Need to repair the ceiling in my airing cupboard which now houses the boiler.
It is on the 1st floor, below the lower extremities of roof directly above with no access from above except lifting tiles!
The ceiling is lath and plaster. There is a long section of laths exposed along one corner (about 20cmx120cm). This is where pipework for a gravity fed system used to run up into the loft and presumably had box work over the top (all done and removed before my time here).
There is also a separate section damaged where someone has butchered through 3 or 4 lathes beside a rafter and left a hole spanning across the cut laths for a reason I can not determine. This has caused the surrounding plaster to become quite unstable and is beginning to hang with several large cracks.
There also looks like there will be a tricky bit to deal with in the corner of the ceiling where the internal side wall of the cupboard meets the ceiling laths.
Not sure if that has ever had plaster because it is where the exposed area of laths is for pipework is (pipework now removed) but it looks like it would take quite a bit of plaster to fill in and hard to reach.
The main reason for wanting to address is not cosmetic but function. With these winds of late there is a small wind tunnel in the airing cupboard which positively ventilates the whole of upstairs through the gaps around the cupboard doors. Luckily it has not been that cold here with recent winds yet but if the wind was icy cold it would be terrible!
I have read two good posts on DIYnot and also looked at a lot of posts on the web generally to try to gain some background e.g..
//www.diynot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=251771
//www.diynot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=181561
I'm having trouble deciding on the best approach to fix from all the approaches available.
If I was to repair without plasterboard I'm comfortable with the prep - need to carefully remove damaged plaster, screw and support any hanging sections, but what products would be used for the layers?
On the web there seems to be specialist lime products, lime render for scratch coat and then a lime plaster for top coats but I'm not even 100% sure the existing was lime render / plaster. And it sounds like then I would have to use lime washes rather than emulsion which the whole inside house is already covered in.
The house is mid 1920s which may have already seen off lime based products - how would I recognise what it is already finished in? I have examined some broken plaster - can't see any hair...
If I went with conventional plaster products what products would I need for the the (three) layers?
Seems there is discussion of bonding coat for first layer on laths but others seem to say a render and other products seem to be mentioned as well....
The absolute smoothness and finish quality is not totally critical as it is the airing cupboard. But I would like to do the best job I can and I would rather do it properly once than needing to repeat.
Help most appreciated.
It is on the 1st floor, below the lower extremities of roof directly above with no access from above except lifting tiles!
The ceiling is lath and plaster. There is a long section of laths exposed along one corner (about 20cmx120cm). This is where pipework for a gravity fed system used to run up into the loft and presumably had box work over the top (all done and removed before my time here).
There is also a separate section damaged where someone has butchered through 3 or 4 lathes beside a rafter and left a hole spanning across the cut laths for a reason I can not determine. This has caused the surrounding plaster to become quite unstable and is beginning to hang with several large cracks.
There also looks like there will be a tricky bit to deal with in the corner of the ceiling where the internal side wall of the cupboard meets the ceiling laths.
Not sure if that has ever had plaster because it is where the exposed area of laths is for pipework is (pipework now removed) but it looks like it would take quite a bit of plaster to fill in and hard to reach.
The main reason for wanting to address is not cosmetic but function. With these winds of late there is a small wind tunnel in the airing cupboard which positively ventilates the whole of upstairs through the gaps around the cupboard doors. Luckily it has not been that cold here with recent winds yet but if the wind was icy cold it would be terrible!
I have read two good posts on DIYnot and also looked at a lot of posts on the web generally to try to gain some background e.g..
//www.diynot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=251771
//www.diynot.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=181561
I'm having trouble deciding on the best approach to fix from all the approaches available.
If I was to repair without plasterboard I'm comfortable with the prep - need to carefully remove damaged plaster, screw and support any hanging sections, but what products would be used for the layers?
On the web there seems to be specialist lime products, lime render for scratch coat and then a lime plaster for top coats but I'm not even 100% sure the existing was lime render / plaster. And it sounds like then I would have to use lime washes rather than emulsion which the whole inside house is already covered in.
The house is mid 1920s which may have already seen off lime based products - how would I recognise what it is already finished in? I have examined some broken plaster - can't see any hair...
If I went with conventional plaster products what products would I need for the the (three) layers?
Seems there is discussion of bonding coat for first layer on laths but others seem to say a render and other products seem to be mentioned as well....
The absolute smoothness and finish quality is not totally critical as it is the airing cupboard. But I would like to do the best job I can and I would rather do it properly once than needing to repeat.
Help most appreciated.