Plate 01
Polished Venetian, feature wall
A wall nobody else has.
Polished Venetian plaster, marble effect and microcement, laid by hand by Tom Power from Drayton, Portsmouth. Ten years on the trowel, every wall different from the last.
The sample wall
Choose it like you'd choose stone.
Every finish here is real plaster, built up in coats and worked by hand, so no two walls come out the same. Tap a board to see what it is and where it suits.
Samples are photos of finished walls and boards. Colours can be matched to your room.
No. 01
Grassello
The polished finish most people mean when they say Venetian. Burnished until it has a glass-like depth you can almost see into.
- Looks like
- High shine, deep colour, light moving across it
- Suits
- Bathrooms, feature walls, media walls
- Feel
- Smooth as glass to the touch
Where it goes
Mostly homes. Occasionally art.
Most of Tom's work is in people's houses, for homeowners who saw a finish online and wanted something in their house nobody else has.
Media walls
A recess or a full chimney breast in marble effect or polished plaster, with the TV set into it.
Bathrooms
Seamless walls with no grout lines, finished for the room they're in.
Pillars & columns
Round or square, turned into marble you'd swear was carved. Some of the hardest work, and some of the best.
Feature & accent walls
One wall that changes the whole room. The biggest single job so far was several large feature walls in one house.
Kitchens & ceilings
Splashbacks, chimney hoods and ceilings, anywhere a flat surface could be something better.
Commissioned pieces
Art panels made with the same materials, sized for your wall.
Recent walls
From the catalogue.
Whose hands
Tom Power, still on the tools.
Tom started as a labourer on his dad's sites, trained in drywall and plastering, then saw Venetian plaster on a lad's phone and knew that was the work he wanted. He learned it the long way: courses, shadowing applicators, trips to Italy and Serbia.
Ten years on he has taught the trade to thousands of people, and he still takes on walls. Materials come from Stucco Italiano, who he has worked with for eight years.
"Most failed jobs are decided at the prep, not the finish." So the wall gets read before anything goes on it.
Before you ask
The questions everyone asks.
How much does it cost?
TomIt's priced per square metre, with the prep, materials and coats for the finish you pick. Anyone giving you one figure without seeing the wall is guessing. Send me a photo and a rough size and I'll price it properly.
Will it crack?
TomCracks nearly always come from what's underneath: the wrong primer, or a wall nobody checked. I learned that one the hard way early on, so the substrate gets sorted before any finish goes on.
Can it go in a bathroom?
TomYes, bathrooms are a big part of the work. Some finishes suit wet areas better than others, and I'll tell you which.
Do you cover my area?
TomI'm in Drayton, so Portsmouth, Havant, Waterlooville, Fareham, Chichester and Southampton are all easy. For a bigger project further out, just ask.
Will it look like the photos?
TomIt'll look like your wall, not someone else's. That's the point of it. We'll pick the finish and colour on samples first, so you know what you're getting.
Want to learn it instead?
Tom teaches it too.
Italiwalls Education runs online masterclasses and in-person workshops for plasterers, decorators and complete beginners.
4.8 from 74 Google reviews
"First class experience and great training. I now feel confident and inspired and the student community is very supportive, honest and encouraging."
Jessica MacDonald, Google review"Tom and his team provide a well detailed yet simple to understand course with actionable steps to help you progress in this industry."
Lucas Bartley, Google review