Coving Installation Cost Guide for 2023

Coving gives a room a beautiful finish. Popular in the 1900s, it's installed around the ceiling and gives rooms a traditional yet timeless look. Lots of modern homes are installing coving today – but how much does it cost?

How much does it cost to fit coving?

How much it costs to fit coving will depend on a variety of factors, including whether you're looking for a more ornate finish, how big your room is and where you're located. Here are the average costs to supply and install coving:

Labour costs vary across the UK. To get a more accurate idea of how much it will cost to fit coving in your area, take a look at the table further down the page. We've used our large database of hourly and daily rates from painters and decorators across the country.

What is coving?

Coving is a decorative moulding that bridges the gap between the ceiling and wall in a room. It became very popular in Victorian times, and many homes that were built in the 19th century still have their original coving today.

Now, coving and cornicing is coming back in fashion. As well as using it to make rooms look grand, homeowners use it to hide pipework and make large rooms with high ceilings feel smaller and cosier.

What affects the cost of fitting decorative coving?

Size and number of rooms

The number of rooms and their size will affect the cost of fitting your coving. The more coving you need, the higher the cost – and the longer it will take to install, increasing the price of labour.

Complexity of installation

Perfectly square or rectangular rooms will be relatively simple to fit coving to. However, if you have a room with lots of corners, with alcoves or chimney breasts, the decorator will have to make lots of cuts. That will increase the time it takes to install your coving.

Quality and design of coving

The design of your coving will affect the cost. More ornate coving, called cornices, will cost more. The materials the coving is made from will impact the cost too – polystyrene is the cheapest kind, but also the lowest quality.

Prep work required

The amount of preparation required will affect the cost of installing coving. If the decorator needs to remove old coving or spend a lot of time preparing the walls, this will increase the cost.

Your location

Where you live has the biggest impact on the cost of fitting coving, and unfortunately you can’t do much about this one. If you live in London or the South East, expect to pay more than those living in other areas of the UK.

How long does it take to install coving?

How long it takes to install coving obviously depends on the size of your room. For an average-sized room of 4.8m x 4.8m, we'd expect it to take half a day to install lightweight polyurethane coving and one to two days to install standard coving.

If you want bespoke coving, this could take up to four days to fit.

How do you calculate coving?

It's pretty simple to calculate how much coving you need. Simply measure the perimeter of the room in metres and let your decorator know.

If you're sourcing the coving yourself, you should speak to your professional for advice, but here's an example calculation you can do to get the right amount of coving:

1. Measure your room's perimeter. In this example, we'll say it's 19.2m
2. Add 10% - 19.2m + 1.92m = 21.12m

Note: If you have more than 6 corners in your room, add another 15% at this stage

3. Coving comes in different lengths; 2.4m is common. Divide 21.12m by 2.4m = 8.8 lengths
4. Round up to the next full length = 9 lengths.

Do you put coving up before or after painting?

To get the best finish, you'll want to put coving up before painting. A decorator will fit polystyrene or lightweight polyurethane coving with an adhesive, and though a good tradesperson will do their best to clear up any drips, some adhesive may end up on the walls. If you wait until the coving is up to paint, you'll be able to sand down or cover any small spots of adhesive.

It's best to wait at least 24 hours after installation before painting your coving.

How many coats of paint does coving need?

How many coats of paint your coving needs will depend on the material. If you've chosen a lightweight polyurethane, one or two coats should be enough. If your coving is made from polystyrene, you might need three or more coats because it's a very absorbent material.

If you've chosen bespoke coving made from wet plaster, you'll need to apply a special primer first. After that, you should need two coats to get a great finish.

Should I paint coving with a brush or roller?

It's best to use a wide oval brush for painting coving as you'll get a neater finish the more surface area you can cover in one stroke. Paint your coving before your ceiling.

As you paint the top of the coving, let the brush overlap so it paints the edge of the ceiling to blend them both in together. You'll have a seamless finish once you've painted the ceiling.

You could also use a brush to paint the edges of the coving and finish it off with a mini roller – but you'll probably find it easier to use a wide brush.

When you're ready to get a quote for installing coving, post your job on HaMuch. We'll put you in touch with reliable painters and decorators in your area.

Estimates for common plasterer jobs;

Rates for other trades