Full House Re-Skim in Enfield – Walls, Ceilings & Self-Levelling Floor Screed

This project was carried out on a Victorian terraced house in Lambeth, South London — a property type commonly found across inner London boroughs including Enfield. The house had been lived in for many years without any significant redecoration or plaster renewal. The owners were undertaking a full interior renovation and needed the walls and ceilings re-skimmed throughout, along with a self-levelling floor screed applied to the kitchen and adjoining hallway corridor to create a flat, smooth base ready for final floor finishes.

Prior to work starting, the walls and ceilings throughout the property showed the typical signs of ageing plaster — hairline cracking, uneven surfaces from years of paint build-up, and areas where the original skim coat had begun to lose its bond with the backing coat beneath. The kitchen and hallway floors were particularly uneven, with dips and high spots across the concrete sub-floor that would have caused problems for any new flooring being laid directly onto them. The image clearly shows the freshly poured self-levelling compound in the kitchen-hallway corridor, still in its curing phase, with the characteristic wet sheen and smooth grey surface that confirms a successful pour without voids or ridges.

The full scope covered re-skimming all walls and ceilings across the property — living room, bedrooms, hallways and kitchen — stripping back any loose or blown plaster before applying a fresh two-coat skim system throughout. In addition to the wall and ceiling work, the kitchen and hallway floor required a full self-levelling screed application. The sub-floor was first checked for structural integrity and any loose areas were consolidated. A bonding primer was applied across the entire floor area to ensure adhesion of the self-levelling compound. The compound was then mixed to the correct consistency and poured in sections, guided across the floor using a spiked roller to release air bubbles and encourage the material to find its own level. Beading was installed at door thresholds to contain the pour and create clean transitions between rooms. The finished screed surface seen in the image is flat, uniform and free from ridges — indicating the pour was completed in a single continuous operation to avoid cold joint lines. The total floor area covered across the kitchen and hallway corridor was approximately 12–15 square metres.

Before any skimming began on the walls and ceilings, all loose and hollow plaster was identified by tapping across each surface and marked for removal. Blown sections were cut back to a sound edge and the exposed substrate was treated with a diluted PVA bonding solution to stabilise the porous background before a bonding coat was applied to build those areas back up flush. On the floor, the concrete sub-base was swept clean of all dust and debris and any protruding fixings or high spots were ground back. A floor primer was roller-applied across the entire surface and allowed to fully tack before the self-levelling compound was prepared and poured.

The wall and ceiling re-skim was carried out using British Gypsum multi-finish plaster applied in two coats — a scratch coat worked firmly into the surface to build thickness and key, followed by a finishing coat trowelled tight once the first coat had begun to firm up. Each wall was worked in sections to maintain a wet edge throughout, with the finishing pass completed using a clean, dampened trowel to close the surface and draw out any trowel marks before the plaster set. Angle beads were fixed to all external corners to give crisp, straight arrises. For the floor, the self-levelling compound — a fibre-reinforced floor screed — was mixed in large batches using a paddle mixer to achieve a consistent, lump-free slurry. The compound was poured from one end of the corridor working back toward the kitchen, allowing the material to flow and self-level naturally. A long dapple roller was used to remove any entrapped air and encourage even distribution. The floor was left undisturbed to cure. The resulting surface visible in the image shows a completely flat, reflective grey screed with no visible dips, ridges or cold joints — confirming the pour was completed efficiently before the material began to set.

The main challenge with the floor element of this project was the significant variation in level across the existing concrete sub-floor. In older Victorian properties, concrete floors often have cumulative undulations caused by decades of settlement and previous repair work, meaning the depth of self-levelling compound required varies considerably across the same room. Pouring too thin in low areas risks cracking, while over-applying in higher areas wastes material and raises the finished floor level beyond acceptable thresholds for door clearances and adjacent room transitions. Getting this balance right required careful depth gauging before the pour began.

Before pouring, depth pins were inserted across the floor at regular intervals to map the existing variation in level and calculate the average pour depth required. This allowed the team to mix an appropriate volume of self-levelling compound and pour it in one continuous operation rather than in multiple smaller pours that would create visible cold joint lines in the finished surface. The floor primer applied beforehand ensured the compound bonded to the concrete sub-base rather than sliding or pooling unevenly. The finished result — visible in the photograph — shows a surface that is consistently level from the doorway through to the kitchen window, with light reflecting uniformly across the entire floor.

The photograph captures the finished self-levelling screed in the kitchen-hallway corridor following completion. The surface is flat, smooth and consistent across the full length of the space, with a uniform grey tone and a wet reflective sheen indicating the compound was still in its final curing stage at the time of photography. There are no visible ridges, lines or imperfections across the surface. The white door frames and skirting boards frame the corridor cleanly, and the kitchen beyond — with its appliances and window — is clearly visible, confirming this is a lived-in residential property brought back to a fully functional and decoration-ready condition.

The homeowners in Lambeth were able to proceed directly to decorating and floor finishing once the screed and plaster had fully cured — typically 24 to 48 hours for the screed and 7 days before painting the fresh plaster. The self-levelling floor provided a perfectly flat base for the new floor covering planned for the kitchen and hallway, eliminating the risk of an uneven finish that would have been visible through vinyl or tile. For homeowners in Enfield with similar older properties requiring full interior renovation, this combined approach to walls, ceilings and floors delivers a complete, decoration-ready interior in one coordinated programme of work.

Self-levelling floor screed looks straightforward but is one of the most unforgiving plastering materials to work with. Once mixed and poured, the compound has a short working window — typically 20 to 30 minutes — before it begins to set. Any hesitation, incorrect mixing ratio or failure to prime the sub-floor properly can result in a surface that delaminates, cracks or sets with visible ridges that cannot be corrected without grinding back and starting again. Similarly, re-skimming an entire house requires consistent timing and judgement on every coat — working too wet or too dry at the finishing stage leaves a surface that will show every imperfection once painted.