What sort of material is this and how do I go about redecorating?

[portuguesejohn]

Most rooms in my house have this sort of paint/textured product covering the ceilings (attached in pictures).

My bathroom has this as well, it's a small bathroom that is south facing with a window that I open for a few hours after showering, yet, the section above the shower has started to crack (attached in pictures as well).

How do I go about removing this and how should I repaint the ceiling in my bathroom to avoid issues regarding condensation?

This material has been tested for asbestos and came back negative, but I still have no clue what it is.

 

[JohnD]

it looks like artex or similar material. Seems quite thick. What colour is it under the paint? it might otherwise be a plaster skim. The crack is probably due to the ceiling itself. not the coating. Good to hear yours has tested asbestos-free, so you can scrape it off if you want.

Ceilings are usually coated when they are in poor condition and starting to show cracks.

How old is the house?

What's above this room? A loft? Is heavy stuff up there?

Does your bathroom have an extractor fan, that works? Photo please.

 

[flameport]

Removal is by scraping - which will make a ridiculous amount of mess.
Underneath you will find the original cracked and broken ceiling which that textured coating was covering up.

Condensation cannot be fixed by painting.

 

[portuguesejohn]

it looks like artex or similar material. Seems quite thick. What colour is it under the paint? it might otherwise be a plaster skim. The crack is probably due to the ceiling itself. not the coating. Good to hear yours has tested asbestos-free, so you can scrape it off if you want.

Ceilings are usually coated when they are in poor condition and starting to show cracks.

How old is the house?

What's above this room? A loft? Is heavy stuff up there?

Does your bathroom have an extractor fan, that works? Photo please.

Here are a couple of pictures that show in extra detail what is happening to the ceiling. You can see in a little section what is underneath, as well as the overall affected area. The "paint" is starting to flake away, it's very crunchy and sturdy though, if that make any sense...

Few notes:
* I'm not too sure the cracks relate to cracks in the material that is underneath, it seems like the affected surface material is degrading away more than anything.
* On the larger picture you can see the shape of my ceiling, the affected area is at an angle directly above the shower.
* This bathroom was fine when we moved in last year, owners said no decoration had taken place for many years.
* First thing we did when we moved was put in a proper combi boiler, the previous system had a very weak shower and I think the previous owners would just use the bath - we produce a lot more steam now with our nice showers

House is 1930s, loft above, not many things up there - nothing covering the area in question. No extractor fan.

 

[portuguesejohn]

Removal is by scraping - which will make a ridiculous amount of mess.
Underneath you will find the original cracked and broken ceiling which that textured coating was covering up.

Condensation cannot be fixed by painting.

Our main focus right now are other sections of the house, so I am not chuffed about having to spend too much time and money on the bathroom. Above post shows a few more pictures.

Since the issue seems limited to a small area, would I get away with scraping that section of the ceiling (with the slope) and repaint with something like https://www.zinsseruk.com/product/perma-white-interior/ ?

We were only hoping to fully redecorate the bathroom in a couple of years time...

 

[JohnD]

as it is 1930's, there is a good chance that it is a lath and plaster ceiling, and very likely to be cracked and sagging. This is quite normal.

Being over a bathroom, the extra humidity is likely to have rusted the 90 year old nails holding the laths up, so it will fall down sooner or later. Possibly when you scrape or paint it, possibly when it loses interest in hanging on, possibly when you climb into the loft to store your christmas tree or set of bodybuilding weights.

Can you post a photo of the upper surface of the ceiling, taken from the loft, with the insulation lifted away?

Is there an airbrick?

The bathroom will need an effective extractor fan. You can fit one now, or wait until you refurb the bathroom, if you don't mind condensation, damp and mould until then.

 

[portuguesejohn]

as it is 1930's, there is a good chance that it is a lath and plaster ceiling, and very likely to be cracked and sagging. This is quite normal.

Being over a bathroom, the extra humidity is likely to have rusted the 90 year old nails holding the laths up, so it will fall down sooner or later. Possibly when you scrape or paint it, possibly when it loses interest in hanging on, possibly when you climb into the loft to store your christmas tree or set of bodybuilding weights.

Can you post a photo of the upper surface of the ceiling, taken from the loft, with the insulation lifted away?

