Our Specialisms
Polished Plaster in Richmond
Richmond's houses are shaped by the river and the park. Georgian villas look down from Richmond Hill and The Terrace, older houses ring Richmond Green, Victorian and Edwardian family homes fill the streets of Kew, St Margarets and East Sheen, and riverside houses line Petersham Road and the towpaths towards Ham. Choice Finishes applies Venetian plaster, Marmorino, grassello, Tadelakt and external lime-based polished plaster for homeowners and architects across the borough. Explore all our finishes for polished plaster in London.
Finishes: Venetian plaster · Marmorino · Tadelakt · Microcement
Venetian Plaster — Lucido
Riverside light and polished plaster
Houses that face the Thames get a particular kind of light: reflected, moving and often low in the afternoon. Polished plaster responds to it in a way that paint cannot, because the layered, burnished surface picks up reflections and gives the wall soft depth. That also means the choice of sheen matters. A high-polish Lucido can look spectacular on a riverside wall but may be too lively in a room that catches glare off the water; Marmorino's satin finish is calmer. We always sample on site so you can see each finish in your room's own light before we commit.
Georgian villas and conservation areas
Much of Richmond Hill, Richmond Green and the riverside is in conservation areas, and many older houses are listed. These buildings have solid walls built with lime, and the finishes we use are lime-based too. Where original plaster is sound we work over it; where it has failed we can repair or replaster in lime first. At Lancaster Gate in Bayswater, within a three-year heritage restoration, we installed 4,000m² of traditional lime plaster and burnished grassello di calce to vaulted ceilings and bay windows, alongside the complete external render. The Lancaster Gate case study shows how heritage and decorative work can be delivered by one team.
Family homes, extensions and basements
In the Victorian and Edwardian houses of Kew, St Margarets and East Sheen, polished plaster is most often requested for a new kitchen extension, a hallway and staircase, or a principal bathroom. Larger detached houses are increasingly adding basements or lower-ground floors, and we also carry out tanking, so we can make sure the waterproofing and background are right before any decorative finish goes on.
Tadelakt bathrooms and showers
Tadelakt is the traditional waterproof Moroccan lime plaster, polished with stones and sealed with olive-oil soap. It is our recommendation for showers, wet rooms and baths, and suits curved walls and niches when correctly detailed. Venetian plaster and Marmorino are water-resistant once waxed and suit the rest of a bathroom. Microcement is the alternative for seamless floors and wet rooms.
External polished plaster near the river
Polished plaster can be used outside, but not every interior system is suitable, and riverside elevations take more weather than most. External work needs a breathable, weather-resistant lime-based finish, usually a Marmorino-type exterior system, over a sound render background, with careful detailing at sills, copings and junctions. We carry out external rendering too, so we can take responsibility for the background and the finish together. Garden walls, courtyards, loggias and boathouse-style outbuildings are good candidates.
Our work in Richmond
Our Richmond area page covers our rendering, lime plastering and tanking work across the borough's conservation streets.
Polished plaster in Richmond: frequently asked questions
Yes, with the right system. External work needs a breathable, weather-resistant lime-based finish over a sound render background, detailed properly at sills, copings and junctions. We carry out the external render as well, so the background and finish are handled together.
Marmorino's satin finish is usually calmer in rooms that catch reflected light, while Lucido gives a more dramatic, mirror-like sheen. We sample both on site so you can judge them in the actual light.
Yes. Tadelakt is the traditional waterproof lime plaster and is suitable for showers, wet rooms and baths when correctly detailed. The waterproofing build-up behind it matters as much as the finish itself.
Get in Touch
Planning polished plaster in Richmond?
Send us photographs of the rooms or elevations and tell us what you have in mind, and we will arrange a site visit and sampling. Call 07854 393865 or email choicefinishesltd@gmail.com.