Bathroom ceiling skim fell off plasterboard

[Sam Gangee]

Our holiday home in Greece is of reinforced concrete construction.

To eliminate mould growth on the cold bathroom ceiling, we had polystyrene insulation fitted to it with plasterboard covering. The job was neatly done and very effective at eliminating mould.

However, about a year later, a large portion of the (about 1mm thick) plaster skim near the centre of the ceiling has come crashing down.

What advice can plastering experts offer to rectify this and hopefully prevent its recurrence, please? I'm not bothered about aesthetics.

 

[joe-90]

PVA and re-skim. I'm surprised that migrants haven't trashed it.

 

[Sam Gangee]

Thanks for the technical answer.

I don't follow the comment about migrants. There are none on Crete, to my knowledge. There are lots arriving on Lesvos and both Greeks and expats are doing their best to provide food, clothing and essentials so that they can survive until they can be transported to a place of safety.

 

[ree]

Concrete, the modern building curse. I'm sure that Cretan traditional buildings had walls and roofs appropriate to the climate, & then along came cheap concrete.

Polystyrene tile is bad practice, and overlaid with a skim of plaster it will continue to shed as the structure shrinks and expands, esp as you presumably leave it unoccupied for the coldest part of the year.

However, if you want you could stick thick sheets of polystyrene to the ceiling - dont paint or treat it in any other way. Its a smoke risk in a fire.

But I should remove all the tiles and plaster and ask locally what they do with their concrete houses. I dont know what the answer would be.

Expat web sites for rural France would be a better source than here.

Commercial & high rise buildings obviously have concrete floors but they use dropped ceilings and spray on insulation, and often have raised floors above the slab.

God help the refugees - can one imagine wandering about with clutching children, terrified some unspeakable scum would murder or abuse your family. Hold your little ones tight tonight if you are priviledged to sleep in warm beds.

 

[Sam Gangee]

The concrete ceiling is fitted with a metal frame, into which is inserted large slabs of 17mm expanded polystyrene insulation. This is covered in with plasterboard. As such, it's really very little different from an ordinary UK bathroom plasterboard ceiling.

I'm trying to attach a photo of the bedroom ceiling before the plasterboard was fitted, as it's similar. Not sure how to do this!

 

[ree]

The pic shows what almost looks like a suspended ceiling? Is the frame superimposed on top of the poly sheets or is it fixed directly to the ceiling?

It seems as tho you could infill with more poly insulation between the metal ribs?

Whats happened to the plaster board?

Read up on these forums ref. causes of condensation - its all the rage at this time of the year

 

[Sam Gangee]

The pic shows what almost looks like a suspended ceiling?

Sorry, I don't understand that question.

Is the frame superimposed on top of the poly sheets or is it fixed directly to the ceiling?

Your guess is as good as mine. I'm not ripping the bedroom ceiling apart to find out.

It seems as tho you could infill with more poly insulation between the metal ribs?

I can't answer that.

Whats happened to the plaster board?

The builder took the photo before fitting it.

Read up on these forums ref. causes of condensation - its all the rage at this time of the year

We don't have a problem with condensation since the ceilings were fitted (together with a fan in the bathroom).

Unless someone has a better idea, I'm going to instruct the builder to strip off the plaster skim, apply two coats of PVA size, re-skim then paint with a suitable (waterproof) paint.

 

[joe-90]

Deleted



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