A plasterer who assesses before he insulates.

Who will actually be looking after your home?

Me. aPlastering is a small, owner-run business, formerly known as Walsall Wall Experts. When you get in touch, you speak to me, I come to your home, and I'm the person responsible for the work from the first visit to the call a few weeks after we finish.

I work on internal wall insulation, bay window insulation, condensation and mould problems, lime plastering, cork systems and general plastering. Most of my customers are homeowners with a room that never feels warm, or a patch of black mould that keeps coming back however often it is cleaned.

How does a plasterer end up insulating walls?

Plastering was the base of my business for years, and it still matters to me. But I kept seeing the same pattern: a freshly decorated room that was still cold, or mould returning to the same corner the following winter. A new skim coat looked lovely, yet it did nothing about why the wall was cold in the first place.

So I went and learnt the building side properly. Along the way I have:

• qualified as a Retrofit Assessor (ABBE)
• qualified as a Domestic Energy Assessor (DEA)
• trained in lime plastering and thermal upgrading at Ty-Mawr
• spent time training with an experienced specialist insulation installer
• become a SprayCork UK approved applicator

That combination is the point. I can explain why a room feels cold, and I can also do the careful, hands-on work that fixes it.

Why do I assess your home before recommending anything?

Because the wall decides, not the product. Two houses on the same street can need different systems, and the wrong one can trap moisture inside a wall that used to dry out on its own.

On the free home visit I listen first: which rooms are cold, when you notice it, what you have already tried. Then I look at the wall construction, its condition, any signs of damp and how the room is ventilated. Back at my desk I run moisture modelling to check that the system and insulation thickness I have in mind will be safe for your wall.

I install both vapour-open (breathable) systems, such as wood fibre, cork, lime and insulating plasters, and vapour-closed systems such as PIR boards. For traditional solid-wall homes I usually lean towards vapour-open, in line with government guidance on keeping a wall's drying routes. If PIR suits your wall and space better, I'll say so and explain why. You can see how this played out in a real 1930s bedroom in my case study.

How will I treat your home, and you?

The same way I would want my own home treated. That means:

• a written quote, my public liability insurance details and a pre-start guide, so you know what is happening before anything starts
• floors and furniture protected, and the work area tidied every day
• the electrician, plumber or joiner organised for you if you want me to run the whole job
• rooms handed back ready to decorate, after a handover inspection together
• an aftercare plan, and a call from me about four weeks later to check everything is as it should be

The full journey is set out on how it works.

What won't I do?

A few things I simply don't do:

• Hard selling. No pressure, no "today only" prices. Insulation is a big decision, and plenty of people come back to me months after a quote. That's fine.
• One system for every house. I don't have a favourite product to push. The recommendation follows from your wall.
• Promises I can't back up. I'll talk about warmer walls and reduced heat loss through them, not guaranteed bill savings.

If internal insulation isn't the right answer for your home, I'll tell you that too, even if it means there's no job for me.

Where do I work?

I'm based in Walsall and cover Sutton Coldfield, Great Barr, Aldridge, Solihull, Lichfield, Cannock, Wolverhampton and Birmingham, generally anywhere within about an hour to an hour and a half. Sutton Coldfield and Great Barr have a lot of 1930s semis with bay windows, so cold bay windows are a big part of my work. For the full range, see internal wall insulation.