on the wall afterwards? If you are going to wallpaper, ready for wallpaper is enough. If you want to paint the wall directly without wallpaper, you need paint-ready plaster.

Ready for wallpaper, behangklaar in Dutch, means the wall is flat, without bumps, holes or seams you can feel, and absorbs evenly everywhere. Small irregularities are fine, because the wallpaper covers them. That is exactly what a skim coat is for.

Ready for paint, sausklaar, is stricter. Paint hides nothing. An even layer of wall paint shows every hollow and every trowel mark as soon as light falls across the wall, for example next to a large window. That is why paint-ready plaster is thicker, takes more handwork and costs more per m².

If you are not sure yet whether you will wallpaper or paint, choose ready for wallpaper. Wallpaper can always go on, and if you later want a paint-ready wall, a thicker layer can go over it. The other way round, you pay for paint-ready work that then disappears under wallpaper.

People who grew up with a plastered-and-painted finish, as in the UK or Ireland, often assume the skim coat here is the final layer. In the Netherlands it is usually the base for renovlies, which is the layer you see.

The wall material makes a difference too. Plasterboard, common in Dutch new builds for inner walls, has joints and screw heads that need a skim coat almost every time. Rough sand-lime brick nearly always needs one as well. Smooth concrete or well-finished sand-lime brick can sometimes go without, and then renovlies goes straight on. A corner bead on outside corners is worth considering in hallways and children’s rooms, where corners take the most knocks; it keeps the corner straight under the skim coat and the fleece.

Is paint-ready plaster the best choice for a new build?

Often not, and we would rather explain that before you pay for it. A new house keeps moving for the first few years as construction moisture dries out and the structure settles. Hard plaster is rigid and cannot follow that movement, so hairline cracks appear. That is not bad workmanship; it is what the material does on a wall that moves.

Renovlies on a skim coat absorbs those small movements and still gives a smooth, painted look. That is why, in a new build, we usually advise the skim coat plus renovlies rather than painted plaster. Our page on wallpaper for new builds explains how the fleece bridges those cracks, and the page on finishing a new build shows how the skim coat fits into the planning around your handover.

Painted plaster does make sense in older homes that have long finished settling, or when you specifically want the feel of solid plaster under the paint. We will tell you honestly which of the two suits your walls during the free site visit.

What does plastering cost per m²?

These prices come from our price list 2026/2027, excl. VAT.

The skim coat has its own sliding scale from 100 m²:

Below 100 m² there is no price per m² for the skim coat. Then the posts for small jobs apply: the plasterer’s day rate of €499.99, the one-off travel charge of €99.99 and the small-order surcharge of €249.99, and the amount follows from your quote.

What should you arrange before the plasterers come?

Plastering is wet, dusty work, so the home has to be empty, not just the room. Electricity and water have to be connected. You remove socket covers, lamps and radiators beforehand. Covering floors and kitchens is something you do yourself.

We work up to 3.5 metres without scaffolding. In a void or high stairwell, you hire scaffolding yourself. A skim coat has to dry before wallpaper goes on, which we take into account in the planning. All agreements are confirmed by e-mail, you pay 50% on the first and 50% on the last working day, and you get 12 months’ warranty on the work. If you want to know how the work after the plaster is priced, our page on hiring a wallpaper hanger explains it.