Lowering ceiling

[Mechanical Mike]

Front bedroom of my victorian semi is
A)Very cold
B)And has old lath and plaster ceiling and old cracked coving..

I don't want to take ceiling down because of the mess but thinking about lowering the ceiling. Room is 11 foot tall and so hard to heat with rads.

So was thinking of taking off original coving and fitting joists below current ceiling and fitting 100mm of celotex between new joists, re plasterboarding and fitting new coving etc. Any thoughts on how to secure joists to wall and depth of joists? Room is 4m by 5.5m in plan.

 

[RichA]

Can you not just plaster board under /attached to the existing with insulated board.

 

[Mechanical Mike]

I could but not sure what mass I can add to existing joists and whether I could adequate insulation ?

 

[foxhole]

Run a 6x1 across centre (4m width) then run 3x1 (or 4x1)from that to wall plates. Wall plates can be secured to walls with large screws depending on wall structure.
Will keep cost down .

 

[Mechanical Mike]

Thanks foxhole, just to clarify
wallplates are timber as well?
And the 3x 1s would be approx 2.75 long? At 90 degrees to, and either side of a central 6x1 joist 4m long. How far would you recommend spaceing them apart along the 4m?

 

[foxhole]

Correct, 400mm centres.Also central noggins on the 3x1.

 

[phatboy]

If you lower the ceiling by enough, just use 300mm of Rockwool as insulation, it will be a lot cheaper!

Cut a hatch in the above ceiling so you can get down to the new one if you ever need to.

 

[Deleted member 174758]

I don't want to take ceiling down because of the mess but thinking about lowering the ceiling. Room is 11 foot tall and so hard to heat with rads.

...not sure what mass I can add to existing joists and whether I could adequate insulation ?

To my mind a better (and lighter) solution than timber framing would be to use metal framing (see the Gyproc Casoline page as one example) on either 400mm or 600mm centres (depending on board size, etc) and boarded with 12mm grey board. The "mains" (C-sections) sit on angle plates at the perimeter and are supported in the middle using angle section fixed to the existing joists. "Top hats" are clipped or screwed onto the "mains" and the boards are fixed to them. Faster to install than timber framing and much more versatile IMHO. Even places like Selco sell these systems nowadays

 

[foxhole]

To my mind a better (and lighter) solution than timber framing would be to use metal framing (see the Gyproc Casoline page as one example) on either 400mm or 600mm centres (depending on board size, etc) and boarded with 12mm grey board. The "mains" (C-sections) sit on angle plates at the perimeter and are supported in the middle using angle section fixed to the existing joists. "Top hats" are clipped or screwed onto the "mains" and the boards are fixed to them. Faster to install than timber framing and much more versatile IMHO. Even places like Selco sell these systems nowadays

But would require hacking into existing ceiling which he wants to avoid.

 

[Mechanical Mike]

So Ive messed up. I didn't follow foxholes advice because I basically timed out, family bereavement etc. And just paid a plasterer to overboard it with insulated board. Cornice installer has been today and says ceiling is too out of true to install the coving, and has packed up and gone. So back to foxholes original suggestion, how do I attach the central 6x1 joist to the walls, ( wall plates I'll just rawlbolt). Any help would, as always, be appreciated.

 

[foxhole]

Couple of jiffy hangers .
https://www.screwfix.com/p/sabrefix...gclsrc=aw.ds&dclid=CPmow_HZ290CFVWRGwodPeMGcw

 

[Mechanical Mike]

Couple of jiffy hangers .
https://www.screwfix.com/p/sabrefix...gclsrc=aw.ds&dclid=CPmow_HZ290CFVWRGwodPeMGcw

Thanks foxhole, just screws and 10mm nylon plugs to fasten these up? I thought I'd have to buy masonry hangers and grind out morter both sides of room.

 

[Mechanical Mike]

plus sorry if im being thick ....6 x 1 but these take a joist width of 47mm?

 

[foxhole]

plus sorry if im being thick ....6 x 1 but these take a joist width of 47mm?

Wrap around wall plates and nailed ( sorry should be 6x2) must have been a typo.

 

[Mechanical Mike]

So a few questions again before I order the timber. Does my layout look ok or is there a better way?
As you can see from the photo , the wardrobes are in with a false wall above them and under the saggy ceiling which has been overboard with insulated plasterboard and skimmed.( if you have a keen eye you might see the laser level line) Reluctant to remove false wall above wardrobes but will do if necessary.

I show wall plates, which I would sleeve bolt to walls. Do these need to be c16 grade and what dimensions? 8" x 1"
Is it OK fo the wall plates to be discontinuous as shown.
Dimensions for joists? 6" x2". With 4"x2" on 400 mm centres between joists.

Note all it will be supporting is plaster board, plaster, cornice. Ceiling rose and a heavy light fitting. As always any help would be appreciated.