Boarding bathroom ceiling .... curved?

[Mr. Clueless]

I wont be doing it myself but i'd still like to know so that i can be armed with some knowledge when we get guys out to weigh the job up & see if they start saying the right things.

**I'll try and give as much info as i can but if you need more than in this post then just ask**

House was built in 1932. We've had some walls knocked off downstairs & those that weren't brick were plaster & lath as were the ceilings, so i'm guessing the bathroom will be no different?

The 2 walls you see in the photo will be outside walls. The main wall being the side of the house & the window wall being on to the back garden. The wall opposite the window wall is where the shower is & on the other side of that wall is the landing/stairs. When that was knocked off it was plaster & lath. The wall opposite the main wall you see in the photo will be the other side of the back bedroom. The boiler is installed in a cupboard on this wall (in the bedroom).

The 'paper' on the ceiling right now is a sort of vinyl like paper. Probably been painted 5000 times. I guess due to the heat or water it gets stained in sections. Pink above the shower which just so happens to be the same colour as the bare ceiling we saw in the living room & bedroom.

When we get it done out i'd like it boarded i think. I don't like the vinyl paper look, especially the staining so if boarding will help to remove this then all the better.

Also you see the one light in the room. If we could get downlights recessed into the ceiling then that'd be great. Not sure if this would require the whole ceiling being ripped down or not though.




What concerns me is how you'd board it out with that curve you see in the photo




I measured from the flat of the ceiling to the start of the tiles & the drop is 150mm. The drop to where that (wooden) beam meets the tiles at the bottom would be 180mm so an extra 30mm, approximately.



* What would be the correct/best way to tackle this ceiling?
* Would the lighting i mentioned be straight forward enough & what would the job entail (ripping the ceiling down?)? - i don't know how many down lights would be required but a few spread out?
* What about moisture collection on the (new) ceiling? It collects for fun on this vinyl stuff.

I think that covers the ceiling concerns for now.

 

[Doggit]

You're talking about boarding the ceiling, but why can't you scrape the vinyl off with a steamer, and then paint the ceiling with an anti mould paint.

If you can't get access to the space above the ceiling, then you'd need to take it down to get the lights in, and they'd board the ceiling, and the slopes first, then they'll put some bonding on the joints to create the curve, then they'll plaster it.

But if you're getting loads of moisture on the ceiling, then it suggests you don't have an extractor in the bathroom. You'd definitely find it easier to get the fan wiring in if you take the ceiling down and reboard it, and the extractor will stop any future problems with the ceiling. And I suspect a humidistat and timer would be more sensible than a timer only fan.

 

[Mr. Clueless]

You're talking about boarding the ceiling, but why can't you scrape the vinyl off with a steamer, and then paint the ceiling with an anti mould paint.

If you can't get access to the space above the ceiling, then you'd need to take it down to get the lights in, and they'd board the ceiling, and the slopes first, then they'll put some bonding on the joints to create the curve, then they'll plaster it.

But if you're getting loads of moisture on the ceiling, then it suggests you don't have an extractor in the bathroom. You'd definitely find it easier to get the fan wiring in if you take the ceiling down and reboard it, and the extractor will stop any future problems with the ceiling. And I suspect a humidistat and timer would be more sensible than a timer only fan.

I've only seen the living room ceiling & our bedroom ceiling - both were original plaster with a ton of cracks in. I'm not confident that that is the best action (having the original plaster ceiling exposed). Ideally i would like the bathroom once fully finished to look nice & modern and i don't think the original plaster ceiling will tie in with that.

You're right about the extractor - we don't have one.

When having a shower we have the window opened wide & leave it open for a while afterwards but that's about all we can do. We have a Karcher which we used afterwards to run down the walls & windows to suck up the moisture after a shower.

I've never actually been in a bathroom that has an extractor fan to be honest. My wife has & says that such as when it's windy they rattle like mad & make a right noise. Whether this is how the old fashioned ones worked & they've come a long way over the years i don't know. Are they quiet these days? Also can you close them up for when you're not using the shower so that all the heat doesn't escape?

 

[Doggit]

If you get an airflow Icon, then that have a shutter built into the fan, so the wind can't get through, now the outside shutter may still rattle but you can't have everything. The trick is to determine which direction the wind comes from, and then put the fan on another wall. I forgot to add that if you take the ceiling down and reboard it, then you can add some Cellotex insulation to the slopes, and that'll help no end.

 

[Mr. Clueless]

On the topic of Cellotex, would they have to be proper sheets (be it cut 8x4 or cavity) or could it just be a mish mash of Cellotex? Reason i ask is because at our place Cellotex come in on Cellotex 'skids'. The 'skids' are generally about 100mm thick, we just pallet them up on an 8x4 pallet & sell them off. I'd have to pay for sheets but the skids i could probably just have for free as it's pretty much waste & costs the company nothing, they're just very thick as i said, not 50-75mm at all.

Would the vent be located on the actual wall? I'm sure i've seen photos before where it's built in to the window, or is that not such a great idea?

 

[Doggit]

It'll depend on how thick the rafters are, as to how you fit the cellotex. You need to leave about an inch air gap under the roof tiles to stop any moisture problems, and the trick is to wedge the cellotex in between the rafters, so you'll need offcuts of the right size to do that. But if your rafters are only 100mm deep, then you need 50-75mm cellotex, not 100mm.

You want an electrical extractor in the wall, not a vent in the window.