Ceiling repair after leak

[Eurosceptic]

Hi

We had a bathroom leak, which has now been sorted. (Over six months ago so dried out now)

Unfortunately the leak caused some damage to kitchen ceiling below. Pictures attached. 3/4 pictures are of same area. There doesn’t seem to be visible bowing, but quite a few deep cracks to plaster/board. These are mainly concentrated in one area.

I’ll get a plasterer to assess, but will we get away with a repair, skim to the damaged area rather than the whole ceiling?

Thanks

 

[Ron0z]

You've nothing to lose.

It probably is bowed. You just can't see it. Running a straight edge across (eg. spirit level) will reveal how flat or otherwise it is.

I had a water leak from the bathroom upstairs. When fixed, I cut away the affected area in the downstairs ceiling, plus a good deal past that. When I could see the joists, I cut away to expose half of a joist. Where there was no joist, I fitted a piece of timber between joists. I was then able to screw in a new piece of plasterboard cut to the right size.

There are plenty of videos showing you how to do this. The most difficult part was raising the new board as I was working alone. With a couple of people helping, that should be no problem. I anticipated that plastering the joints would be the most difficult. To get a good finish. But with all the trowels of different sizes, it was surprisingly easy.

 

[johnny2007]

If you want to fix it quick, at risk of having to take it down in future, run a flat screwdriver in the cracks and then fill with flexible filler.
Where the cracks are thin, you can use a flexible sealant; some would say caulk but I personally prefer soudal fix all that is flexible and printable.
Then repaint.
Cracks will reappear after a few months and you'll need to repeat the process.
Then it should be ok.
If not, you can then take ceiling down and replace.
All of this, given that plaster is not blown, so not at risk of falling: check it out.