removing water tanks in loft, to fit a combi boiler

cyclonebri1

art_for_arts_sake wrote: »

Yes, that's why I said it probably won't come down in one piece. I've fetched a few ceilings down for builders before now and the mess is horrendous. Birds' nests, and all the horsehair and lime plaster don't make for a wonderful hair conditioner. While you're making all that mess cutting up a water tank with an angle grinder, if it's metal, or a hacksaw, if it's plastic, isn't going to make much more mess.

I have to agree, having had to do this for a loft conversion, building inspector insisted on it for structural reasons, I can confirm that you will be chewing on the dust for months.

I was going to say surely better to overboard, but didn't want to offend any purists around;)

Eastender

art_for_arts_sake wrote: »

I must admit the alarm bells were ringing a bit when I read the previous posts about the ceilings. I've had ceilings skimmed over when they've been in reasonable condition and even clad with plasterboard before skimming, so either your builder is being ultra conscientious by taking the old ceiling away first or they're making work for themselves. You can get insulated plasterboard but, if you have access to the roof cavity, loose-laid insulation is more effective energy and costwise.

Cause for concern about the ceiling. I suspect he is adding work for himself. My wife, who likes to get rid old stuff associated with the 30s built house, has been easily persuaded by the builder and me being doubtful. Now it's too late as they have started to tear the lounge and hall ceiling.

He had demonstrated to us that the new skimming (plaster) would come off from the old loose ceiling and a new ceiling is needed. We had agreed there and then with him to add to the job, as I mentioned my wife was agreeable to his advice, even though we're borrowing money to do the renovation.

I could add loose laid insulation in the bedroom ceiling via the loft but what about lower ground lounge and hallway ceiling?

cyclonebri1

Eastender wrote: »

Cause for concern about the ceiling. I suspect he is adding work for himself. My wife, who likes to get rid old stuff associated with the 30s built house, has been easily persuaded by the builder and me being doubtful. Now it's too late as they have started to tear the lounge and hall ceiling.

He had demonstrated to us that the new skimming (plaster) would come off from the old loose ceiling and a new ceiling is needed. We had agreed there and then with him to add to the job, as I mentioned my wife was agreeable to his advice, even though we're borrowing money to do the renovation.

I could add loose laid insulation in the bedroom ceiling via the loft but what about lower ground lounge and hallway ceiling?

Not if he screwed the new boards up properly it wouldn't.

The alarm bells are now constant:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

It is not normal to insulate the downstairs ceiling, any heat from below is "lost" to the upper floor not to the outside. This actually helps heat the upper floor.

I have done this in the past but it has been for sound insulation rather than to conserve heat, and as I said id not neccessary unless there is special reason.

I think you are heading into serious trouble with this guy, do you know latvpolskisch for stop work and f**k off?, you may need to.

Eastender

cyclonebri1 wrote: »

I have to agree, having had to do this for a loft conversion, building inspector insisted on it for structural reasons, I can confirm that you will be chewing on the dust for months.

I was going to say surely better to overboard, but didn't want to offend any purists around;)

We'll leave the tanks in the loft alone, and cut of the water supply.

The builder never mentioned about overboarding, we hadn't known about it, as he charging us extra £1,65k for through lounge and hall way ceiling. We could have saved at least a grand by overboarding it, but when you have a partner who is easily persuaded by a builder then it's difficult to be cautious.

The builder had already included one of the bedroom ceiling to be replaced in his orginal quote, so this is extra he has added.

Now will keep an eye on his other 'extra work' needed advice and firm with my Mrs:cool:.

I don't have renovation expertise and we trust what the builder says, he did some light work in the past for our flat, we didn't know if there were any alternatives to ceiling problems. He brought 3 other men to work with him.

Thanks for your input. As they say, you learn as you go along, though expensive learning:o

Mistral001

I replaced my tank the winter before last. It was an old steel one with rivets. I took a hammer and chissel to the rivets when it was -5 degrees C. They came off with one sharp blow each in most cases. I assume that as the iron in the rivets was brittle in the cold it made this part easier. It took over an hour as there were over 150 rivets. With the rivets removed the tank fell apart easily and the pieces could fit through the trap door. I got some money for it from the scrap yard - very MSE!

Eastender

cyclonebri1 wrote: »

Not if he screwed the new boards up properly it wouldn't.

The alarm bells are now constant:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

It is not normal to insulate the downstairs ceiling, any heat from below is "lost" to the upper floor not to the outside. This actually helps heat the upper floor.

I have done this in the past but it has been for sound insulation rather than to conserve heat, and as I said id not neccessary unless there is special reason.

I think you are heading into serious trouble with this guy, do you know latvpolskisch for stop work and f**k off?, you may need to.

Thanks for your reply.

Just spoken to the local council building control technical guy, he told me that with bedroom ceiling, after putting in the new ceiling and doing the electrial work, builder should postphone skimming until insulation is applied in the loft, and then skimm, due to the danger of having cracks on the new plaster when installing/treading loose insulation in the loft.

With downstairs ceiling, he said I could ask the builder to install rocksill (mineral wool) for sound insulation, between wooden joist, but not necessary.

Thanks.

keystone

Mistral001 wrote: »

I got some money for it from the scrap yard - very MSE!

But probably disproportionate to the time spent doing the job and transporting it to the scrappy let alone the potential damage done to your ears if you didn't protect them.

Cheers

Mistral001

keystone wrote: »

But probably disproportionate to the time spent doing the job and transporting it to the scrappy let alone the potential damage done to your ears if you didn't protect them.

Cheers

Not at all. I was quite happy with the money I got for the tank at the scrap merchants. Also the amount of space that was free-ed up in the roof space as I was converting it into a room was in my view worth quite a lot of money to me.

Knocking the rivets off were not all that noisey when I hit them with firm clean blow.

The usual way of getting such tanks down from the roofspace is to cut them up with an angle grinder, but i suggest that this can be hazardous as it involves quite a few sparks. Sparks like these have sometimes been found to find themselves into corners and smoulder unseen until they ignite much later.

The other alternative is to make the hatch bigger.

art_for_arts_sake

Eastender wrote: »

...My wife, who likes to get rid old stuff associated with the 30s built house, has been easily persuaded by the builder and me being doubtful. Now it's too late as they have started to tear the lounge and hall ceiling.

Yes, too late unfortunately, and many of the selling points for a prospective future buyer may have gone - original architectural features such as plaster mouldings still attract interest from people not wanting to buy a sterile looking blank canvas.

Jeff Howell www.askjeff.co.uk is a strong believer in maintaining the original structure of a house. He has some interesting views on so-called home improvements and offers food for thought before consulting the "experts". Required reading for anyone with an older house.