Is there an airbrick?

The bathroom will need an effective extractor fan. You can fit one now, or wait until you refurb the bathroom, if you don't mind condensation, damp and mould until then.

Yes, it's definitely lath and plaster, we already had some rooms completely renovated, and our plasterer pointed that out to us during the works.

The ceiling feels very sturdy, there is no movement at all.

I did go up in the loft, but it's impossible for me to reach this section of the ceiling safely (I believe my house has what the professionals call "raised tie"), all of the rooms upstairs have a slope on the outer walls, accessing anything up there is complicated.

I did notice a couple of gaps in my roof though (picture provided - notice where the light is coming through), these gaps are directly above the affected area, and I wonder if they could be part of the issue as well? Unfortunately, I don't feel safe venturing much more into that corner of the loft... Might be time to call in a roofer.

 

[flameport]

all of the rooms upstairs have a slope on the outer walls,

which means no insulation in that section, making it the coldest part of the ceiling and where any condensation will form.
When it's redone, you will need to add insulation there - even if that means hacking the ceiling out and installing insulation from below.

 

[portuguesejohn]

which means no insulation in that section, making it the coldest part of the ceiling and where any condensation will form.
When it's redone, you will need to add insulation there - even if that means hacking the ceiling out and installing insulation from below.

Hey, they told me owning a house would be expensive. I still went ahead with it, didn't I?

 

[portuguesejohn]

Is there an airbrick?

Yes, there is a sort of grill/airbrick on the side of the house, where the bathroom is located.

 

[Tigercubrider]

I've removed textured ceilings using a wall paper steamer. It is still messy, but laying dust sheets/polythene down means that it's easy to tidy up. Steaming allows large chunks to come off.
Be careful if the original ceiling is dodgy

 

[portuguesejohn]

I've removed textured ceilings using a wall paper steamer. It is still messy, but laying dust sheets/polythene down means that it's easy to tidy up. Steaming allows large chunks to come off.
Be careful if the original ceiling is dodgy

We have already stripped this material off of other rooms, and it made no mess really. It kind of feels like a very thick paper, it's a rough texture but flat underneath, more or less came off in large sections with a paint scraper going underneath it.

Not much in terms of dust, not that I recall.

 

[JohnD]

Yes, there is a sort of grill/airbrick on the side of the house, where the bathroom is located.

does it penetrate through the wall and into the bathroom? Or has it been blocked up? It might be a convenient place to put an extractor.

Does your house have cavity walls?

with sloping ceilings, you can conveniently add insulation either when the ceiling is removed (my choice, as you have L&P) or when the tiles are off for reroofing (a more expensive job but may be due soon). A bathroom ceiling needs to be well-insulated or it will get bad condensation.

 

[portuguesejohn]

does it penetrate through the wall and into the bathroom? Or has it been blocked up? It might be a convenient place to put an extractor.

Does your house have cavity walls?

with sloping ceilings, you can conveniently add insulation either when the ceiling is removed (my choice, as you have L&P) or when the tiles are off for reroofing (a more expensive job but may be due soon). A bathroom ceiling needs to be well-insulated or it will get bad condensation.

The "grill" does not come all the way through to the bathroom, if that is what you are asking, it's only visible from outside the house.
I believe the house has a cavity on the ground floor, but not on the upper floor (where the bathroom is). I haven't actually drilled into anywhere to find out, but my next door neighbour found this out when someone came around to put insulation on the cavity: Went in fine downstairs, but no dice on the upper level. I don't know how common this is really, on this street most houses have visible brick on the ground floor and covered in pebble dash for the upper floor.

I would have expected doing the insulation from the roof would be cheaper, unless we are talking about replacing the whole roof? Would a roofer not be capable to just partially retile the section in question? Or even temporarily remove the tiles while the job is taking place? I guess price starts going up as the need to factor in scaffolding and whatnot...

Nightmare.

 

[JohnD]

I'd certainly prefer to take down the bathroom ceiling, insulate between the joists, put up (probably an insulated) plasterboard, skim and redecorate.

I think it will be cheaper than getting the roof opened up (unless you have to have the roof stripped for some other reason).

It also has the advantage of replacing the old ceiling whose condition I would guess to be poor.