Source: https://www.thewallshop.co.uk/blog/cover-uneven-walls-without-plastering Materials17 October 2026 · 4 min read # How to cover uneven walls without plastering Cracked, bumpy or Artexed walls? How to cover uneven walls without replastering: lining paper, overboarding and wall panels compared on cost and mess. Old Scottish houses are full of walls that are not flat: tenement lath and plaster with a century of patches, 1970s Artex swirls, chimney breasts that bulge, and new builds with popped screw heads and cracks along every board joint. Paint shows all of it, and a low winter sun across the room shows it twice. The usual advice is to replaster. That means waiting for a plasterer, a house full of dust, days or weeks of drying, then a mist coat and two coats of paint. Here are the alternatives, what each one handles, and when none of them is the right answer. ## First, find out why the wall is uneven Covering a problem is only sensible if the problem has stopped. Fine cracks in old plaster and at board joints are usually harmless movement. A crack that is wider at one end, keeps growing or runs diagonally from a window corner deserves a surveyor's look before anything goes over it. Damp is the other one. Plaster that sounds hollow, bubbles or leaves white salts on the surface has moisture behind it. Never panel, line or overboard a damp wall: you will hide the damp and trap it. Fix the cause, let the wall dry, then decide. And if the wall or ceiling has a textured coating applied before 2000, it may contain asbestos. It is safe left alone, but have a sample tested before anyone sands, scrapes or drills it. ## Option 1: fill and line For hairline cracks and shallow dips, filler and a heavy lining paper are the cheapest fix. The paper bridges small cracks and hides minor texture, and you paint over it. It will not flatten a bulge, and it will not hide a deep Artex pattern, which shows through as soon as light rakes across it. ## Option 2: skim, or overboard and skim A plasterer can skim directly over a sound but uneven wall, or over Artex once it has been sealed. Where the wall is badly out, the better job is to overboard it: plasterboard fixed over the old surface, usually on adhesive dabs or battens, then skimmed. Both give a flat, paintable wall, and a skim on its own is often the cheapest professional option. The cost you do not see in the quote is the disruption: the dust, the drying time before you can paint, and redecorating the room around it. ## Option 3: decorative wall panels A rigid wall panel is the finished surface on the day it goes up. It bridges the small hollows and ridges that would show through paper or paint, and on a wall that is badly out of true it is fixed to battens packed flat instead of directly to the plaster. There is no drying time, nothing to paint, and the room is usable again the same day. Carbon Rock Board is the panel we use most for this. It is a rigid board with a mineral core, A1 rated for fire, which means non-combustible, and it comes in marble, stone, wood, micro-cement, metal and solid colours. A full board is 1220 by 2400mm and costs £232 ex VAT, which is under £80 a square metre. Fitting is £49 per square metre ex VAT including adhesive. As an example, a living room wall of 8.78m², 3 boards wide, comes to £1,126.42 ex VAT supplied and fitted. That is more than a skim, but it replaces the skim, the paint and the decorating, and the wall is a feature rather than a repair. ## Which one to choose A few hairline cracks on an otherwise sound wall: fill, line and paint. A wall you want plain and painted, and you can live with the disruption: skim it, or overboard and skim it if it is badly out. A wall that is uneven, textured or simply tired, where you would rather have marble, stone or wood than another coat of paint: panel it. Panels also make sense in rooms where plaster struggles, such as bathrooms and kitchens, because the board does not mind moisture the way paint and plaster do. And they suit the one wall that has to look perfect, behind the TV or the bed, while the rest of the room is simply painted. ## When panels are not the answer Not over damp, active structural cracks or untested Artex that will need drilling. Not in a rented home without the landlord's say-so. And plan ahead for anything heavy, such as a television or wall cupboards: it should fix through to the wall or a batten behind, not hang from the panel face. If you are unsure, send us a photograph of the wall and its measurements. The planner will price the boards for your exact wall while you build it. ## Common questions **How can I cover an uneven wall without plastering?** For small dips and hairline cracks, fill and hang lining paper. For a badly uneven or Artexed wall, fit rigid wall panels, bonded to the wall or fixed to battens packed flat. Panels arrive finished, so there is nothing to dry or paint. **Can you put wall panels over Artex?** Usually, yes, and covering it leaves it undisturbed. Artex applied before 2000 may contain asbestos, so have a sample tested before anyone sands, scrapes or drills it, and follow the result. **Can you put wall panels over a damp wall?** No. Covering damp hides it and makes it worse. Find and fix the cause, let the wall dry out, and only then cover it. **Is panelling cheaper than plastering?** Skimming a wall is usually cheaper on its own, but it is followed by drying time, a mist coat and painting. Panels cost more per wall and are the finished surface on the day they go up. **How much does it cost to panel a wall?** Carbon Rock Board is £232 ex VAT per 1220 by 2400mm board, under £80 a square metre. A wall of 8.78m² takes 3 boards and comes to £1,126.42 ex VAT fitted, including adhesive. [Carbon Rock Board: every finish, priced by the board](https://www.thewallshop.co.uk/wall-panels/carbon-rock-board) Written for customers in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Scotland and across the UK. ## More from the journal [All articles](https://www.thewallshop.co.uk/blog) [Guides5 min ### How to hide TV cables on a wall, with or without chasing How to hide TV cables on a wall: cable covers, in-wall kits, chased conduit and built-out walls compared, with the electrical rules UK homes must follow. 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