Overboarding a ceiling - finding the joists?

accountingbod

Hi all

I had a go at plastering my dining room ceiling - needlesss to say it is quite shocking unfortunately! I used artex smooth it powdered stuff which needs a bit of a sand down now because it is VERY bumpy!
My wife has now insisited on a plasterer coming in to do a proper job
plastererer has said that if i sand down the rough bits i can overboard in prep for him plastering.

My question is, how do i find the joists above to know where to screw to?

The bedroom above is very full with stuff as we are still renovating so difficult to pull the floor up upstairs.

I thought for an amateur it may just be easier to pull the old one down and start again although that is very messy.

Overboarding isnt a problem as we have high ceilings in a 1930's house.

Also, is 9.5mm plasterboard okay for this kind of job?

Many thanks :rotfl:

justjohn

metal detecter.....tap it.....Electronic device....

screw driver punch a hole...once you find 2 they should be same distance apart(the rest should be easy to find)

Use cheapest/thinest plasterboard as you are just overboarding

accountingbod

ok. thanks John.
tap it did come to mind but just wanted to be sure i wasnt being an idiot.
I like the screwdriver option...

justjohn

accountingbod wrote: »

ok. thanks John.
tap it did come to mind but just wanted to be sure i wasnt being an idiot.
I like the screwdriver option...

just be carefull of wires....

decsdad

and pipes.....

ormus

i use a sharp bradawl to find the joists. on an older house the spacings should be about 400mm centres.
modern houses use 600mm centres.

tartanterra

I had quite a few bodged ceilings in my house. I found it easier to just pull them down and start again.

Plasterboard is cheap, and it's easy to fit. As long as your ceiling isn't lath and plaster (in which case, I would cover it over!) it will take you about half a day.

The other bonuses with pulling down your ceiling is that you can "map" it if you are planning to install recessed lighting, and it will also give you a fighting chance of not screwing into pipes or cables as you will know exactly where they are.

Good luck!:)

Kew2u

I do a lot of interior painting, this year I watched a Pro fit a new ceiling to the old one to leave 20mm gap for sunken light fittings. He worked alone, but he had the right gear. A wheeled platform that lifted full sized sheets horizontally. He first fitted '[ ' shaped brackets to the old ceiling. His level was true due to using a lazer light spirit level.
Depending on your 'bumpiness'...are you going to get your sheets level if you intend to screw direct to the old ceiling? Taking down what you've already done is going to be very messy. If your old ceiling is 'original' you will find that the plaster is adhered to laths fastened to the joists. That's even more messy than removing plaster board.
Best bet I'd guess at would be to locate the joists and cut channels along the ones you will fit the new plaster board to and screw new battons to them to give you an even and level depth for the boards. I'm no expert at this so hope someone 'in the game' will have a better answer.

accountingbod

Thanks for all your responses.
I really feel like pulling down the old ceiling because the other advantage would be that i could insulate between the joists to make the house more efficient? The mess does put me off however and yes i do believe they are the original ceilings but the insulation side is maybe worth it?

daggy

Artex smooth... does that mean you were covering artex?

I thought artex had asbestos in it? If it has, you should be careful about pulling it down

slipperyshoe

daggy wrote: »

Artex smooth... does that mean you were covering artex?

I thought artex had asbestos in it? If it has, you should be careful about pulling it down

Daggy is correct. MOST types of Artex have at least some asbestos content in them, usually Chrysotile (white asbestos). Amounts are minimal but I defininately would not reccomend sanding it.

I had an Artex ceiling in my kitchen and I first found the joists by trial and error (literally screwing a screw in and seeing if it bites). Damp the area you are screwing into with a water spray before you screw to minimise dust. You could even screw through a damp cloth to protect yourself. Once I had these identified I just pencilled lines where the joists were.

Ceiling went in and downlights installed (by fishing wires through).

HTH