overboarding an old ceiling? tapered? square board?

[nobody]

Hi,

I have an old uneven ceiling (house is around 1800) which is lath & plaster.

It is cracked and failing in several places and after doing some investigation I've found that many of the laths are damaged so any decent repair seems out of the question. So, boarding over seems the way to go.

Would I be best to buy tapered wallboard with a view to using some sort of jointing compound and then papering over? I thought that this might be the best way with the ceiling not being flat and level. I was thinking that if I used wallboard (is that the right term - the smooth faced stuff) I could paper over it and not have to do any plastering?

I should maybe mention that the house doesnt have the greatest of foundations and we do get some movement, so a jointing compound that has some flex would be good.

Or should I just use square board and skim?

Any advice? I'm going to hire a plasterboard lift and tackle this next week.


thanks

Mark

 

[trowelmonkey1]

Hi nobody,

firstly, i've never papered onto plasterboard but IMO it should be fine, and probably your best bet, use joint compound and paper tape to fill your joints and sand back smooth, then paper over, paper tape is stronger than the often used fibre tape used when skimming and will give you a stronger joint so will probably be better if you have movement, but as far as a flexible filler, i don't think there is, could be wrong.

of course if you have a lot of movement the even paper joints are going to crack and if they do so under paper you're in a bit of trouble, where as if you skimmed and painted then repairing from time to time is easier.

see what some other have to say though

 

[trowelmonkey1]

P.S. square edged boards for skimming and tapered edge for taping and jointing

 

[Richard C]

If the laths are failing & the ceiling is very uneven then simply over boarding may not work. You must be able to screw the new boards up into the joists & if these are not in good condition, warped/sagging or the damaged laths won’t pull back up with the new boards it will be very uneven & won’t look much better than it does now; it will also be more prone to cracking. If the ceiling & joists are really bad, a way to avoid taking the whole lot down & starting again (which creates a tremendous mess) is to build a false ceiling immediately below the original with timber battening & secure the new ceiling boards to that.

Square edge boards & plastering is the only way to go IMO, even if you have to call in a professional plasterer, I am biased though as I immensely dislike taper edge, tape, filled joints & lining paper; if it’s a listed building you may be restricted by the type of repairs you can use in any case. In the end, it comes down to what sort of a job you want; a proper repair in keeping with the character of the property or, to some degree, a quick fix bodge which probably won’t last.

 

[nobody]

Thanks guys,

The joists seem to be ok (just not terribly even) its the laths that are split and in some places broken (looks like someone has put a foot through at some point). I've previously tried repair washers screwed into the laths which worked so-so, but too many of the laths are too knackered and split at the ends.

In an ideal world I would pull it all down, re-lath and lime plaster. But that is a fair amount of time and work that I'm not up for at the moment. We're not listed btw, just old and semi-decrepid (and the house..).

Sounds like square edged boards, tape and a skim are the best bet then.

Paper Tape in preference to the mesh stuff?

 

[Richard C]

Paper Tape in preference to the mesh stuff?

Don't use paper tape if your skimming. Use either GRP self adhesive or old style jute hessian scrim; not many use that stuff these days but there are still one or two about.

 

[roughcaster]

jute hessian scrim; not many use that stuff these days but there are still one or two about.

Like me,, I use it very regularly,,,, and fibre tape too.

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• roughcaster
• 25 Jun 2009
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• roughcaster
• 6 Oct 2008
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Roughcaster.

 

[Richard C]

Knew I'd entice one of you into the open to confess

 

[dextrous]

jute hessian scrim; not many use that stuff these days but there are still one or two about.

Like me,, I use it very regularly,,,, and fibre tape too.
Roughcaster.

What about the white cotton scrim?

 

[roughcaster]

What about the white cotton scrim?

Now that and jute scrim was all there was when i first started plastering. I don't know whether you can still get it nowadays. I knew it as "bandage scrim", because that's what it looked like. It came in rolls,, 2"x 100yds.

Ps,, I've just Googled "bandage scrim" and it is still available. It came up as Cotton Scrim.

Roughcaster.

 

[dextrous]

What about the white cotton scrim?

Now that and jute scrim was all there was when i first plastering.

And I thought it was only lath and horsehair way back then

 

[Alastairreid]

wattle and daub..........this practise has been on the go for over 6 thousand years just as roughcaster was finishing his time

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4cCB91jIvY
wheres the marshalltowns

 

[dextrous]

wattle and daub..........this practise has been on the go for over 6 thousand years just as roughcaster was finishing his time

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f4cCB91jIvY
wheres the marshalltowns

Roughcaster - have you issued any more of your plastering masterclass videos?

 

[roughcaster]

I've just ordered a new dung shovel, so anytime soon guys.
I remember watching a Tommy Walsh programme, spending a day with a plasterer doing wattle and daub. They used cow dung/clay with straw through it, applied by hand,, similar to the fellas in the You Tube clip. The only difference between them and Gordon Brown in his You Tube clip was,,,, they were working with a load of ****,, he was talking it, Seriously though, "that structure", covered with "that coating" would be as strong as old nick when it dried out. There are many different methods used, and a wide variety of materials available for "wall coverings/coatings/plastering", and the most modern are not necessarily the best,,, although any customer would be worried to death if you orderded a half ton of fresh manure and straw to plaster their living room with,,,, i think i'll just stick with bonding and multi.

Roughcaster.

 

[dextrous]

any customer would be worried to death if you orderded a half ton of fresh manure and straw to plaster their living room with

Unless you intend to do a s**t job