# Forum Home Renovation Plastering  Cost to put up cornice?

## barney118

What would I expect to pay hrly rate or job to do 40 lineal meters? 
The cornice I am going to use will cost $340 M21 profile from plasta masta. (something like C100P at  - Profile Plaster & Metal!)  
The job is a L shaped room 4 internal corners and 1 external.

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## Rod Dyson

The normal price to put up decorative cornice is 1.5 to 2 times the (retail) cost of the cornice. 
Cheers Rod

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## barney118

Thanks Rod

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## john603

> The normal price to put up decorative cornice is 1.5 to 2 times the (retail) cost of the cornice. 
> Cheers Rod

  I have cove cornice to put. is that the same price? I have no idea how much it would be. thanks

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## Rod Dyson

Labor is usually between $2-$ 2.50 per LM but that depends on the quantity. 
Cheers Rod

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## john603

> Labor is usually between $2-$ 2.50 per LM but that depends on the quantity. 
> Cheers Rod

  Oh, my God! lucky I asked first. The handman I got quoted $600 for putting up cove cornice for 30LM in total not including the material!! I did not go ahead because I did suspect the price. Thanks Rod. I will get a plaster to quote again.

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## Rod Dyson

Just note that this is the labour price when doing the entire job and assuming a house lot. 
If you were doing just 2 rooms expect to be charged a days labour. If I had to put up 10 lm of cornice for someone it would cost $30 per LM 
There is an economy of scale with any plastering work.  A Metre rate does not always fit. 
Cheers  Rod  PS. this is one reason I usually do not quote pricing on the site.

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## john603

> Just note that this is the labour price when doing the entire job and assuming a house lot. 
> If you were doing just 2 rooms expect to be charged a days labour. If I had to put up 10 lm of cornice for someone it would cost $30 per LM 
> There is an economy of scale with any plastering work. A Metre rate does not always fit. 
> Cheers Rod PS. this is one reason I usually do not quote pricing on the site.

  Thanks for the clarification, Rod. Yes, that's norm for the tradies to quote a job charging at least a day's labor. I can understand that but not $600 for a 30LM cornice which probably takes less a day for a pro. I may end up with DIY with my wife and see how it goes. Thanks again, Rod.

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## Chumley

> What would I expect to pay hrly rate or job to do 40 lineal meters? 
> The cornice I am going to use will cost $340 M21 profile from plasta masta. (something like C100P at - Profile Plaster & Metal!) 
> The job is a L shaped room 4 internal corners and 1 external.

  Nothing to do with answering your question, but I've been staring at this for a while trying to figure out how you get 4 internal corners and 1 external corner in an L shaped room.  Wouldn't you have 5 internal? 
Curiously,
Adam

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## john603

We did it! cost ZERO excluding material :Smilie:

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## Haveago1

_We did it! cost ZERO excluding material_ 
Good on you!!  I reckon that is mostly what this site is about....giving you the opportunity to judge what you might be able to do, ask questions and then have the  confidence to have a go...great stuff - what's next?

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## barney118

> Nothing to do with answering your question, but I've been staring at this for a while trying to figure out how you get 4 internal corners and 1 external corner in an L shaped room.  Wouldn't you have 5 internal? 
> Curiously,
> Adam

  Yes Adam you are right, I cant count ! good to see someone is on the ball !

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## Craigoss

$600 to install it does not sound all that unreasonable from my experience. I have put up large colonial cornice all through my house supplied from sydney plasterworks. One plaster company charged me $1600 to install cornice is 3 rooms, which took them 12hrs over 3 days. The next guy I got charged me a day rate of $250 per tradey, and he had another tradesman to help. They had the cornice up in 2 rooms in one day. Don't forget he they will need more than one tradesmen to install it depending on the length of the run.

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## rantenNraven

you dont always need two tradies to do cornice, couple of nails here and there tacked in on the bottom, slip the cornice onto it. comes out perfect.  and long arms dont hurt LOL

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## john603

> $600 to install it does not sound all that unreasonable from my experience.  One plaster company charged me $1600 to install cornice is 3 rooms, which took them 12hrs over 3 days.

  If I allow $350for the material which I think is all too much already and $50 for travel allowance, that leaves $1,200 for the labor. $1,200 divide into two tradies, each one gets $600 for 12 hrs work. THAT IS $50 PER HOUR RATE FOR THE PLASTER!  :Yikes2: If this is ok with you, of course you would think $600 for my room cornices is reasonable.  :Wink 1:    Althrough, it's good to have a customer like you.  :Biggrin:

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## barney118

Which ever way you look at this, I would say its a 2 person job. My plaster is from Sydney plaster works too, $225 for 9 lengths @4.8m pretty cheap really. You cant handle a length 4.8 by yourself without damaging the plaster.

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## Rod Dyson

> Which ever way you look at this, I would say its a 2 person job. My plaster is from Sydney plaster works too, $225 for 9 lengths @4.8m pretty cheap really. You cant handle a length 4.8 by yourself without damaging the plaster.

  Unless you know how to do it LOL  :Smilie:  
Mind you its not that easy you need to be quick.  FYI you start with a 4" nail about a metre from the corner just below the 55mm line say 60mm.  Lay the cornice along the scafflod and butter up with adhesive. Pick up the end closest to the nail,  let the other end drag on the scaffold, hold the cornice 1.5 meters from one end and open the arms as wide as you can and pick up the cornice at the other end.  Have a sligh bow in the cornice between you hands and poke the other end on the nail the back end will still be touching the scaffold.  you hve to get the first meter stuck firm, then move very quickly down the cornice a bit  as you press the middle into place you start swinging the tail up.  The trick is not to let the cornice roll, otherwise it snaps.   It gets a bit trickier if its the last length as you have to also spring it in. 
Mind you I have busted a few.  As a DIY thing, I would not reccomend you try it!!! 
Cheers Rod

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## barney118

I know what you mean , I put up a piece of the stuff about 2.4m long and got the bow happening and a crack but lucky to survive no nails used I just fluked it  :Doh: . I definitely bitten off more than I can chew that time. A little more timid now. How long is the cement good for without skining up or setting? its been a while since I done any.

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## barney118

My plaster is 95mm drop down the wall, so do I nail at 95mm or say 97mm?

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## Rod Dyson

> My plaster is 95mm drop down the wall, so do I nail at 95mm or say 97mm?

  What size cornice are you using?? 
I put the nail just below the cornice line.  the reason being it is much esier to roll the cornice up than down to match the mitres. 
Cheers rod

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## CPE W&C

> What would I expect to pay hrly rate or job to do 40 lineal meters? 
> The cornice I am going to use will cost $340 M21 profile from plasta masta. (something like C100P at  - Profile Plaster & Metal!)  
> The job is a L shaped room 4 internal corners and 1 external.

  I would generally charge around $380-450 for a job like that depending on the surfaces i was installing it onto... ie new plaster/solid plaster, painted surfaces etc 
Regards, 
Craig

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## CPE W&C

I charge $3.00 per Lm, but a small amount like that will generally cost you a days labour. If you had other things to do as well, then you could get a tradesman in for a day to get value and not just the cornice installed... 
Regards, 
Craig

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