Plaster falling off ceiling

Beckyy

Last night my OH saw a crack in the plaster on our ceiling that had started to come away (pics below). We tried to see above it with a torch, but to no avail so left it to go to bed.





OH came back downstairs before bed and the vibrations from coming downstairs must have disturbed it, as a big lump of plaster fell off. Again, we couldn't do anything so left it until the morning.

Half way through the night I head another thump, and more had fallen off.

The ceiling is lath and plaster, and in itself it's fine - it's the layer of plaster over it that is falling off, there's a big patch out and the areas around the edges are hanging away from the ceiling by an inch or two.

We had a woodburning stove (4KW) fitted, to replace our open fire, about 18 months ago. We've had it on fairly constantly over Winter, and I think the heat may have played a part as it's just to the side of this area.

I've uploaded some pics (should be below) and was wondering if anybody could recommend anything? Would it be a case of cutting around the patch and replacing it with new plasterboard, replacing the whole ceiling... or?





And for an idea of scale/position:

967stuart

Personally, I would rip the whole thing down and re-board it and get it skimmed.

Looks like the heat and sucked the life out of the plaster and there is no strength left in it.
(For safety, I would avoid that room until you get a pro round)

loracan1

I've had a couple of tiny bits come off and patched them up but nothing on that scale! What's above it? My bathroom had a slipped slate above which had led to some water ingress, but I stress I only patched it because it was a small area and everything else was firm. (that second picture looks as if there's still some bumpy bits)

PS. Hope your telly was okay.

phill99

This is common in lath and plaster ceilings, especially after a number of years. The stove has probably added to the timber laths drying out even more and shrinking slightly.

I wouldn't, as 967stuart suggests, rip it all down. I would get it over boarded which will hold everything in place and then skimmed off. Pulling a L & P ceiling down is the devils own job and creates a disproportionare amount of mess. the room will need to be cleared, all doors sealed and even then dust will get over everything in the house.

ormus

thats why overboarding is the prefered option.
the mess you make in pulling an old ceiling down is hard to describe to someone whos never seen it done.

ormus

967stuart

Overboarding is fine ... providing you are happy to lose some height. (all be it a small amount!, note - this can cause a problem if you having short wiring on your lights ..... like my house)

Personally, I don't like hiding problems away, I have pulled down ceilings and YES its a horrendously messy job, but I like knowing that the job is done properly and there is no hidden surprises.

spannerzone

I overboarded all my ceilings and had no problems but I did re-wire at the same time. I could not face the vast mess that it would create in addition to me stripping my walls back to brick and replastering them as well!