About Us · Protex Plastering
The Team behind the trowel.
Protex Plastering is a small Adelaide-based team specialising in hand-applied plastering, Venetian plaster, microcement and rendering. We are, first, plasterers — but we think like makers, sample like designers and finish like the work matters.
Founded
2020, Adelaide
EXPERIENCE
13+ Years on the Trowel
TEAM
In-house, no subcontractors
Projects
240+ across SA
The origin
Started in Adelaide,
Built By Hand.
Protex Plastering was founded in 2020, though the trade started for us much earlier. An apprenticeship from 2013 onwards — one trowel, one wall, one finish at a time — became the foundation for what the team does today.
What brought us to Adelaide was a quiet observation: South Australia had beautiful homes, considered architects, and a deep appreciation for craft — but very few teams applying the old-world plastering systems that those homes deserved. Italian Marmorino, Stucco Veneziano, lime washes, hand-floated cement render — the techniques that had defined European architectural surfaces for centuries were almost absent from local trade work.
We started small. One trowel, one home, one finish at a time. Word travelled the way it always does in a craft trade — quietly, between architects, builders and the homeowners who care about the surfaces they live with every day. Five years on, we are still small. That is by design, not accident.
The team has stayed deliberately compact — no franchise model, no growth-at-any-cost, no subcontractors. The face you meet at quote is the face that holds the trowel on site. Every project gets the same applicators, the same materials, the same standard.
THE FOUNDER
Meet Daniel.
Hi, I’m Daniel De Cicco, director of Protex Plastering. I began my career as a qualified solid plasterer, and over time developed a strong passion for Venetian plaster, microcement and specialised finishes.
My work is focused on creating unique textures and high-end finishes, collaborating closely with clients, architects, interior designers and builders to deliver bespoke results across both residential and commercial projects.
As a father of two, I bring strong family values into my work — building genuine relationships with clients and with everyone I work alongside.
The trade
A craft older
than the city.
Lime plastering has been practised continuously for around six thousand years. Adelaide was founded in 1836. The maths is on the side of the trade.
What we do is not a recent style or a design trend. It is the continuation of a working tradition — a way of finishing walls that predates paint, predates wallpaper, predates almost every other surface treatment that lives in a modern home.
Our senior applicators trained in Italy and Spain in the lime-and-marble systems that built the great public buildings of the Renaissance and the considered private homes of the centuries that followed. Marmorino, Stucco Veneziano, Polished Plaster, Bagged Render, Sand Texture, Sponge Finish — each technique is centuries old. None has been improved upon by speed, by spray equipment, or by shortcut. They are still done by hand because hands are still the best tool for them.
We import our lime systems direct from European mills and use the same trowels, sponges and floats that were used by the people who taught us. There are no local substitutes that match the quality — we have tried them. The materials matter. The training matters. The hand matters.
The principles
Six things
we believe.
Protex Plastering runs on a small, stubborn set of principles. They have not changed since we started. They are the reason the work looks the way it looks — and the reason it lasts as long as it does.
01
Hand-applied, always
Every layer is trowelled by hand, every time. We do not spray finishes. The hand is still the best tool the trade has invented — we are not in a hurry to replace it.
02
No Subcontractors
Every project is finished by the same in-house team that quoted it. The face you meet at quote is the face on site. Standards are easy when the people are the same.
03
Sample Boards First
Bespoke sample boards in your space, in your light, before any commitment is made. Plaster lives differently in every room — the sample tells you which room it suits.
04
Materials direct from source
We import our lime systems from European mills directly, never local substitutes. The material is only half the result — the other half is always the hand that applies it.
05
Slow work, by design
The trade is unhurried by nature. A finish that takes seven days will easily outlive one that takes only two by decades. We have not yet found a way to rush time.
06
Honest quotes
We quote in writing within three working days, no obligation. Sample boards are included. We will tell you honestly when we are not the right team for your project
The principles
Six things
we believe.
Protex Plastering runs on a small, stubborn set of principles. They have not changed since we started. They are the reason the work looks the way it looks — and the reason it lasts as long as it does.
01
Hand-applied, always
Every layer is trowelled by hand, every time. We do not spray finishes. The hand is still the best tool the trade has invented — we are not in a hurry to replace it.
02
No Subcontractors
Every project is finished by the same in-house team that quoted it. The face you meet at quote is the face on site. Standards are easy when the people are the same.
03
Sample Boards First
Bespoke sample boards in your space, in your light, before any commitment is made. Plaster lives differently in every room — the sample tells you which room it suits.
04
Materials direct from source
We import our lime systems from European mills directly, never local substitutes. The material is only half the result — the other half is always the hand that applies it.
05
Slow work, by design
The trade is unhurried by nature. A finish that takes seven days will easily outlive one that takes only two by decades. We have not yet found a way to rush time.
06
Honest quotes
We quote in writing within three working days, no obligation. Sample boards are included. We will tell you honestly when we are not the right team for your project
Where we’re going
Quiet, careful,
continuing.
The team is not chasing growth, awards or franchise expansion. We are continuing to do the work the way the work asks to be done.
Over the next decade we plan to take on roughly the same number of projects we always have — carefully chosen, well-suited to the team, applied by the same hands. We will continue to import the same materials, train the same kind of people, finish the same kind of walls.
If you are reading this and wondering whether you should call us, the question to ask is not whether we are big enough or busy enough or impressive enough. It is whether the surface in front of you matters enough to be done by hand, slowly, by people who care about it. If the answer is yes, we would be glad to discuss the room.
Service Area
Where we
work.
Based in Adelaide, working across Greater Adelaide, the Hills and the Fleurieu. A short list of areas we know well — but we travel for the right project.
Burnside
Unley
Stirling
Norwood
Walkerville
Toorak Gardens
North Adelaide
St Morris
Glenelg
Hyde Park
Henley Beach
Magill
Service Area
North Adelaide
Residence
Regional South Australia and interstate projects are quoted with travel separately. If you’re unsure whether your area is covered, send a quick enquiry — we answer every email personally.
Recent Work
Rooms finished,
2024 to 2026.
A scroll through eight recent surfaces — residential, commercial and the occasional quiet hospitality fitout. Hover any tile to read more.
TESTIMONIALS
What Clients Say
The work speaks for itself. So do the clients who have lived with it.
Begin
Considering a project? Let’s discuss the room.
Quotes are obligation-free and usually returned within three working days. Sample boards are prepared in your space, in your light, before any commitment is made.
