How much does plastering cost in Townsville?
A Townsville plasterer charges $54–$130 an hour, or $27–$70 a square metre to hang and set plasterboard, with the sheets themselves usually on top. Re-skimming the walls of one room costs $650–$2,700, and taking down a single room's ceiling and replacing it, ready for paint, is $865–$3,250. A small hole patched is $160–$300. Renting is common here, at 38.3% of homes against 30.6% nationally (ABS 2021 Census), so if you rent, talk to the owner or agent before any wall or ceiling repair is booked, even a small one.
Comparing cities, or after the Australia-wide picture? See the national guide: Plastering cost in Australia.
Detailed Pricing — Plastering Cost in Townsville 2026
| Service | Low | Typical | High |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plastering (hourly rate) | $54/hr | $83 | $130 |
| Plasterboard / Gyprock, labour (per sqm) | $27/sqm | $44 | $70 |
| Patch repair (small hole) | $160per job | $250 | $300 |
| Crack repair (per crack, filled and set ready for paint) | $86per job | $185 | $325 |
| Single room re-skim (walls) | $650total | $1,300 | $2,700 |
| Ceiling replacement (single room, 12–16 m²: strip-out, new plasterboard, set ready for paint) | $865total | $2,050 | $3,250 |
| Cornice installation (per linear metre) | $11/lm | $16 | $54 |
| Water damage repair | $325per job | $755 | $1,625 |
| Skim coat (per sqm) | $16/sqm | $30 | $54 |
| New stud wall (non-load-bearing, framed, plasterboard both sides, set ready for paint; per m² of wall face) | $65/sqm | $105 | $160 |
| Acoustic / soundproof plasterboard (per sqm) | $38/sqm | $59 | $92 |
| Full day plastering | $380per day | $595 | $920 |
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Get Townsville quotes →Prices include GST. Based on Townsville metro area, October 2026. Outer suburbs may vary.
What Affects Plastering Costs in Townsville
Wet season ceilings
Townsville's February rainfall, 312.4 mm in an average year (BOM averages), is the heaviest of any month, and the Bureau of Meteorology puts the cyclone season at November to April. Plasterboard that has soaked up a roof leak sags and stains and has to be cut out, not patched: a contained repair is $325–$1,625, a whole room's ceiling more. Fix the roof and treat any mould before the new sheets go up.
Humid air, slower coats
Setting compound dries more slowly in humid air, and from November to March Townsville nights average 23 °C or warmer (BOM averages). Each of the three usual coats must dry before sanding, so in the wet season a room can take more days than it would in the dry months. That matters when you are paying by the hour or at $380–$920 a day.
Ceilings cost more than walls
Overhead sheets are heavier to lift, need propping while they are fixed, and show every flaw once the light rakes across them. That is why a room's new ceiling, at $2,050 typical, costs more than re-skimming its walls at $1,300. Ask whether the ceiling price includes stripping out and carting away the old board.
Supply, cornice and finish
The square-metre rate in our table is labour only, so ask whether the plasterer buys the Gyprock or expects you to. Cornice is a separate line at $11–$54 a metre. Agree the finish level as well: Level 4 suits a flat painted wall, while Level 5 is the one to ask for under gloss paint or strong side light.
Larger houses and new walls
With 80.1% of Townsville dwellings separate houses and 39.4% holding four or more bedrooms (ABS 2021 Census), a whole-house re-plaster means a lot of wall and ceiling. Plasterers price those jobs room by room or by the day. Splitting a big room with a new non-load-bearing wall, framed and sheeted both sides, is $65–$160 per square metre of wall face.
QBCC licence and home warranty
Queensland requires a QBCC licence for building work of $3,300 or more; the plastering drywall licence is the QBCC class that covers fixing plasterboard and cornices and finishing the joints. Home warranty insurance is compulsory on residential work over $3,300, so the premium should appear in each quote. Two room ceilings at the typical price already cross that line.
How to Save Money on Plastering Cost in Townsville
Plastering Cost in Townsville by Room Size
Say a Townsville house has a large living room divided by a new wall of 12 square metres of face. At $65–$160 per square metre that wall is $780–$1,920, framed, sheeted both sides and set ready for paint. If the plasterer prices the job by the day instead, the full-day row of $380–$920 a day is the figure to read it against.
What moves a room that size in Townsville: a wet season that soaks a ceiling and puts a contained repair at $325–$1,625, humid air that slows each coat when the work is paid by the hour at $54–$130 an hour, and the larger houses where a whole-house job runs room by room.
Plastering Cost in Townsville: What the Quote Should Include
Townsville's wet season, with a cyclone season running from November to April, can leave a ceiling soaked through, so a plastering quote there should separate a contained repair from a whole new ceiling and say what the ceiling price covers. Each line should read against the rows on this page.
- A contained repair after a roof leak at $325–$1,625, written apart from a whole room's ceiling at $865–$3,250.
- The strip-out of the old board and its removal from site named as in or out of the ceiling price.
- The roof, gutter or shower leak fixed and any mould treated before the new sheets go up, as steps on the quote.
- Sheeting labour at $27–$70 a square metre, with who buys the board stated, as the rate covers labour alone.
- Cornice as a separate line at $11–$54 a metre, with the length measured for each room.
- The finish level agreed and written in, level 4 for a flat painted wall or level 5 under gloss or strong side light.
- For a large house, rooms listed one by one or a day booked at $380–$920 a day, with the basis written down.
- A wall to split a big room priced per square metre of face at $65–$160, sheeted both sides.
- For a cracked wall, whether the crack is a joint that has failed or a frame that is moving, since a crack filled at $86–$325 can come back.
Frequently Asked Questions — Plastering Cost in Townsville
Our Methodology
These are independent estimates from public cost guides, marketplaces and industry rate data, and no tradesperson can influence them, so always get a few quotes. Last reviewed October 2026. Read our full methodology →