Hello all. I've accidentally found myself doing more and more of the jobs our house requires, and those jobs are getting steadily bigger and bigger (well, bigger by my standards anyway, I'm sure I'm still just a minnow compared to you lot!).
Anyway I am hoping for a little advice for my latest project. There's an extension at one end of our dormer cottage that has a dining room below and a bedroom above. This has its own staircase, separate from the main one in the original part of the house. Unlike the original staircase, which winds up from the hall and rises under the sloping roof, the newer one goes straight up from the dining room and there's an open void right up to the underside of the loft space.
This hasn't been decorated for years, and as I stood there wondering how to get up to the top to paint it without hiring equipment or risking breaking my neck, I remembered that the house I grew up in had a similar, huge waste of space, which my parents eventually solved by putting in a sloping false ceiling. I am now wanting to do the same myself. I think it'll be easier to redecorate now and in the future, and if I put some loft insulation in it I may save a little on heating that great big void as well.
Sorry if I'm going on a bit but I'd rather give too much info than too little. My question, essentially, is this: what's the best material to make the ceiling out of? I'm looking at plasterboard, hardboard and MDF. Hardboard looks tempting as it's cheap and I'm on a tight budget at the moment, but is it the right choice?
Over to you, and thanks in advance for any advice you may be able to offer.
Anyway I am hoping for a little advice for my latest project. There's an extension at one end of our dormer cottage that has a dining room below and a bedroom above. This has its own staircase, separate from the main one in the original part of the house. Unlike the original staircase, which winds up from the hall and rises under the sloping roof, the newer one goes straight up from the dining room and there's an open void right up to the underside of the loft space.
This hasn't been decorated for years, and as I stood there wondering how to get up to the top to paint it without hiring equipment or risking breaking my neck, I remembered that the house I grew up in had a similar, huge waste of space, which my parents eventually solved by putting in a sloping false ceiling. I am now wanting to do the same myself. I think it'll be easier to redecorate now and in the future, and if I put some loft insulation in it I may save a little on heating that great big void as well.
Sorry if I'm going on a bit but I'd rather give too much info than too little. My question, essentially, is this: what's the best material to make the ceiling out of? I'm looking at plasterboard, hardboard and MDF. Hardboard looks tempting as it's cheap and I'm on a tight budget at the moment, but is it the right choice?
Over to you, and thanks in advance for any advice you may be able to offer.
