callapsed ceiling

KATHLEEN

my ceiling collapsed after the guy up starirs put a new floating ceiling in, insurence put in on wear and tear can anyond advise me lose of income, broken light and damaged suite:mad:

muckybutt

You arent very clear ?

Where is the collapsed ceiling ? your flat or his ?
How has his ceiling caused yours to collapse ?
If yours has collapsed then it will need plasterboarding and plastering then painting to make good, theres also the electrics as you say and damage to your sofa....hmmmmmmm expensive get some quotes and get an engineer around to see if its his probelm or yours....I suspect the latter as I dont see how his ceiling can cause yours to fall down.
If it is his problem then get his insurance to sort it, if they dont then sue him....simples

tlh858

KATHLEEN wrote: »

insurence put in on wear and tear

Ceilings do not fall down because of 'wear and tear'.

They fall because either they were installed wrongly in the first place, or more likely, some external event has caused them to fail.

KATHLEEN

the ceiling is in a flat as to which we lease. our tennant at the time said there was work being done upstairs. the flat is over 100 yrs old and has a heavy cornice in the centre it is this which has collapsed causing damage to the rest of the ceiling, flooring, couch etc etc. my insurance company has classed this as wear and tear and I am now confused as to where to go, what to do and what I can claim

muckybutt

A bit clearer now if the collapse was due to the tennant upstairs having work done then I would say they are liable, but if the ceiling in your flat was also unstable as that it would / could / did fall down then i'd say 50/50.

Get an independant surveyor in to look at the ceiling in your flat and do a report to submit to his and your insurer.

KATHLEEN

it is laughin plaster and they say thats why

southcoastrgi

KATHLEEN wrote: »

it is laughin plaster

what like this ? :rotfl::rotfl:

muckybutt

I think you mean lath and plaster ! lol

Get quotes and a surveyor like I have suggested

A lath and plaster ceiling !

Leif

KATHLEEN wrote: »

it is laughin plaster and they say thats why

Excellent, laughing plaster! I'm not making fun of you, but that is a gem.

Lath and plaster is the old technique for making a ceiling, and perhaps the plaster does sometimes work lose. It is basically strips of wood with a gap between, nailed to joists. The plasterer applies a layer of plaster to the wood strips, and it squeezes between the gaps, and expands out on the other side, so that when it sets, it grips the wood strips. The photo from muckybutt shows the strips of wood. A friend raised some of his floorboards, and I could see the lath and plaster from above. I find this stuff fascinating, sad!

I suspect if there was a lot of vibration from above, vibrating the floorboards, then it could have cracked the plaster in the ceiling. Alternatively the work did not create undue vibrations, but it was the straw that broke the camels back, if you see what I mean. Perhaps you need to find out what they had done. I remember a few years back when I rented a ground floor flat. There was a bang on the ceiling that was so violent the whole flat vibrated. I think the 'ape' upstairs had tried his best to bang the floor, maybe by jumping off a tall stool. The ceiling stayed in place, not a crack.

fluffymuffy

Sounds like wear and tear after all.

Mojisola

KATHLEEN wrote: »

the flat is over 100 yrs old and has a heavy cornice in the centre it is this which has collapsed causing damage to the rest of the ceiling, flooring, couch etc etc. my insurance company has classed this as wear and tear

Plaster does deteriorate and get crumbly over time. We replaced some lath and plaster ceilings last year and the plaster was very fragile.