New false ceiling or pull down lathe & plaster and start again?

latecomer

We're going to be doing our bathroom in the near future and its got the original lathe and plaster ceiling which is cracked. There are also bits of adhesive from where the polystrene tiles were attached. Add to that the fact its been damp for years as there is no extractor and its just a bit of a mess all around. The ceilings are around 9' so it wouldn't matter if we lose 6" of so of height.

So the choice is either put up a false ceiling below the existing one or pull down the lathe and plaster and then start again. I know the easier option is probably to go with the false ceiling but in either case I'm going to have to get plasterboard and I'm currently thinking that pulling the old ceiling down makes the most sense. Obviously the advantage of doing that is I can fasten the plasterboard directly to the beams without the need for a new frame, disadvantages are primarily the mess it will create.

am I missing any pro/cons of either way? What does everyone else do or have done?

wallbash

disadvantages are primarily the mess it will create.

All down to the mess, could you get in the bathroom, seal ( and seal again)
Pull down the ceiling , cough your lungs up !!!

Could you get in the loft and use a hoover first ???
Its all down to you and the mess.

latecomer

I can get up into the loft so I could hoover above before bringing it down.

lisal0u

Hi Latecomer,

We have pulled down all our ceilings and the mess looks like this: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_3wfd3O7FGa4/SXxt56T1XzI/AAAAAAAAAD0/hQiHpDmYDW0/s1600-h/DSC00284.JPG

To be honest it didnt take that much clearing up and as long as you wear a dust mask you will be fine!

My plasterer advised we do it because if you board over it and the lath and plaster starts to fall away you can sometimes see it through the new board. It can cause sagging.

One tip if you do it. Go up into the loft and just put your foot through. Much easier than trying to pull it down with a claw hammer like we started to do! Its quite theraputic!

debbie42

There was a recent thread on lath and plaster ceilings with someone asking a similar question.
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=1267569

I don't think my views could be misinterpreted...:D

James_N

latecomer wrote: »

We're going to be doing our bathroom in the near future and its got the original lathe and plaster ceiling which is cracked. There are also bits of adhesive from where the polystrene tiles were attached. Add to that the fact its been damp for years as there is no extractor and its just a bit of a mess all around. The ceilings are around 9' so it wouldn't matter if we lose 6" of so of height.

So the choice is either put up a false ceiling below the existing one or pull down the lathe and plaster and then start again. I know the easier option is probably to go with the false ceiling but in either case I'm going to have to get plasterboard and I'm currently thinking that pulling the old ceiling down makes the most sense. Obviously the advantage of doing that is I can fasten the plasterboard directly to the beams without the need for a new frame, disadvantages are primarily the mess it will create.

am I missing any pro/cons of either way? What does everyone else do or have done?

I have both brought down a celiing and boarded DIRECTLY over an old one.
Bringing down a celiing was the first job we ever did, and nearly put me off DIY for life. Good job it was in an almost empty house too - the filth lasted days. Even remote rooms covered in fine soot.

When it came to do a similar job elsewhere, we boarded with a special board from Wickes (not plasterboard) and extra-long SCREWS (mind the cables!). Then we finished that surface. The direct boarding has been entirely satisfactory.

I know which I would do again.

wallbash

Check out debbie42 link, says it all .

But its not the original lathe and plaster ceiling that is messy ( well not a lot :rolleyes:)
its the 100 + years of Black dust/soot, so if you could hoover that up , ( from the loft)
you might well be onto a winner.

To sum up, most will say never again ( those that have never 'bought' the t -shirt can be ignored)
But how many tried to remove dust first??

Let us know which way you go........ and if you need the t-shirt:rotfl:

latecomer

So it seems that most people would just go for over boarding. one thing that putting me off doing that is that we are probably going to be having some spotlights put in and hence they would have to go through the plasterboard and lathe a plaster.

Anyone know whether the depth of the ceiling would cause an issue for fitting spots?

jason_s_2

I overboarded 2 ceilings yesterday and the guy was having spot lights in both rooms. I think the lath and plaster ceiling was about 10mm thick and i used 9.5mm plasterboard, so sholdnt be to much of a problem.

latecomer

Thanks for that. I'm going to try and find some info on spots when I get a chance.

anyone got any recommendations for particular makes and/or types

jason_s_2

BnQ or Wickes do a good variety and are pretty reasonable on price to.