Replacing kitchen ceiling

[diyer2011]

Hi all,
Sorry if this is the wrong section, it looked most relevant though.
Probably a bit of a daft/simple question but I've decided to take the plunge and rip out my old, horrible kitchen. First think I'm going to see to is disposing of the foul suspended ceiling, but above that are polystyrene (looking) tiles. I've planned to rip it all off back to the wooden batons and then affix plasterboard and get a plasterer in to give it a final skim.
Any how, here's my question (although any pointers/observations on what I've mentioned up to now would be appreciated) I plan to replace the shabby suspended ceiling mounted spot lights with the nice ceiling embedded spotlights you see these days (what do you call them??), if I want to lay the cabling for an electrician do I lay the conduit tacked to the wooden batons then lay the plasterboard round them get the plasterer in to skim and let the electrician install the lights using the cable I've lay to where I want the lights and get him to hook the cables up to the wall switch or do I do it in another order?

Hope that makes sense.

 

[diyer2011]

Untitled

• diyer2011
• 30 Nov 2010
• 1

Here's what I'm contending with.

 

[plstering]

get a sparky in too sort the mess out first

 

[diyer2011]

So rip out the ceiling and get a sparky to put in the lights then get the plaster board up and get a plasterer in?

 

[plstering]

rip it all down sort the mess out then yer m8 thats right

 

[Wangerman]

Hi all,
Sorry if this is the wrong section, it looked most relevant though.
Probably a bit of a daft/simple question but I've decided to take the plunge and rip out my old, horrible kitchen. First think I'm going to see to is disposing of the foul suspended ceiling, but above that are polystyrene (looking) tiles. I've planned to rip it all off back to the wooden batons and then affix plasterboard and get a plasterer in to give it a final skim.
Any how, here's my question (although any pointers/observations on what I've mentioned up to now would be appreciated) I plan to replace the shabby suspended ceiling mounted spot lights with the nice ceiling embedded spotlights you see these days (what do you call them??), if I want to lay the cabling for an electrician do I lay the conduit tacked to the wooden batons then lay the plasterboard round them get the plasterer in to skim and let the electrician install the lights using the cable I've lay to where I want the lights and get him to hook the cables up to the wall switch or do I do it in another order?

Hope that makes sense.

The wiring looks like a standard 3 plate so there would have at one time had a light fitting above the old ceiling. All looks safe enough in a proper joint box (from the outside anyway). As long as all the wiring looks ok leave it be

Be a bit careful on installing downlighters they generate a lot of heat and need good clearence around them

 

[roy c]

You could rip out the suspended ceiling and put a 3"x2" ceiling where the old suspended ceiling was. If you put the 3x2 round the wall then span the narrowist width with 3x2 at 400mm centres and if that is over 8' then drop some supports down from the original joists in the middle and board it with 8'x4's x 12'5mm boards and that should give you enough room to put spots in with "hoods" (Meaning enough room above to not be worried about the heat from the "spots") ..

 

[diyer2011]

Thanks for all the replies very useful

You could rip out the suspended ceiling and put a 3"x2" ceiling where the old suspended ceiling was. If you put the 3x2 round the wall then span the narrowist width with 3x2 at 400mm centres and if that is over 8' then drop some supports down from the original joists in the middle and board it with 8'x4's x 12'5mm boards and that should give you enough room to put spots in with "hoods" (Meaning enough room above to not be worried about the heat from the "spots") ..

Sorry to be a bit thick but what do you mean by 3x2? do you mean a 3'X2' piece of plasterboard?

There should be plenty of room for spots as, although it's a tiny kitchen the ceiling's quite high at about 2610mm (to the wooden batons)

 

[diyer2011]

Also, do these look okay for the downlighters? http://www.amazon.co.uk/LOW-ENERGY-...CK4U/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1291156147&sr=8-8

The room's 2450mmx1960mm so was thinking 6 should do it?

I'll point out now, I'm trying to be as "cost effective" as possible - I hadn't budgeted for the whole kitchen when I bought the house, but have now decided to go ahead.

 

[roughcaster]

Roy would mean lengths of 3"x2" timber. Basically,, make a new ceiling using 3"x2" timber as the frame, then board it over with 8'x4' sheets of 12.5mm (half inch) plasterboard. He'll be along in a minute anyway .

 

[diyer2011]

Roy would mean lengths of 3"x2" timber. Basically,, make a new ceiling using 3"x2" timber as the frame, then board it over with 8'x4' sheets of 12.5mm (half inch) plasterboard. He'll be along in a minute anyway .

Now that maketh sense!
Thanks for clarifying, and thanks again roy.

I could get that far this week I guess and then get a sparky in then a plasterer as soon as this snow sods off!

Any ideas as to what to use to suspend the new timber ceiling?

 

[roy c]

Roy would mean lengths of 3"x2" timber. Basically,, make a new ceiling using 3"x2" timber as the frame, then board it over with 8'x4' sheets of 12.5mm (half inch) plasterboard. He'll be along in a minute anyway .

RC is right If your kitchen is 2.600 you can afford to take it down to 2.400 which is standard height, and as the width is 1.960 you would not need to support them in the middle but it would not hurt if you did

If you wanted to support the ceiling you could put a 3x2 down the middle of the ceiling on top of your joists and fix it to the old joists above to sturdy it up a bit....

 

[keyplayer]

And get rid of those polystyrene tiles even if you do suspend a new ceiling. They're a hazard.

 

[roughcaster]

And get rid of those polystyrene tiles even if you do suspend a new ceiling. They're a hazard.

Very good point Keyplayer, they're a fire hazard!

 

[diyer2011]

And get rid of those polystyrene tiles even if you do suspend a new ceiling. They're a hazard.

Oh okay then ....:

Unfortunately theres 14"+ of snow here in sheffield so project may have to halt there until I can get my hands on some wood and plasterboard.
I've ripped the tiles out too, thinking of ordering a new kitchen from wickes as they look cheaper than b&q.