The old village has a new Gedling Village Conservation Area, adopted by Gedling Borough Council in June 2025. A short walk away, the colliery that worked from 1899 to 1991 is now Gedling Country Park, and Colliery Way crosses the former pit land to the Chase Farm development. Skimming in Gedling can mean either end of that range, and the two need quite different thinking.
New-build walls at Chase Farm
In April 2022 the council approved Keepmoat Homes' final phase at Chase Farm, 433 homes of two to five bedrooms. New houses like these are normally finished with plasterboard that is taped and jointed rather than fully plastered. It is a perfectly good finish, but it is softer than a skim, dents easily, and the joints often show as hairline cracks once the first winter's heating has dried the timber out. Screws can pop through the surface too.
If you want a harder, more even wall, skimming over the boards sorts it. Joints are covered with scrim tape, popped screws are driven back and filled, and the finish plaster goes over the whole surface. Waiting until the house has been through a heating season means most of the early shrinkage has already happened before the skim goes on. It is also worth checking what the builder's aftercare covers before you book any repair work.
Older homes near the village
If your house is in or near the conservation area, it may be a good deal older and built with solid walls. These get a different approach: tapping for hollow plaster, cutting out what has failed, and sealing absorbent surfaces so the skim does not dry too fast. Conservation area status mainly controls the outside of buildings, so skimming inside an ordinary house is not usually affected. Listed buildings are different, and Gedling Borough Council can confirm what needs consent.
Open stairwells and drying out
Many newer homes have a stairwell that opens straight onto the landing, which makes for one tall, continuous wall. That wall is skimmed from a platform in one session, so there is no line halfway up. Whatever the age of the house, new plaster should dry slowly with a window open and the heating on low, and its first coat of paint should be a thinned matt emulsion that soaks in.
For skimming anywhere in Gedling, from the Chase Farm streets to the roads around Gedling House Woods, ring 07877 353120 or send the enquiry form. We take calls seven days a week between 7am and 5pm.
