#building conversions

I can't believe what's hiding in this converted 1867 building in Binghamton, NY, and I can't believe it's under $1m. The 4bd, 3ba, 6,650sqft home already has a pending sale. $825k

Incredible 5 story 1896 mid-rise in St. Louis, MO was converted to a single family residence. An office/showroom on the 2nd floor provides a space that facilitates living and working in the same building. 2bds, 4ba, 10,691 sq ft, $1.299m. The front of this building is a beautiful art nouveau style.

This is weird. Someone bought this 1950 building and started to convert it to a home, while they lived in it, but didn’t finish, and now they’ve put it on the market for $299K in Wilkinson, Indiana. 

They made this the entrance.

Put up walls, made rooms w/new lighting and drop ceilings, but didn’t finish all of the floors. Check out what else they left.

It appears to be a very old, very worn, school gym.

Has a new kitchen, but also the old gym floors. 

This is huge. It looks like the gym flooring isn’t salvageable, either. 

Even though they did a lot of work, it looks like there’s still a lot left.

One of 4 bedrooms. 

They also made 3 baths.

This room is finished.

And, this area has new flooring. 

The basement is also finished.

Would be great for a large family, but I really don’t know what to think about this building. The exterior needs some work, too. It also comes with 3.61 acres of land.

When it comes to flawless house extensions, many people focus on the layout, the build, and even the final paint colour. But one crucial element is often underestimated—plastering. It’s the final stage that brings everything together, turning rough builds into finished, livable spaces.

Whether you’re investing in loft conversions, building renovations, or full-scale home improvements, the quality of your plastering can either elevate the space—or completely ruin its potential.

Here are 7 real-world examples of how plastering either made or broke a perfect home extension finish.

1. The Extension That Looked Premium Thanks to Smooth Plastering

A homeowner in Manchester opted for a rear house extension to create a bigger kitchen-diner. The layout was modern, the fittings were high-end—but what truly impressed visitors was the ultra-smooth plaster finish.

It reflected light beautifully, gave the room a seamless flow, and made even a modest budget feel luxurious. In this case, the plastering made the extension feel premium.

2. The Loft Conversion That Cracked Under Pressure

In a rushed loft conversion, a local builder subcontracted an inexperienced plasterer. Within two months of completion, hairline cracks appeared throughout the ceiling and around window frames.

The poorly mixed plaster and lack of drying time led to shrinkage and separation—turning what should have been a dream attic into an ongoing nightmare. A clear example of plastering breaking a home improvement project.

3. The Builder Who Saved a DIY Disaster

One homeowner tried to save money by plastering their own walls after a small kitchen extension. The result? Uneven surfaces, visible trowel marks, and an amateur finish that ruined the modern design.

They eventually brought in professional builders who re-skimmed the entire room, restored the integrity of the walls, and prepped it perfectly for painting. This proves that while DIY is tempting, skilled plastering can save the final result.

4. The Renovation That Took Longer Due to Plastering Delays

In a large-scale building renovation, poor scheduling meant that plasterers were brought in too early—before all structural and electrical work had been completed. As a result, walls had to be redone after new sockets were added.

The extension was delayed by three weeks and the costs shot up. This case highlights the importance of proper project management when coordinating building conversions and plastering work.

5. The Home Office That Felt Like a Professional Studio

During the rise of remote work, a client converted their unused garage into a home office. The structure was simple, but they invested in a high-quality plasterer to create smooth, soundproofed walls.

The end result felt like a high-end recording studio or creative workspace. Clean lines and invisible joints made the room feel professional—proving that good plastering can enhance both function and style.

6. The Extension That Lost Its Charm with Bad Ceiling Work

Even the most beautifully painted walls can’t hide poor plastering overhead. In this rear house extension, the ceiling had visible lines, dips between plasterboards, and uneven finishes around the light fixtures.

Despite perfect furniture and decor, the ceiling became an eyesore and brought down the entire feel of the room. It shows how plastering isn’t just about walls—ceilings matter just as much to the finished space.

7. The Showroom-Ready Living Room with Seamless Finishing

A homeowner in London combined a loft conversion with a side return extension to create a large open-plan living area. Every inch was polished to perfection, with flush lighting, curved corners, and invisible wall joints.

The secret behind the showroom-ready finish? Precision plastering done by professionals with experience in luxury home improvements. Visitors couldn’t stop commenting on how “perfect” the space looked—thanks in large part to the finishing touch of great plastering.

Final Thoughts

Plastering may not be the most glamorous aspect of a renovation, but it is one of the most important. Whether you're planning house extensions, loft conversions, or complete building renovations, never underestimate the power of a well-plastered wall or ceiling.

