Resilient bars - right solution?

[adamr7747]

Hi All,

I've just ripped the old lath and plaster ceiling down in our living room (bedrooms above) and am now trying to work out what to replace it with. I'll get a plasterer to skim it.

I've already ordered sufficient 12.5mm board for a single layer but am thinking about using resilient bars. Is this the right approach? My reasoning so far is:

• The existing joists are irregularly spaced so I'll have a nightmare trying to line up the ends of the boards on the joists - basically I won't be able to
• The plasterboard will have worse acoustic properties than the lath & plaster so this should help some
• The extra 17mm will bring the ceiling down the walls below the horrible mess I've made at the edges where the old ceiling joined the walls!

But...

• I'd like to maximise the strength and/or stiffness of the ceiling (given the previous cracking of the modern skim over the plaster & lath). I will be adding some noggins to add stiffness, but does screwing the boards to the joists help with that too?
• Do the resilient bars actually, really make any difference in the real world - not just the world of the manufacturer's brochures?

Also, does the brand of the resilient bars make any difference? I was going to use the GTEC ones but can't find them online anywhere, so am currently looking at speedline ones.

Thanks a lot for any advice!
Adam

 

[geraldthehamster]

The existing joists are irregularly spaced so I'll have a nightmare trying to line up the ends of the boards on the joists - basically I won't be able to

Is there some reason reason why you can't cut the plasterboard?

Cheers
Richard

 

[adamr7747]

No, except the palava. The joists aren't parallel either, so the whole thing would quickly deteriorate into a big jigsaw, with a lot of wastage.

 

[geraldthehamster]

No, except the palava. The joists aren't parallel either, so the whole thing would quickly deteriorate into a big jigsaw, with a lot of wastage.

It's a whole lot less palava than messing about with resilient bars. Cutting plasterboard is pretty routine.

Cheers
Richard

 

[mcluma]

If you are worried about acoustic issues, then double board it. and use a board lift.

photo by Chris, on Flickr

 

[adamr7747]

It's a whole lot less palava than messing about with resilient bars. Cutting plasterboard is pretty routine.

Oh. I've ordered the bars already :/ Using them looks simple to me - but I guess I'll find out!

I'm planning to use a board lifter, thanks mcluma.

Adam

 

[geraldthehamster]

Just to add:

I'd like to maximise the strength and/or stiffness of the ceiling (given the previous cracking of the modern skim over the plaster & lath). I will be adding some noggins to add stiffness, but does screwing the boards to the joists help with that too?

You don't screw the plasterboard to the joists, you screw it to the resilient bars. That's the point of the bars, to de-couple the surfaces and prevent noise transmission. If you just screw through them to the joists, you negate the point of them.

Cheers
Richard

 

[adamr7747]

Yes, I meant would not using the resilient bars be better in terms of stiffness - I put it under "but" in my post. I've since seen a reference that the bars help prevent cracking between the boards so perhaps this is actually an advantage rather than a disadvantage though!

 

[mcluma]

only when you do it on less than 600 centres