reed ceiling

[munchingB]

hi all you handy people! wondering if anyone can help me to understand something about reed ceilings in a 200 year old house.

to get to the timbers in the roof i need to cut through this reed ceiling..its been plastered and im thinking that if i were to remove part of it then i would have to remove it all as it couldnt be part replaced. also the house is a semi that use to be one house and i think that the ceiling extends into the next door side of the semi too. is this something that anyone has any experience with? cant find much online about reed ceilings full stop let alone how to maintain them or remove them. cheers if anyone knows anything at all!

 

[Alastairreid]

Never came across a reed ceiling, going by the pictures in the link the reeds would be serving the same purpose as plaster laths which are of course repairable.

http://limeplastering.net/gallery.html

 

[pinenot]

I found this on the Greenspec site - http://www.greenspec.co.uk/products/plaster-backing/claytec-reed-mats-boards/ - being on a roll that can be trimmed you shouldn't have much problem cutting an aperture in the existing ceiling, trimming that back to the ceiling joists and fitting dwangs (noggins) around the aperture to refit some new matting. I would urge you source similar material to replace like for like i.e. find out what material has been used to plaster the ceiling try and get a cutting of the matting etc. This will prevent differential shrinkage, limiting future cracks .

Try placing a request in your local freegle/freecycle forum, for a bit of the reed matting, and good luck...pinenot

 

[OwainDIYer]

Is the building Listed?