In the UK, Venetian plaster typically runs £70 to £150 per m² installed. In the US, $20 to $50 per square foot. Where you land in that range depends on the finish, the size of the wall and how many stages the process takes. Those three things move the number more than anything else.

Here's what actually goes into it, from someone who quotes this work.

Why nobody can give you one number

Ask five applicators and you'll get five answers. That isn't evasion. A fixed rate per square metre would mean our margin swings wildly depending on what we're installing.

The material cost varies enormously. Marmorino is one of the most common and most popular finishes we use, and it's beautiful. But it's far cheaper than something like liquid metal. Quote both at the same rate per m² and one of those jobs loses money.

Small walls cost more per m². If a client comes to us with a 3m² or 5m² wall, the rate per square metre will always be higher. Our time doesn't scale down. We still travel, still set up, still prep. On a large area we can do a much better rate: 100m² or more, or 1,000 square feet and up, and the per-unit price drops noticeably.

Some finishes take four times as long. A textured rock finish might be three or four visits. Marbling can be eight or more. That's travel, set-up and site time repeated, and it all has to be in the price.

What goes into a quote

When we price a job, we're looking at:

• Travel. How far, and how many times

• The area. Measured properly, not estimated off a photo

• The substrate. What's on the wall now, what condition it's in, and what prep it needs before anything goes on it

• The finish. Which product, how many stages, how detailed

Then there's the part most people skip. We like to sit down with clients and show them the finishes in person, with real samples they can see, touch and feel. A photo tells you nothing about depth or sheen.

If they like a particular colour but a different texture, and want to see the two together, we'll usually produce two samples free of charge depending on how committed they seem. Then we go away, put the quote together, and send it over.

The actual numbers

United Kingdom

• Cheaper finishes: from £70 per m²

• More expensive finishes: up to £150 per m²

• Materials (included above): £8 to £15 per m²

United States

• Typical range: $20 to $50 per square foot

• Materials (included above): $1 to $3 per square foot

US pricing varies a lot state to state and market to market, more than the UK does. Treat these as a starting point for your area rather than a national rate.

Materials cover everything: primer, the plaster itself, colour pigment and wax. That's the full build-up, not just the topcoat.

How long does a wall actually take?

It varies more than people expect.

A standard residential feature wall is typically three to five daily visits, with 10 to 20 hours on site in total. We might spend 8 to 12 hours on one wall spread across three to five days.

Bigger or more detailed work runs to 50 or 100 hours.

The reason it's spread over days rather than done in one hit is that the process has stages, and each one needs time before the next.

This is where it differs from painting or standard plastering. In those trades there's a lot of prep and then the topcoat is relatively simple. With Venetian plaster the prep is just as important, but the application itself is also in-depth and skilled. You don't get the easy bit at the end.

What I charged on my first job

£500 for a 15m² feature wall.

Today that same job would be £1,500 to £2,000.

I undercharged, and I'd do it again in the same position. Those early jobs built the portfolio that brought in everything after them. What I wouldn't do is stay there. The point of pricing low is to get out of it.

Where people lose money

Almost always the same two things: preparation, and applying over the wrong substrate.

Here's the test I give every student:

If you painted this wall right now, would it look perfect?

If there are cracks, dents, hollows or peeling paint, then paint would show every one of them. Venetian plaster is exactly the same, and if anything it highlights those faults further, because the finish has depth and light moves across it.

So before you quote, ask yourself that question. If the honest answer is no, the prep is part of the job and it needs to be in the price.

Getting this wrong doesn't just cost you the material. It costs you the remedial visit, the client conversation, and sometimes the whole finish.

Why marble effects cost more than marmorino

• Marmorino: 3 to 5 stages

• Marble effect: 8+ stages

Marble is also far more detailed. A large part of the time goes into the veining: drawing the veins, controlling them, keeping them believable across a whole wall. There's simply no equivalent step in a marmorino finish.

More stages plus more skilled hours means a higher rate. It also means fewer applicators can do it, which is the other half of why it commands more.

That's what the Marble Masterclass covers.

What a large job looks like

The biggest job we've done was a large residential property with multiple rooms, several features, media walls and outbuildings.

The price built up across a range of different plasters and unique features, including lime concrete, liquid metal and stencil work. Those are expensive in product and expensive in time, because the detail work is slow.

That's how five-figure jobs happen. Not one enormous wall, but many surfaces with genuinely specialist finishes.

When a client says it's too expensive

We respect the decision, and then we try to understand where it's coming from.

People always price-anchor against something. Work out what, and you can have a useful conversation.

Comparing it to tiles? Tiles have grout lines. They break the flow of the pattern, and the pattern repeats, so the finish will never be unique to them. If they want something nobody else has, that's the difference.

Comparing it to wallpaper? Fair enough, but wallpaper is paper stuck to a wall. This is a thin veneer of real Italian stone, and it's hard wearing. Those are not the same product.

Comparing it to paint? Then the conversation is about what they actually want the room to feel like.

One thing that saves everyone time: give a ballpark before you invest hours in someone. We do, so nobody goes into a consultation completely blind about what this costs. If it's out of range, better to know at the start.

Red flags for pricing a job

A client who can't decide. Ideas change mid-project. We've had a liquid metal job where the client was completely set on bronze, then switched to gold on the final coat. That's a significant change and it means redoing work.

We understand why it happens. Specialist work costs more, so clients want it perfect. But it needs pricing in.

Elaborate media wall designs. When someone's gone a bit mad with the design, it isn't a problem. It just means spending more time on the quote so the complexity is actually accounted for.

If you're just starting out

Charge a typical decorator's or plasterer's day rate.

You can't come out of the gate charging professional specialist rates without the experience or the portfolio behind you. And in this trade, it's the portfolio and the experience that sell the work, not qualifications.

So get both, as fast as you can. Cheaper work early is the quickest route to having something to show, and it pays dividends later.

That's exactly what I did, and it's the only reason the £1,500 wall exists.

You can see what other students have gone on to charge on the results page.

The short version

• UK: £70 to £150 per m². US: $20 to $50 per square foot

• Materials are £8 to £15 per m², or $1 to $3 per square foot, included

• Small walls cost more per unit. Large areas get a better rate

• More stages means a higher rate. Marble at 8+ stages costs more than marmorino at 3 to 5

• A standard feature wall is 3 to 5 visits and 10 to 20 hours on site

• Prep decides everything. If paint would look bad on that wall, so will this

• Starting out, charge a day rate and build a portfolio