Do I have ceiling joists?

[SW5]

Can anybody please help me? I'm trying to fix a pole to the ceiling, and have fixings for a concrete ceiling and plasterboard with wooden joists. I live in a first floor flat that has concrete floors, but the ceilings are plasterboard. I've tried tapping the ceiling to locate joists, but there is no differentiation in sound. Does it sound like I have wooden joists or a suspended ceiling? I can't find any way to look into the space to see, so, short of knocking a hole in the ceiling to see, can anyone advise?

If it sounds like I do have ceiling joists, then what is the best way of trying to locate them?

Thanks

 

[noseall]

it may be that you have a block & beam floor, to which battens have been fixed, to support the ceiling boards.

try tapping the boards and listen to the acoustic changes when you land on a batten.

 

[^woody^]

try tapping the boards and listen to the acoustic changes when you land on a batten.

Tap Tap .... Ok that's a batten .... no it's a joist ... no definitely a batten .... no, sounds like a joist ....

If the OP can hear creaking from the people upstairs, and they are not OAP's then its timber joists.

Here is an idea though, go upstairs and jump on the landing floor

 

[SW5]

Thanks.

I can't hear any creaking, you can hear thumping as they walk about...have tried tapping the boards but there's no difference in sounds, it just sounds like there's a cavity.

Does it sound like i've got a block and beam floor/ceiling? And if this is the case, how do i go about fixing this pole?

 

[DoctorC]

drill a hole and have a look to be sure - easy to fill and re-paint.

probably beam and block, or concrete in-situ, or Bison pre-cast slabs.

probably strapped with timbers.


out of interest. A pole?

for dancing?

 

[SW5]

Yes it's a pole dance pole. I was trying to avoid saying that!

probably beam and block, or concrete in-situ, or Bison pre-cast slabs.

....so if it's either of those do you think i'll be able to find a place strong enough to fix it?

 

[DoctorC]

your secret's safe with me

thinking of the dynamic loads even the most svelte of pole dancers can put on a pole (allegedly!) you will need to get a fixing direct to the concrete slab, and therefore cut out a section of plasterboard ceiling.

Fixing through the plasterboard and the void between it and the concrete will probably give you a problem.

the lateral loads may also have given a timber joist problems without dwangs / noggins

 

[SW5]

Oh ok, so basically it's a no go then

Thanks for your help...

 

[DoctorC]

not necessarily

you need to understand what is beneath the concrete, and how big a void there is.

if it is plasterboard on 25mm strapping straight onto the concrete, it would be relatively straight forward.

make a hole in the ceiling big enough that you can see / get a tape measure in, and ideally peer in with a torch, and let us know what's there.

you could do this where you want your pole, or more discreetly in the corner of the room.

careful - there may be electrics running to ceiling lights.....

 

[SW5]

I'm pretty sure there is a gap between the platerboard and the concrete, when i tapped on the ceiling (originally trying to locate joists) it sounded hollow. There was a slight difference in sound running along the same line as the light fittings so i thought there might be something wooden there. But it still sounded hollow and even if there was a batten there i'm guessing it wouldn't be strong enought to fix to.

To be honest it's begging to sound like more hassel than it's worth.

 

[^woody^]

To be honest it's begging to sound like more hassel than it's worth.

Well its not, don't make it difficult

Just use a 100mm screw and brown plug or a 100mm hammerfix/frame fix fixing and screw the thing up!

 

[SW5]

haha! well that told me!

I can just envisage finding a huge cavity between the plasterboard and the concrete that i won't be able to fix my pole to without having a permanent hole in the ceiling. I need to be able to remove the pole when i'm not using it, so it's not going to work if i have to get though plaster board each time i want to put it up....unless i'm missing something?

 

[^woody^]

The boards have a very high probability of being on nothing more than 50x50 timbers - even more likely to be 50x38 laths.

Make a tiny hole and you can poke something through, or find a timber and screw through that. Make sure no pipes or cables are there first

Don't let me tell you again

 

[noseall]

if you make a large enough hole whilst investigating the merits of your hollow ceiling, you could always fix a 450mm x 450mm plywood spreader plate to the ceiling.

the pole could be connected to this plate and it would take some of the stress away from a direct masonry connection.

probably.

 

[DoctorC]

to be honest - i think we need pictures of this......