Renovating bathroom - when should i get ceiling skimmed?

[curium]

Hi

I'm starting renovating our bathroom. My girlfriend is expecting our first baby in April so hoping to finish by then

I've started by removing the wall tiles which damaged the plasterboard. That's not a problem, I can replace that.

We have an artex ceiling which i would like to have skimmed over. Should I get the plasterer in once I've removed all my damaged walls and then replace the walls after the ceiling is done?

Or should I replace the plasterboard and then get the plasterer in?

Or does it make no odds?

Here's a picture

Cheers

 

[SUPERSLASHER]

If you are tiling the whole bathroom floor to ceiling you can get the plasterer in now to skim the ceiling.If you are only tiling part of the room you will have to plasterboard the walls before you get the ceiling done. This is because the plasterer will have to scrim the joint between the wall and ceiling to stop it cracking.

 

[kjacko]

Not to argue, but more to offer a slightly different view, i've honestly never scrimmed wall to ceiling joints and never had a problem with cracking, and i've skimmed about 3 houses now totalling about 15 rooms. I'm no expert, i've just never had an issue with it.
That said, i tend to always work from the top downwards, but in this case i would get the wallboards on first. At the very least it gives the plasterer a nice straight and solid line to skim up to.

 

[Alastairreid]

i've honestly never scrimmed wall to ceiling joints

then the joints between ceilings and walls will crack!!!!!!!.

 

[kjacko]

No mate, they never have, simple as. Not trying to BS anyone, as i don't really know any better to what i've been taught.
Don't know what else to tell you. I skim the lot, then when i'm ready to paint i caulk all lines and paint. Maybe the caulk helps i don't know, I'm not a pro, just a diy'er who has been shown how to do certain things a certain way and they seem to work.
The only times i ever put scrim on joints is if i have wall or ceiling boards that butt together on the same plane. Sometimes i'll tape over angle beading if it looks like it needs it.
I'm not the smoothest plasterer in the world, but my joints don't crack.

If you are a seasoned plasterer then i'd say to the op to do as you suggest as you'll know better, but your way will not be the ONLY way ever.

 

[Alastairreid]

ok kjacko,
i am in the job and i do things as per spec!.

the decorators caulk seems to be your saving grace.

 

[Richard C]

If you’re not fully tiling, you will need to plaster the wall boards that will be visible in which case I would re-board first & then plaster, including the walls. For the wet areas (inside shower & around bath) make sure you use either a waterproof tile backer board or moisture resistant plaster board & then tank it before tiling otherwise the job won’t last.

Incidentally, I never scrim wall to ceiling joints either; when I started out I had several really bad results because of it, mostly on studwork. The differential movement between most ceilings & walls means they will usually always crack eventually, that’s why Mr Gyproc invented coving (awful stuff IMO). If there is any appreciable shrinkage & differential movement, the scrim tape just makes things worse as it pulls both the paint & plaster away making it look 10x worse than just a crack that can be easily caulked & redecorated.

 

[roughcaster]

Whether it's plastering or taping, I would "never" do a job without taping/scrimming "all" the joints, ceiling and walls,, it's quicker to it that way to start with, than patch/fill up the cracks later, when they "will" appear. As cheap and nasty as Dot and Dab really is,, (the photo proves that), you will notice that the joint along the ceiling "was" actually taped,,,, probably the only positive thing on the wall. The photo also goes to show how weak and flimsy modern plasterboard really is,,, that by simply stripping away some tiles,, the wall itself is destroyed...

Roughcaster.

 

[kjacko]

the decorators caulk seems to be your saving grace.

Agreed.
It has possibly cracked underneath but is hidden by the caulk or the caulk has stopped it from cracking somehow. I'm not tempted to rip the caulk out to prove either of us right ot wrong, as it looks fine.
I'll certainly consider scrimming wall-ceilings joints in future if there is a gap, but otherwise probably carry on doing what i'm doing as it seems to work.
I don't think its a bodge, its just another way, and my way takes less effort as surely anyone who decorates would always caulk their joints first anyway.

Thanks for advice though, i have a question to ask about plastering so i'll start a new thread; see you plasterers over there for some help, hopefully.

 

[CJMUZZI]

ok im a profesional plasterer and personally i have never scrimmed wall to ceiling joints either! but having said that if the plasterboarding is done well there shouldnt be hardly any gap to scrim! so this all depends on how well the plasterboarding is done! as to wether you have the ceiling skimmed first or not it doesnt really matter! also as someone mentioned it would be wise to use damp proof plasterboard as it is a bathroom but i wouldnt bother tanking it if you do! and as you have a block wall there maybe consider rendering it instead?

 

[noseall]

ok im a profesional plasterer

personally i have never scrimmed wall to ceiling joints either!

the scrim is not there to deal with gaps. it is there to help bond the ceiling skim to the wall skim ffs!

i can not believe i am reading this.

are plasterers so bad nowadays that they do not realise the importance of scrim and the effects of joist shrinkage.

Jesus.

 

[CJMUZZI]

no your right scrim isnt to deal with gaps as new regs say that there should be as minimal gap as possible (where as it used to be that you would leave a very small gap!) and yes one of scrim tapes purposes is to stop shrinkage but as far as im concerned you still shouldnt need to tape wall to ceiling joints! i take down walls and ceilings every day and replaster them but not always at the same time in the same room! which means you couldnt always scrim wall to ceiling joint as you would always have to skim the wall and the ceiling! also as others have mentioned you will always have more movement between the wall and ceiling so if that joint is scrimmed it can cause more trouble than good!

 

[roughcaster]

Any plasterer will tell you that all joints should be taped or scrimmed. The purpose of scrimming is to tie one surface into another, wall to wall, or ceiling to wall, reveal to soffit etc. I have tied old lath and plaster ceiling/wall cracks in with hessian/jute scrim, I have, in extreme cases of cracking, tied in lath and plaster internal wall corners with wire lath, and then replastered, but no matter what, even if it is only tape and fill,, I never leave a ceiling joint, or any other joint un-taped..........
Even if a new ceiling or a wall has been added in a room, it is very simple to put a tape along the ceiling/wall joint... The only time I wouldn't do it, is if it meant disturbing the wall/ceiling paper, in which case, I would just tape up to it, enough to fill in any gaps around the edges..... I couldn't imagine plastering a room, and then going all around the untaped ceiling line with caulk, just in case any cracks appear!!!

Roughcaster.

 

[Alastairreid]

and thats exactly the point i was trying to make roughcaster/noseall.

 

[roughcaster]

Spot on Ally.

Roughcaster.