Ceiling renewal to board over or rip down?

[chillout]

I have an old plaster & lathe ceiling which is cracked but has been filled, howver I now want to install downlighters so therefore decided on bes option is to replace the ceiling. Plasterer says probably be easier to board over with 9.5 depth boards due to mess. I dont mind ripping old ceiling down as house is in a refurbishment state already so more dust etc wont matter. What do you guys think board over or rip down and start afresh? I think 12.5 boards would probably be better also?

 

[steveuk]

i would go with ripping it down and re do it with 12.5 mm boards, that way once the old ceiling is down the new cables can be run for ya lights if needed

 

[roughcaster]

I think that if you have the chance to rip the old lath and plaster ceiling down, and the mess doesn't matter, then that's what i would do without a doubt. I repair a lot of this type of ceiling if they're sound enough,, but if they are beyond repair, i think that re-boarding over the old, could/can cause problems in the future if the old plaster/ceiling gave away. I have seen a boarded over ceiling after the old plaster above gave way, it makes quite a mess/shape of the p/board. So for this one, i'd go with taking off all the old plaster, and "the laths/ old lath nails" too, and reboarding the ceiling with new 12.5mm boards, directly onto the old joists,,,, back to square one, and an easier job overall.

Roughcaster.

 

[roughcaster]

As an aside on this one, i did a job 3 or 4 years ago, where i had to completely remove all the old plaster from an old lounge ceiling, after an area collapsed, but the customer didn't want any plasterboard near the job,, he wanted the whole ceiling plastered back onto the original lath,,, it was a great job to do, and not a very common one to get nowadays either. Plenty of patching, but very rarely the whole thing, and because in this case there was no reason for the area of ceiling to collapse in the first place,,, just wear and tear, old age,,, their insurance company never paid for the ceiling to be replaced.

Roughcaster.

 

[chillout]

Thanks for the advice guys greatly appreciated, looks like im going to be busy this weekend!
I winder why he didnt want the plastreboard back. Id imagine that if theyd of had them in them days theyd of used them without a doubt!

 

[Dazz0i]

Thoughts seconded. I can't think of any reason not to use boards to replace a ceiling.

Customer had too much money? :/

 

[trowelmonkey1]

yup, too much money, and when his friends come around to drink bottles of first growth bordeaux he can say 'had the ceiling done recently, you won't find any of that plaster board stuff up there, traditional lath and plaster that is'

 

[chillout]

Ha I think your prob right! The jobs going well, however one of the joists next to wall appears to be slighty loose and some of them are not dead flat (due to age of house I presume, 90 years old now). Will I need to do anything for these things Ive mentioned. Also I was going to use 900x1800 boards, but is it best to go bigger?

 

[spongey]

if the joists are out and are not easily sorted back to level then i would go for a suspended ceiling.

 

[Dazz0i]

Get a mate to help, and use bigger boards. Also means less joints to possibly crack.

IF the ceiling isn't *that bad*, once skimmed, you'll be able to loose quite a bit of the bow's in the ceiling, mid ceiling you'll also struggle to notice it. it's round the ceiling line that it'd be clearer.



If it's quite bad, as said, you could build a false/suspended ceiling as said, or use bonding coat to feather out the worst part of the ceiling.

 

[chillout]

Ok cheers Mate, Im expecting delivery tomorrow, but will get them to deliver bigger boards. Suspended ceiling is an option, but I think it should be ok. Wil loose joist pose a problem?

 

[dextrous]

Sling a bit of mortar to pack the end of the joist. Can't do any harm.

 

[Dazz0i]

as said, just mortar it back in.

 

[chillout]

Im a bit new to this lark, more of an engine guy! When you say mortar, like cement? Could I use no more nails?

Also they delivered Tapered edge boards. My plasterer said that this would be better than flat edge. Is he right?

Cheers

 

[Dazz0i]

sand and cement is mortar.

Tapered edge boards are more used for "tape 'n' jointing". square edged are more use when plaster skim coat is being applied.

doesn't really matter. does mean you're less likely to see the skrim tape joints!

(i'm an engine/car man in spare time! )