Ringpeas

The old ceiling of our bedroom looks a right mess, so was thinking of just getting it artexed over.
It does sag a bit though, so may be worth doing the job properly and getting a new one up.

So is it a lot of work, or is it as simple as screwing a bit of plasterboard to the joists?
How much to pay a builder to do it? (12' X 14')

Cheers

Leslie

Depends how old it is. If it is lath and plaster then removing the old ceiling is real graft. As you say, covering it with plasterboard may well work though and it should not be too expensive. You may have to pay for a bit of dry lining plastering to get rid of the joins

Les.

OllyK

Depends why it is sagging. If the joists are bowing (not uncommon in older properties) then it will be a big job. If it is a case of the existing plaster / plasterboard coming away then the old celing will need to be taken down and a new one put up. Not a massive job, could do it yourself with some help and then just a plasterer to skim it over for you

Ringpeas

The sag and cracks are from the fact that the house is 150 years old and had some settlement in its early years. That has long since stopped, but the whole house is slightly twisted. The downstairs ceilings have been replaced and are level, the upstairs ones are, lets say 'interesting'
It had a new roof 2 years ago.

OllyK

Unlikely you will get a plumb celing then - but that un-eveness is part of an older properties charm. Best bet is to get a couple of local builders in who can see it first hadn, ask their advice and for a quote

ProperCharlie

some of the upstairs ceilings were like this in our house - the plaster and lath had come away from the joists. it's quite easy to put the new ceiling up - it's carting away the sh*tload of straw, plaster, soot, anthrax etc that falls down when you remove the old ceiling that is the hard bit. better budget for a new carpet as well.

David Lock

Probably one of those asbestos jobs

mj

quick, "cleanish" fix is to batten up to to the existing joists at 90 degrees to the existing joists with 2"x1" timber - basically sandwich the old ceiling between the joists and the battens.

the dirty bit is getting in the loft and poking a screwdriver down the sides of the joists ( so you can find them easily from underneath in the bedroom)

I wouldn't try and screw plasterboard direct to the old ceiling, you need to set the 2x1's to suit the size of board you plan to use, and double up the battens where the edges of the boards meet.

Ringpeas

Thanks for all the advice guys

Not sure I would want to batton a new ceiling onto the underside of the existing one, its that low already that I would probably knock myself out when I sat up in bed

Best get an expert in then, thats if I can lure one round with wads of cash. The tradesmen around here are not known for keeping to apointments

Buzzer

Ringpeas

If you have a high enough ceiling at the moment, put a new one underneath. Use the British Gypsum Casoline MF System found here in PDF format

I deal with a lot of this (its my job) it will be really cheap

You can get the material ie Plasterboard, MF (metal furring) sections for next to nothing and i cant see you paying more than £5.00 m2 for the material "all in".
Your room is around 16 m2 so you wont pay more than £80.00 for that. Get a plasterer in, i couldnt see him charging more than £120.00 to do that (but depends where you live)

If you want to do the ceiling yourself let me know. I'll give you some idiot proof instructions on how to fix the new ceiling and what you would need to do it.

Tools needed would be a battery screw gun to put the boards up, spirit level, hammer, hacksaw (but preferably tin snips) and a stanley knife. I will post the fixings you need FOC. Incidentally one of the best places to get the material would be CP Supplies or CCF

DONT strip that old ceiling out without full respitory masks on. 150 years ago a lot of lime was used in plaster and that will harm you. Another interesting fact is that they used to p155 in the plaster as its a good plasticiser so its full of nasty stuff which you dont want to get in your lungs

Any more help PM me and i'll drop you my mobile number


Pete

Ringpeas

Cheers for that Pete

I think I will get someone in for the first one as the ceiling is so uneven it is not good for a novice to practise on.
I will watch him though, may do the 2 smaller rooms myself if he doesn't struggle too much

CraigH

I was gonna do ours, but decided it was a bit over my head.