Newly plastered ceiling falling off

linzi133

Hi
I hope someone can help us. We are in the process of renovation a victorian semi and it is almost finished after 2 months (not long I know but I was lucky with contractors)
We have had the whole house damp proofed and all of the wall and ceilings skimmed. The plasterer finished his work approx 2 weeks ago. Yesterday in one of the bedrooms the plaster on the ceiling has started to fall off. When I went today there was a patch about the size of a football off the ceiling. This room was plastered about 6-8 weeks ago.
To his credit the plasterer came round the day after we rang him....this is where I need the advise.
He has told us to scrape off all of the plaster on the ceiling and he'll come back and gyp bond the ceilng. And we'll have to pay again for materials and labour.

My question is should we be paying twice for the same job? And should we be preparing the ceiling when it is his mistake. I don't mind paying for materials but not sure we should be paying him for his time again.
To be honest he has done a fab job and one of the cleanest contractors we've had in the house. But the budget is running tight now we are at the end but we want it finished ! Any advice would be gratefully recieved.
(oh and yes he has now been paid in full for the work he has done and we have the damp proof guarentee)

keystone

I don't think you should be paying for time and materials again nor do I think you should be scraping the previous skim off either. If he didn't prep the ceiling properly in the first instance its all down to him IMO.

Oh just noticed this

.............and one of the cleanest contractors we've had in the house.

can't be a proper spread then. Thats a joke BTW. Oh! Not funny? Sorry!

Cheers

plumb1_2

keystone wrote: »

I don't think you should be paying for time and materials again

Cheers

Have you considered that maybe someone has been in the loft/attic and put pressure on the ceiling????

Is it a old latt and plaster ceiling? and just been skimmed over?

linzi133

thanks for that. I'm not sure what you mean by "Is it a old latt and plaster ceiling". I'm not sure what that is.

People have been in and out of the loft of the weeks for wiring and loft insulation. But I wouldn't have thought that should have brought the plaster off....should it? Especially since the 2 guys walked on the beams.

tomstickland

They mean lathe and plaster. Lathes as in small bits of wood nailed to the joists and then plastered over.

Speak to the plasterer and ask him if he thinks it's something he's done wrong.

Chances are he'll say that it does happen, it's something to do with the plaster in the bedroom, something outside his control.

plumb1_2

linzi133 wrote: »

thanks for that. I'm not sure what you mean by "Is it a old latt and plaster ceiling". I'm not sure what that is.

People have been in and out of the loft of the weeks for wiring and loft insulation. But I wouldn't have thought that should have brought the plaster off....should it? Especially since the 2 guys walked on the beams.

If it's victorian then it is unlikely to be a plasterboard ceiling, unless it been replaced in the last 30+ years. If you have had guy's working up in the loft, chance's are the have done the damage. As for walking on the beems they will flex as they are only 30/40mm thick, and not all trademen come from the circus(maybe the wild west);) and do slip now and again.
Timber planks should be used to spread the weight.

Imo pay the plasterer.

macman

Get up in the loft and inspect the area above the damage. It should be clear enough from there to see if the work in the loft has caused the damage.

eco-friendly_2

He has told us to scrape off all of the plaster on the ceiling

If it can be scraped off sounds like the coat of plaster hasn't adhered properly! plaster cannot normally be scraped off, hacked off more like.

Your plasterer hasn't prepared/PVA'd the ceiling properly, it's down to him to bear all the cost. Using excessive amounts of material can also cause this.

I would also be concerned about the other ceilings he's done.

Plasterer

He might not have prepped the ceiling properly, has he plastered onto a SILK painted ceiling? :eek:

For me what it sounds like is that the other trades walking upstairs on the joists for twu weeks after may have slipped off a joist and stood on the lath. "football size hole" - same size as a foot? Iv'e been in loads of attics and occasionally you will miss the joist with your foot!?! Go up into the attic and inspect the Lath for damage, - they're probably not snapped but get a tourch and look at where they have been nailed to the joists - have they come away?
This might not be your plasterers fault - however if the above has happened then he should have explained this to you.

keystone

plumb1 wrote: »

Have you considered that maybe someone has been in the loft/attic and put pressure on the ceiling????

Yes and it seems unlikely that its isolated to a clumsy boot (on an unseen basis) as the plasterer has already said "take the whole lot off".

Cheers

jakem_2

plumb1 wrote: »

Have you considered that maybe someone has been in the loft/attic and put pressure on the ceiling????

Is it a old latt and plaster ceiling? and just been skimmed over?

This was my thought, if the ceiling had just been plastered, and you had people up in the loft working, this could have caused the problem.

I have seen perfect plastered ceilings, someone goes into the loft to fix something, and the ceiling has cracked.:eek:

If the plasterer can prove this was caused by people stomping around in the loft then he could say its not down to him.

But the fact that he has come round straight away, and you say they were very clean, which he should get a medal, as he is a rare breed lol, says to me that he is a decent man.
I think you need to find out how many was up in the ceiling, was it directly after it was plastered, if so, ceiling plaster would still have been soft and weak.