Builders advice please

[re2500]

I d take all the old ceiling down n start fresh
8x4 difficult to put up on your own, you can hire a lift or just get a mate with a yard brush to hold it up
but as already mentioned a plasterer should do it and be quicker and put it up how it should be , otherwise may be a tooth sucker n moan you ve done it wrong

Thats what i did, but its pretty messy. Depends on if u got one room to do or the whole upstairs. I did the whole upstairs but i wasnt living in the house so wasnt worried about mess.
You definately need an extra pair of hands when using 8x4, but i prefer it, larger areas without joins and you cover area quickly. I usually lure a mate in with promises of beer and pizza! A slim jim (not the official term, it think they call it a telescopic ceiling prop) helps hold the board up whist you bosh all the screws in.

[paulridley]

Hello mate

Sorry for the long post but I've plastered more ceilings than I care to admit and I'd use 9.5mm 6ft * 3ft everyday of the week especially with it being a bedroom ceiling I'm assuming it's upstairs. 8*4 can be a nightmare to get up a staircase and usually get damaged on the way up and are quite difficult to handle and mark when your holding them above your head whereas 6*3 are light and a dodle to cut and fix. You'll probably need to use 40 -50mm drywall screws to fix the boards to your existing ceiling.

An important question though is has the ceiling already been over boarded in the past? This is very common practice in older houses as ripping ceilings down is a nightmare especially if it's made from lat & plaster. Make a small hole in the ceiling and it should be obvious if it has or not. If it's not been over boarded already then it's a pretty straightforward job but to be honest I'm surprised he didn't want to board it himself because skimming over a badly boarded ceiling is a pain in the ****! I'd ask the plasterer to price it for you as it shouldn't add that much to the labour cost of the job


cheers Paul

[bluequattro]

Lath & plaster is horrible! I did a full house, took all ceilings down
Better have a pro do as said above , they can't moan over their own joins and they ll do it quicker

[Christophski]

Hi guys, thanks for all the replies and advice. I have got myself 6ftx3ft, 9.5mm thick boards and 50mm dry wall screws. I have checked the ceiling and its only single board at the mo so this will be the first over board that has been done. I have been in the loft and its not the lath and plaster stuff. The existing boards are attached directly to the joists. I have located the centres of each joist and this evening have a couple of friends coming up to help with attempting to get the boards up. To be fair I think we will be ok doing it with the skills we all have. All quite practical.

I spoke to the plasterer yesterday and he has said he will put the boards up too if I want him to and has added an extra £100 to the price so will see how it goes tonight and if I mess up he can do it saturday.

I dont really want to take down the old ceiling to be fair hence the boarding over but lets see how it goes.

Lets see if I fall out with the house tonight hehehe

[re2500]

Good Luck!!

[Christophski]

Cheers, tonight will be interesting to say the least

[chezz]

I always say plaster covers a multitude of sins created in the preperation dept...you should be okay... just keep the gaps as tight as possible.

[Christophski]

Haha, cheers boss. I know its not going to be as good as a pro but hopefully I can get a ceiling up and ready for the pro to plaster Will let people know how it goes tomorrow

[dm80]

You 'brought' a new house? What does that mean?

[vonbeck]

dont forget you need scrim tape to tape the joints good luck matey

[Christophski]

When I say a new house I mean new to me. Was built in 50s so not new but not old. Tonight I have done half the ceiling... 4 boards of 3ft x 6ft each and had to cut to go round side of chimney... Oh and take out the light in the room and put up extra battons in loft to screw into where it meets next to the next board at the edge of a joist. Nice and tight so far, let's hope I can finish it tomorrow after work.

Out of interest what's the issue if one of the corners is damaged slightly? It's not come off but it has been damaged a bit.

Cheers

[jsws3]

When I say a new house I mean new to me. Was built in 50s so not new but not old. Tonight I have done half the ceiling... 4 boards of 3ft x 6ft each and had to cut to go round side of chimney... Oh and take out the light in the room and put up extra battons in loft to screw into where it meets next to the next board at the edge of a joist. Nice and tight so far, let's hope I can finish it tomorrow after work.

Out of interest what's the issue if one of the corners is damaged slightly? It's not come off but it has been damaged a bit.

Cheers

Don't worry about the corner put a drop of grab adisive behind it and push it up just make sure none comes throw the joint and sets as when it's plastered it will most likely protrude throw the plaster .

[Christophski]

Ok cool cheers for the advice. It's all greatly appreciated. I have learnt so much in the 2 n half weeks I have had it. Never thought I would ever be Putting up ceilings... Lol!

[gripper]

This thread has become very appropriate to me as at the end of the month I have to strip off a lath and plaster ceiling in my hallway

Due to water ingress its gone beyond boarding back up (not that I would thinking about the weight) !

Thank God its the only ceiling I have to do !

Thanks for the tips

[Christophski]

So it took 1 evening to expose the ends of the joists and 2 evenings of putting up the boards and adding the extra battons to screw into where the edges of the boards met where there was no joists etc. This part took around 4 hours all in? The plasterer came on saturday morning and asked who I paid to put it all up and when I told him me and a mate did it he asked how many my mate had done before upon which I told him we had both never done anything like it before. Was then told we had done a really good job especially as it was our first time of doing it too. All plastering is now done thank god, just got an electrician to come now if he ever actually turns up (he has cancelled on me 3 times so far)

One thing I would say though is if I were to do it again I would take the old ceiling down so I could see all the joists as even if they are marked up its still not easy to get the screws in the right position as the joists are never dead straight etc.

Happy to not have to do it anymore