Replacing lath & plaster ceiling with plasterboard?

[ilikewatchingtv]

Hi, I wonder if anyone could offer their opinion on the following. I have just bought a small victorian terraced house, and one of my first jobs was to remove the polystyrene tiles covering all the upstairs ceilings. As I suspected, I have discovered that the ceiling under the tiles is a bit knackered - it appears to have been skimmed at some point previously, and the tile adhesive is pulling away 1-3mm thick pieces of plaster with it. There are also quite a few cracks evident in the ceiling.
As far as I see I have several options:

1) Complete removal of polystyrene tiles, then have ceiling skimmed.

2)Overboard ceiling straight onto laths after removal of plaster.

3)Overboard ceiling onto battens.

4)Completely remove lath and plaster, and plasterboard throughout.

- Although I know it is a bigger job I am tempted by option 4 - the house is currently empty, and will require redecoration and new carpets, so the mess doesn't worry me. If I took this option I would probably opt to remove the existing ceiling myself, then have the plasterboarding/plastering done professionally.

 

[roy c]

You could put Chicken wire all over the existing ceiling(after you have taken the tiles off) If you go down both sides of the wall after you have found out which way the joists run and find the centre of each joist by knocking a 4" nail thru the ceiling and finding the joists. Some times the joists in old Victorian houses are 14" or 16" centres so try one of them measurements., when you find your first joist. After you have found them all put a nail in the middle and chalk line each one thru. You can put you mesh all over, then run 2"x!" battens down the joists and screw your plaster boards across the battens.The chicken wire holds up all the old laths and plaster and saves dropping the lot.. Good luck....