Re-boarding a ceiling - gaps between boards

garrymum · 6 Feb 2009

Hi guys

I am going to re-board my kitchen ceiling in the next couple of months. To keep the costs down, I will be re-boarding the ceiling and getting a plasterer in to skim it. Originally when I asked the plaster for a quote, it was only to re-skim the existing plastered ceiling. If I am going to re-board, will he have to give it two coats? What I am getting at, is the price I was quoted originally likely to change?

Also, when I fit the plasterboard do I butt the plasterboard edges up tight or leave small gap?

Thanks

skinters · 6 Feb 2009

you could not reboard and save the money if the job is getting done anyway.

well the size of the ceiling wont change by reboarding,and it wont make no
difference to the price,if anything he be glad to have new boards to skim over. he has to apply 2 coats regardless.

as for gaps in the plasterboard,dont worry to much i have gone over some real bad boarding jobs.the plaster gets pushed through scrim and fills the join which makes a stronger bond IMO .

what i try to be carefull with when it comes to boarding, is where the board meets the wall,if you coving afterwards it wont make no difference. if your not coving gaps can be an issue,especially if no joint tape is used,for example if the walls are not being done.over time cracks can appear if the skim has to fill to much of a gap this way, with or without tape. either way just take you time taping the joins .

garrymum · 6 Feb 2009

skinters said:
you could not reboard and save the money if the job is getting done anyway.

well the size of the ceiling wont change by reboarding,and it wont make no
difference to the price,if anything he be glad to have new boards to skim over. he has to apply 2 coats regardless.

Thanks. What I actually meant was I will be doing the re-boarding myself, rather than getting the plasterer to do it. I know re-boarding won't make the ceiling smaller

Thanks

skinters · 6 Feb 2009

ah no worries strong in the arm thick in the head me lol

Richard C · 6 Feb 2009

Can I ask why your re-boarding? Are you boarding over existing or are you going to rip the old boards down?

If the existing boards are in good condition, I would just whack in some extra screws to firm it up, your plasterer will then reinforce any cracks that may have developed & re-skim; job done.

garrymum · 6 Feb 2009

Richard C said:
Can I ask why your re-boarding? Are you boarding over existing or are you going to rip the old boards down?

If the existing boards are in good condition, I would just whack in some extra screws to firm it up, your plasterer will then reinforce any cracks that may have developed & re-skim; job done.

Long story. Originally, I was going to just get the ceiling re-skimmed due to the sheer number of nails which had started to pop through. There are dozens of them and could not be bothered filling then sanding all the repairs.

Then we had a sparkie around to quote for for installing low voltage downlights. Told him not bother about making a mess when routing the wires as I was going to get it skimmed due to all the popped out nails. He said they could still pop out after re-skimming. Made a suggestion of him running all his first fix wires to install the lights. Make a note of where all the wires were for the LV lights, then I re-board the ceiling before getting it skimmed. That way no more popped out nails as I would use screws to secure the new plasterboard. Then after re-skimming he would come back and install the downlights.

Richard C · 6 Feb 2009

garrymum said:
I was going to just get the ceiling re-skimmed due to the sheer number of nails which had started to pop through. There are dozens of them and could not be bothered filling then sanding all the repairs.

If the boards are basically in good condition, all you need to do is refix them with screws, knock any nails that have “popped” back up tight & rough fill the screw/nail heads; it will take minutes for your spread to do this & you don’t need to sand the bluggers smooth, just skim over them.

garrymum said:
Then we had a sparkie around to quote for for installing low voltage downlights. Told him not bother about making a mess when routing the wires as I was going to get it skimmed due to all the popped out nails. He said they could still pop out after re-skimming. Made a suggestion of him running all his first fix wires to install the lights. Make a note of where all the wires were for the LV lights, then I re-board the ceiling before getting it skimmed. That way no more popped out nails as I would use screws to secure the new plasterboard. Then after re-skimming he would come back and install the downlights.

They nails won’t continue pop once the boards are secured with screws as the nails will no longer be supporting the weight, the screws will! Many will pop as you re-fix with screws but, again, just remove any loose plaster, knock them up flush & rough fill.

Even 3 inch holes cut in the ceiling for routing cables can be invisibly repaired, if they are cut out with a hole saw you can just stick the bits back in!

You still haven’t said if you’re ripping all the old boards down or just over boarding?

garrymum · 7 Feb 2009

Richard C said:
You still haven’t said if you’re ripping all the old boards down or just over boarding?

Overboarding.

marks40 · 7 Feb 2009

first off buy some drywall screws 38mm from b&q. screw up the existing boards in between where the nails have popped. when you have done this knock in the nails exposed and then fill and sand to a finish bish bosh job done saved a fortune

Richard C · 7 Feb 2009

marks40 said:
first off buy some drywall screws 38mm from b&q. screw up the existing boards in between where the nails have popped. when you have done this knock in the nails exposed and then fill and sand to a finish bish bosh job done saved a fortune

Nothing so plain as the bleedin obvious is there

; think you'll find that's already been suggested but the OP seems to want something more!

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Re-boarding a ceiling - gaps between boards

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