Ceiling woes

[Diyidoit2]

Hello all, we’ve recently moved into a new house, 1950’s prefab Cornish whatnot, repaired to brick some time ago. The ceilings all have woodchip on, we’ve removed it from one room to find bare boards beneath. Or is it above? Anyway do we need to have it skimmed or something.

Any advice greatly appreciated.

 

[JohnD]

@Diyidoit2


it looks to me like the paper covering on plasterboard. The colour is brownish which I am not familiar with. Well done on stripping the woodchip.

I'm sure an experienced local plasterer will be able to deal with it. It will need taping on the joints.

However, if this is a single-story prefab, it probably has a flat roof and lacks insulation. I would want to insulate to the max. This may mean pulling down the old plasterboard. This will also give you the chance to run new wiring, if you wish.

In some districts (not all) asbestos-cement construction wall-cladding sheets were used, which is not considered very dangerous, and sometimes an early version of Asbestolux, which is. I expect an experienced local builder, or Building Control at your council, will know what type of prefab was used in your area.

There are also enthusiast groups on Facebook who are fascinated by prefabs and will know all about yours.

 

[Diyidoit2]

Thanks for your reply @JohnD on further inspection there is a paper covering, it’s brown behind that too! The woodchip looks to be as old as the house, most of it was easy to get off but there’s a little bit to go. There was tape on the joints but it came off with the paper. I’ll get a plasterer to quote, if I can find one that’s available.

The house is a two story with plenty of insulation in the loft. I’ll look for something on FB who might be able to give me more information on the asbestos situation.

Thanks again.

 

[JohnD]

the brown might be cigarette tar, or from an open fire. Would be darker above the armchair or fireplace, though.

If sound travels annoyingly to/from upstairs, you could have an extra layer of plasterboard added.

 

[sparkwright]

Is it plasterboard, or fibre board?

Fibre board was fairly common in the 50s, and can't be plastered over very well.

Your plasterer may insist on overboarding the ceiling - in which case you've wasted your time stripping the woodchip off - but hey ho.

 

[Diyidoit2]

Thanks @JohnD, there’s no staining though, it’s just brown, see photo. This is an upstairs bedroom.

 

[Diyidoit2]

Thanks @sparkwright, I’m pretty sure it’s plasterboard from the photo. It looks about 5mm thick abs crumbly.

 

[Diyidoit2]

I’m going to have to do 5 ceilings but only one at a time as we’ll have to live around the rooms being decorated. Getting a plasterer for 5 small jobs might prove difficult and pricey so I might have a go myself. I don’t fancy messing with mixing plaster as I’ll need extra tools and I might mess the mixture up, on top of trying to get the finish right. Has anyone had any experience with Thistle SkimFinish? £20 for 6m2.

 

[sparkwright]

Only 5mm thick??

Is it soft and bendy?

Are you certain it's plasterboard? It will be the early kind if it is, 1950s style.

Seems a bit thin. Not hardboard?

EDIT. Can see the plastery stuff inside I think on one of the photos.

If it is plasterboard, and you do skim this, be sure to use scrim tape on the joints.

 

[Diyidoit2]

Thanks @sparkwright, it may be more than 5mm, difficult to tell when it’s up.

For the rest of the house it’s been suggested that I just board over the woodchip rather than wasting time trying to get it off and cleaning the existing boards. Wicks do a Knauf square edge 1.2 x 2.4 9mm board at £7.90 ea (£2.74 sqm) is that the right stuff to use?

 

[opps]

Over boarding might be the best option. If you have cornicing, you will need to remove/replace. Ideally, the new boards will be screwed through the old plasterboard in to the joists.

 

[Diyidoit2]

Thanks @opps, that might be what I have to do.

 

[Diyidoit2]

Ok, so I think we’ve gone too far with the stripping. We’ve stripped the shiny paper layer off the plasterboard and are left with the slightly furry stuff. Can it still be plastered?

 

[sparkwright]

How big is the area where the paper has gone?

The strength goes when a lot of paper has been removed.

 

[Diyidoit2]

@sparkwright, I’d say about 95%!! Makes sense, it will soak up the moisture in the plaster and sag I suppose. Oh well, a lesson learned. We’ll over board it, at least we won’t have to strip the woodchip from the other rooms.