Lowering ceiling by 100mm?

Ian H · 22 Mar 2021

cdbe said:
That's pretty much what I did, nice flat ceilings, loft storage and room for insulation:
View attachment 227736

I do wonder if those terracotta walls have any structural strength? I had one between this bedroom and the bathroom next door, it literally fell apart when I stripped the plaster off it so I replaced it with a stud wall, I think because they are so light they don't "settle" over the years like a heavy old brick wall when the joists deflect, they just crack. I also never understood why they built the walls off the floorboards between joists but it's to spread the load between adjacent joists.

How did you connect the new joists to the house at the window side of the room?

When I did it at my house I went from load bearing wall in the middle to an RSJ just in from the windows. At our daughters I could go onto the wall plate direct and that would lower the ceilings by 16cm to 243cm.

Ian H · 22 Mar 2021

kingandy2nd said:
Sounds like a good plan, but a lot of work a mess there. I guess as long as your daughter is planning on staying in the house for a while it’s worth the extra effort

I told her if she pulls the old ceiling down I’d put the new one up. For what it will cost it seems a no brainer to me.

kingandy2nd · 23 Mar 2021

Ian H said:
I told her if she pulls the old ceiling down I’d put the new one up. For what it will cost it seems a no brainer to me.

Hope you also told her she has to clean up the old ceiling too after she pulls it down...you don’t want to get put on clean up duty!!

Ian H · 23 Mar 2021

kingandy2nd said:
Hope you also told her she has to clean up the old ceiling too after she pulls it down...you don’t want to get put on clean up duty!!

Yes, I said burn the lats and bag the plaster. I’ve treated her to a decent dust mask and some overalls

cdbe · 23 Mar 2021

Ian H said:
How did you connect the new joists to the house at the window side of the room?

When I did it at my house I went from load bearing wall in the middle to an RSJ just in from the windows. At our daughters I could go onto the wall plate direct and that would lower the ceilings by 16cm to 243cm.

I just chamfered the ends and sat them on the wall plate, I removed the old joists completely (obviously remembering to connect the new ones to the rafters and the joists at the other side of the house) as they were just in the way of the insulation. If you need the joists lower you could use joist hangers or notch a bit out of the bottoms - it's only sheer stress at the ends.
I've just checked and with the insulation and plasterboard under, my ceiling is only 235, less than I thought, but looks perfectly acceptable and in no way feels "low".

Ian H · 28 Mar 2021

YOLO

It was surprisingly clean and fresh in the loft even with all that going off

Roland slept through all the noise

catlad · 28 Mar 2021

Ian your a crazy man! I tried telling you the simple solution

anyway it looks like your over the worst and roland will have more space too!

23vc · 28 Mar 2021

Roland looks massive, I would not have enjoyed him dropping on my head as I ripped down a ceiling

kingandy2nd · 28 Mar 2021

Ian H said:
I told her if she pulls the old ceiling down I’d put the new one up...

Ian H · 28 Mar 2021

Roland was bone dry, stiff as a board but in really good condition

Keithmac · 29 Mar 2021

Our house looks similar construction (maybe later as not lathe and plaster).

Thats a chunk of ceiling height to take out imho, wouldn't do it to ours.

Ian H · 7 Apr 2021

We cracked on today, the ceiling are 16cm lower but still seem a good height.

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Lowering ceiling by 100mm?

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