The pro's and cons of Fermacell and plastering ceilings.

[staylong]

I am in the process of buying a new house and I know I will have to replace some of the ceilings. Not being afluent I will have to tackle some jobs myself and so I had planned on taking the old ceilings down myself, plaster boarding and then having them skimmed proffesionally.

Whilst searching for advise I came across one posting that talked of a product called Fermacell and I visited their site here . The questions I have are as follows.

1. What are the benefits of Fermacell apart from noise reduction?
2. Would it make economic sense to use Fermacell and not have to get a skimmer in or is putting the reccomended FST on a job in itself.

and finally.

3. When taking down the old ceilings what happens with the coving? Does that need to come down too or can it be preserved in some way?

cheers

 

[renovator]

staylong, what is the ceiling construction at present board and skim or lath/plaster?

 

[staylong]

Sorry.

The ceilings are old lathe and plaster. One has had some kind of coating on it but it looks blown.

 

[plasterer]

Staylong ,Why go to the trouble of taking down the old ones.Just bash afew holes in them untill you find the joists,mark thm on the wall with a pencil. Buy some half inch p/boards a bit more expensive than three eights p/board but twice as strong. Nail these up over existing ceiling ,Scim it JOB DONE without all the mess
GOOD LUCK

 

[oilman]

Why not repair the ceilings? It's not that hard, lime is easy to work with, it fits in with your house, it's a good sound deadning material, it's .........

Take a look here . It may help asking a few questions here as well.

 

[staylong]

If I dont take the ceilings down and put plaster board up instead what do I do about the coving and ceiling rose?

 

[oilman]

What do the covings look like? Do they seem like modern addons, or do they look like old original mouldings? If they do, they would be looked on as a valuable part of the building, and are one of the parts that can cause people to make an instant "must have" decision. Some people won't like them of course, but in the right house they can give the luxury feel in good repair.

What sort of age is your building? What style, etc?

This information will be useful for working out the next step.

 

[staylong]

Well I am not in the house yet. The purchase is still going through. I am just figuring out all the jobs and costings etc.

The house is approx. 1910 and the features are original but not of the real quality I have seen in some houses. Definately worth keeping if I can or as I first thought replacing with reproductions.

 

[oilman]

This may be a starting point, do a bit of research, repair may even save you a lot of work.[/url]

 

[masona]

Agreed with Oilman,before you do anything get a professional plaster in and get advice.My uncle who live in London (the house built in 1810),I have done many work for him as I enjoy working on old building,there is some massive ceiling coving approx 300mm wide and the ceiling was in sorry state,the plasterer had repairs all the ceiling,then skim it over and some part of the coving needed repairing.Depending where you are but these plasterer in London tend to understand about these type of ceiling as there's so many of them.

 

[staylong]

Thanks everyone.

I think it best just to get in the place and see what is what. From what I saw the coving etc was nothing special so if need be I wont mind losing it and putting replacements up to get the feel back.

I may have confused some people (not intended) but this is your average four bed family semi. The place is need of redecoration through out. The front bedroom has a problem with the ceiling due to flashing on the chimney being damaged which has now been repaired. Just the interior roof that now needs attention. How bad it is I wont know until I get the surveyors report. I am confident this will be Ok as the vendor did some outside work that required a survey six months ago, which I saw, and jobs such as wall ties, the chimney flashing and damp course have all been done withe certificates available.

I am jumping the gun because I like to have all my options ready and with a limited budget wanted to tackle the majority of the work myself apart from skimming and a few other jobs that need specialist skills such as any gas or electric work.

 

[bill67uk]

save a fortune on plastering and do it yourself (only if its board)once the board is up and all the joints taped up,mix it and put it on once on leave till its nealy dry this will make finishing it off better a lot of people try there hand and put it on and try to get it smooth straight away you cant its got to be left a bit to dry