In short
For most rooms, plasterboard with a skim coat is the better choice: it is faster, it dries in days rather than weeks, and it lets you add insulation or sound-proofing in the same job. Wet plaster straight onto the wall wins on an old solid wall that needs to breathe, or an uneven period wall whose look you want to keep. We do both and will tell you which suits the wall.
This is a job for our Board Work & Drylining service.
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What each one is
Plasterboard (drylining) is gypsum board fixed to the wall, either on adhesive dabs or on a timber or metal frame, then skimmed or taped and jointed. Wet plaster is an undercoat and finish trowelled straight onto the brick or block. Both give a smooth wall to paint. The differences are in speed, drying, what you can put behind them and how they behave on an old wall.
Side by side
| Plasterboard and skim | Wet plaster onto masonry | |
|---|---|---|
| Speed | Checkatrade's June 2026 guide gives two to four hours to board a wall and half a day for a ceiling, plus the skim | Two coats with drying between, and a thicker build to dry out |
| Drying before decorating | Days; only the thin skim is wet | Weeks on a solid wall |
| Insulation and sound | Insulated, acoustic, moisture-resistant and fire-rated boards available; Checkatrade note specialist boards cost 20 to 40% more than standard | Nothing added unless you use an insulating plaster |
| Hiding services | Cables and pipes run behind the board | Chased into the wall |
| Old solid walls | Dabs and standard board can trap moisture behind them | A breathable lime or renovating plaster lets the wall dry through it |
| Feel | Slightly hollow to the knock; fixings need plugs or board anchors | Solid; matches original walls in a period house |
When we recommend plasterboard
- New stud walls, extensions and loft conversions, where there is nothing to wet-plaster onto anyway.
- Ceilings. Overboarding a tired ceiling is quicker and cleaner than pulling it down.
- Cold external walls in a modern house, where an insulated board on the room side makes a real difference to comfort.
- Bathrooms and kitchens, with moisture-resistant board.
- Rooms that need sound-proofing: a bedroom against a party wall in a Norwich or Ipswich terrace, or a home office.
One thing to know: Planning Portal's guidance is that re-plastering or re-lining 25% or more of an external wall internally normally brings Building Regulations into play, and the wall's insulation would have to be improved. Insulated plasterboard is usually the simplest way to meet that.
When we recommend wet plaster
- Solid brick, flint or clay-lump walls in older Norfolk and Suffolk houses. These walls manage damp by drying out through the surface. Board on dabs stops that, and the wall stays wet behind it.
- Uneven walls where you want to keep the soft, slightly wavy look rather than a dead-flat modern finish.
- Patching in alongside existing wet-plastered walls so the repair matches.
- Walls that take heavy fixings, such as a kitchen run.
What it comes down to
Look at the wall, not the brochure. On a modern cavity-wall house we will usually board and skim. On a cottage with solid walls we will usually wet-plaster with a breathable material and tell you why. Where a house has both, so does our quote.