Removing ceiling and loft insulation

[mouk]

Hopefully the right forum. I spose this is a question on houses are built/laid out

I am having extensive work done at the moment to the outside. Once that is done I intend to do quite a bit of decorating inside - this will include new plasterboard ceilings and some electrical with with wires being chased in (both of these thigns done by pros).

As such I am going to take down/off the ceilings in the upstairs bedrooms. This will (I guess) expose the loft insualtion above. Someone has said this will cause a lot of mess because of all the crap that will be up there between the ceiling and insualtion - not a problem per se as the rooms below can be cleared..

House was built in the 50s and I assume wasn't insulated untill quite recently - i.e last 10-15 years. If the insualtion wa sjust put on top of the ceiling them there may have been significant dust accumulation.

Therefore I plan to take up all the insulation temporarily and then take the ceiling down - one advantage to this will be to see what pipes/wires are also up there - just gives me an opportunity to see what is what in my house whilst doing all of this work.

Also I guess all of the wiring for the upstairs lights will run under the insulation or along the joists?

I am also awaret hat there are unused water tanks/pipes up there which could be removed.

So my actual questions are

1) if I remove the insulation and the ceiling I assume that mean there will be nothing between the room and ceiling? If so, will it make the rooms below freezing cold?

2) if there are loads of electrical wires hanging around is there any best practice as to how they should be laid out?

I don't plan to extend the space up there to live in but maybe worth future proofing if possible.

Doing the above will also make it easier for the electrician to lay cable I spsoe if it needs to go in the loft and down to a room.

Can anyone think of any other considerations/something I might be missing?

 

[alan333]

Any reason you can't leave the old ceiling in place and board over it? A million times less messy.

 

[conny]

No matter how secure and dust tight you make the rooms below there will be filthy dust EVERYWHERE!

I removed 2 bedroom ceilings many years ago. Removed the insulation, vacuumed as best I could in the loft, sealed the doors and windows in the bedrooms and got kitted out with all the PPE that was needed. Proceeded to rip the lath & plaster ceilings down and within 10 minutes couldn't see a thing! After getting them down I climbed out the window, (I had previously put a ladder up to the window before starting), went down into the yard and stripped off, I was filthy. Walked in the kitchen door and there was a layer of fine black dust over every thing.

Take the advice of alan333 and just over board the present ceiling.

 

[mouk]

that only makes me want to do it more!

our downstairs ceilings are standard plasterboards whereas out upstairs ones are like sheets and you can see the join mark - they are quite old so I presume something used before plasterboard.

aside from being able to see wiring - additional plasterboard would lower the ceiling and made some of the door frames look odd

in addition i am possible going to get some soundproofing which will, on some ceilings, possibly require new flase celings - and I am fairly sure they need to be able to see the joist.

 

[alan333]

Overboarding will only add the thickness of the gyproc to the ceiling so i wouldn't think you would notice it in relation to door frames etc. You can also work out/mark where the joists are, so no need to remove to expose. I'm sure wiring in the loft can be accessed by lifting some insulation too. Seriously, there's no way I'd take the old down unless it was absolutely necessary.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

Someone has said this will cause a lot of mess because of all the crap that will be up there between the ceiling and insualtion

Someone was quite right.

If the insualtion wa sjust put on top of the ceiling them there may have been significant dust accumulation.

Don't think for one second that there's any "may" about it.

Therefore I plan to take up all the insulation temporarily and then take the ceiling down - one advantage to this will be to see what pipes/wires are also up there

You'd be able to see all that if you just remove the insulation - no need to take the ceilings down.

Also I guess all of the wiring for the upstairs lights will run under the insulation or along the joists?

Almost certainly.

1) if I remove the insulation and the ceiling I assume that mean there will be nothing between the room and ceiling? If so, will it make the rooms below freezing cold?

Not this time of year. But you won't be using them anyway.

2) if there are loads of electrical wires hanging around is there any best practice as to how they should be laid out?

So that they don't get damaged. If you take the ceilings away you'll need to clip cables which were resting on them to the joists.

I don't plan to extend the space up there to live in but maybe worth future proofing if possible.

Future proofing in what way?

Doing the above will also make it easier for the electrician to lay cable I spsoe if it needs to go in the loft and down to a room.

No, because he won't be able to connect to the lights - they won't be there.

Can anyone think of any other considerations/something I might be missing?

If you replace the ceiling, or the insulation, it will have to conform to today's standards, which will probably mean a lot more insulation than you currently have.

 

[mouk]

I intend that that I will take the insulation down and ceiling down - clean it up and then continue to decorate - so some of the rooms will be in sue.

My door frames go right up to the ceiling so a new plasterboard will make it look odd. I have like a door with an extra frame thing on top.

bit of mess never hurt anyone - man up!

however, i will be more cautous in covering things up to protect from dust - maybe put cheap dust sheets down so it all gets caught up in that and then chuck them.

 

[ban-all-sheds]

I intend that that I will take the insulation down and ceiling down - clean it up and then continue to decorate - so some of the rooms will be in sue.

I fear you will regret that.

My door frames go right up to the ceiling so a new plasterboard will make it look odd. I have like a door with an extra frame thing on top.

Change them?

bit of mess never hurt anyone

Indeed not.

Please let us know how it all turns out.

 

[noseall]

Can anyone think of any other considerations/something I might be missing?

It may fall under BC's 25% rule. However, as long as you are re-fitting adequate insulation and you have adequate ventilation to the loft area then you will satisfy b'regs in any case.

 

[mouk]

I have started taking down the plasterboard downstairs which just has a standard plasterboard with the upstairs floor above it

has been a little dusty but no big shakes.

what is the ebst way to cut through plasterboard to get ot dowmn - should i buy one of those little saws rather than just grabbing and pulling chunks off.

 

[noseall]

Use a crowbar but watch out for pipes and cables.

 

[mouk]

OK I am back.

What an ordeal.

The insulation I have is the roll stuff with loose stuff on top - the roll has been down a good 20 years+ I imagien and was disintegrating.

Dusty like hell.

The actual process of lifting it up wasn't too bad but I was sweating liek crazy and my glasses kept getting misted - in total have over 40 large sacks of stuff to dispose of.

I am not totally finished but have removed the bulk of it - just need to do the finer detail by brushing up the loose stuff (mainly dust) and vacuuming it us.

All of the wooden joist/rafters are dusty so need brushing off too.

Overall then - hopefulyl by end of thew week I will have a clean and totally empty loft.

Was it worth it? Yes.
I can now see where everything is (wires/joists etc).
It is much cleaner for storing stuff in.
Taking the ceilings down from above will be straightforward now.
I can put in new insualtion when needed.

It MAY have been simpler to just take the ceilings down and let all the crap drop into the room below - but would have been a nightmare to clean it all up.

I shoudl add the rooms are not being lvied in now - would be a real pain taking the ceilings down whilst living there - I will give you that one.

 

[theprinceofdarkness]

While the ceiling joists are exposed, give them a coat of woodworm poison.
Frank