5* rated on Trust Pilot for roofing and roughcasting work completed in Glasgow, Edinburgh, and across Central Scotland. All external renovation work including roughcast, rendering, and external wall insulation (ewi).  Call to arrange a free survey or visit www.eliterenovationsgroup.co.uk

Project manager on every job

ROUGHCAST

ROOFING

PLASTER WORK

RENOVATIONS

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Website: https://eliterenovationsgroup.co.uk

Address : Rosehall Industrial Estate, 5 Palacecraig St, Coatbridge ML5 4RY

Just so it’s clear, these were taken at night; so I adjusted the white levels of the outdoor pics to make them viewable. I’ve got a miner’s lantern inside, so that didn’t need any help

OK, so if you read my previous post, you’d know that Jaded has wiped his 8k server (after backing it up, though) and used NitroGen to generate a new map. In this case it’s a 10k map, and includes both the custom prefab pack recommended by the NitroGen author and a Darkness Falls prefab pack. So there are lots of custom prefabs, the map is huuuuuge, and there are more buildings than you can shake a stick at.

This is a pair of them on top of one of the plateaus in the mountains that I was talking about. It’s the Ranger Station, which we’ve been calling the Info Center, right next to a military base with an extensive underground and tons of loot. 

The loot includes more than 20 turrets. It turns out that if you encounter a prefab like this with active turrets (not “shoot you when you walk up” active -- just not ruined, nor special POI turrets), you can pick them up by slapping down a claim block. I also got a bunch of motion detectors that way.

It’s a shame I can’t get the solar banks or solar panels that way, nor the battery banks. But Jaded is running a modlet (mine!) that gives you a chance to get a solar panel when you wrench a POI solar bank; and another modlet that lets you get a workstation by wrenching a good one (not “destroyed”) from a POI as well. So I’ve gotten at least one workbench and my first cement mixer, two of those forges, plus a brace of chem stations that way; I made the rest. At 400% loot, though, it’s pretty easy to collect the materials.

Meantime I’ve got, hmm, I think five solar cells of various quality; the solar bank is cheap enough, as is the battery bank.

I said there’s a lantern in the ceiling. There is; but I’m going to try building three more and moving all four to the corners of the upper walkway, which as you can see I’ve made into the top of the cheese wedge. Those things are awfully bright, and the light doesn’t follow actual physics, so I expect four at those locations will not only light the outside where the zombies are, but also the inside. If not, I can always make another. Or add a light bulb connected to the electrical system, which I should have up and running in not too long.

Garden on the roof, of course, and a zombie-proof invisible forcefield in the back protecting the only door. The windows are just wood center plates painted to look like industrial glass; I’m planning to replace them with glass at some point. We’ll see. I want to put turrets on the walkway facing inwards to take care of vultures so I don’t have to worry about completely enclosing it. (And throwing a lot more resources at upgrading at least three times as many bars to iron. There are 60 there as it is.)

I put the door on the North side because I’m assuming I’ll get the majority of zombies from direction of the base. So far that’s true, but I haven’t endured a horde night yet in this monstrosity.

We’ll see!

I also plan to upgrade the wedges eventually; the zombies aren’t normally inclined to attack them, but if enough gather in one place, they start doing random attacks. And these are set to Insane. I’ve been mining, so I have a bunch of stone, and I’ve been assiduously cooking up concrete mix. I should have enough by now, but I don’t plan to stop yet; I still want to upgrade the walls as well, and may end up converting another prefab somewhere.

Well. I'd built up a base using this POI; some of the administrator's quirks got on my nerves and I walked away from it.

I'd forgotten to take pictures first. I kind of like preserving my bases in photos, though I guess I haven't done much about the latest. But still.

Anyway, before I left I unlocked everything and pulled the claim block. It would have been nice to have somebody else take it over, and I didn't really want all the stuff to go to waste. Especially the vehicles, two minibikes and a motorcycle. I left the bedroll so somebody wouldn't stumble over it via a trader quest and reset it before they realized all the stuff that was there.

Today I popped in to get some pictures... and the base has been cleaned out. ALL the boxes in the garage; the garage door; most of the food and medical stuff; and all the workstations in the shed, including the broken one that would have generated loot. Also all the farm plots in the front and side, though not the ones in the back...? And also all the blue spruce trees I'd planted along the streets.

And all I can think is, what the fuck? The destruction isn't complete; there's still stuff there that I'd done, but most of the obvious stuff is gone. It almost seems more like spiteful vandalism (why take the garage door? For that matter, why destroy all the boxes and signs?) than just a thorough cleanout (not THAT thorough, though maybe they got everything they wanted).

If they thought I wasn't coming back, why the vandalism? I have to admit that I'm a bit annoyed, but if somebody was trying to stick it to me, they should keep in mind that I walked away from it. If I'd not been serious about that, I would have left the claim block up and left everything locked.

I don't feel violated as such -- I left the doors open for a reason. But when I left, I went out of my way to make sure the place was useable, and I made sure all the loot-generating stuff was intact throughout. I may have left in anger, but not in spite or hatred. Most of my irritation is due to me not being able to get pictures of my work. OK, so that's how it goes sometimes.

It would have been nice if somebody had taken over the base. Instead it was destroyed before I'd barely logged off.

Part of the reason I'd left was that the admin seemed not to care about wanton destruction. A lot of lootable stuff was being destroyed on a server that bragged about never resetting; that's problematical in that as time passes and more people join, loot will be harder to find. What happened to my base, whomever did it, just adds to that.

OK, well, whomever you are, you sure stuck it to me. I'm hurt, I really am, and this is going to haunt me for the rest of my life. Oh, the humanity.