Reboard and skim kitchen ceiling

mwbrown

After a bit of advice, have been advised by one builder/plasterer that if he reboards and skims our kitchen ceiling he will need to get his electrican in to refit the existing lights... is this correct (I know that if the wiring was to be modified (or more lights fitted hence new wiring!) then it would need an electrician to do the necessary alterations to the wiring - but all that is needed is for the light fittings to be taken of (theres plenty of spare wire above the ceiling to take into account the new plasterboard thickness and skim coat etc!).

Had another guy round earlier to give us a price and he never mentioned the need for an electrician to come in and take the lights down and refit them!).

When we had our living reboarded and plastered a few years ago the only requirement from the plasterer was that our ceiling fan be taken down and a simple pendant light be put up in its place whilst he did the work.

Any input from people would be much appreciated.

Mike

boltneck123

I think you are right.

You could unscrew the light fitting and let it hang, have the plasterer do his work and screw it back up your self, you wouldn't even need to disconnect the light.

Unless it is a really bulky fitting with some weight on it, (turn off electricity) then take note of which wire goes where, put a small sticker around each wire and label them accordingly and label where on the fitting they came from. Buy some electrical insulation tape, tape off each wire individually and then when the work is going to carried out, turn off the lighting circuit at the fuse board (do all this work on the day the work is to be done) and pop the light back up once the plaster has set and the work is complete.

I have been plaster boarding ceilings recently my self, the pendants hang with out issue and as you say there is plenty of cable distance even after the skim.

mwbrown

thanks for the reply boltneck123.

that was my thinking all along (I didn't speak to the first plasterer - my wife dealt with him - he was supposed to be calling me back yesterday but still hasn't called me yet!).

The first guy hasn't given us a price yet, but the second guy has quoted £160 for overboarding and skimming the ceiling (which is about 9ft x 8ft).

cheers

Mike

Dan-Dan

i paid £165 for almost the same , hth

ValHaller

boltneck123 wrote: »

I think you are right.

You could unscrew the light fitting and let it hang, have the plasterer do his work and screw it back up your self, you wouldn't even need to disconnect the light.

Unless it is a really bulky fitting with some weight on it, (turn off electricity) then take note of which wire goes where, put a small sticker around each wire and label them accordingly and label where on the fitting they came from. Buy some electrical insulation tape, tape off each wire individually and then when the work is going to carried out, turn off the lighting circuit at the fuse board (do all this work on the day the work is to be done) and pop the light back up once the plaster has set and the work is complete.

I have been plaster boarding ceilings recently my self, the pendants hang with out issue and as you say there is plenty of cable distance even after the skim.

Never did like taping off of wires. For one thing you may still need some connected to ensure that other lighting works.

I keep a bag of connector blocks cut into 4 way units. I reterminate the ceiling fitting into a block, which leaves other lighting working, then I put it in a small polythene bag and tape over that. Similarly some larger 3 way blocks keep ring mains going.

mwbrown

thanks for the Dandan... I thought 160 for the job was about right...

Re exisiting lights - will get a couple of pendant fittings and fit them and leave them hanging (existing lights are quite heavy), the plasterer will then have some light to see what he is doing.

Cheers again guys for all the information.

Mike

boltneck123

ValHaller wrote: »

Never did like taping off of wires. For one thing you may still need some connected to ensure that other lighting works.

I keep a bag of connector blocks cut into 4 way units. I reterminate the ceiling fitting into a block, which leaves other lighting working, then I put it in a small polythene bag and tape over that. Similarly some larger 3 way blocks keep ring mains going.

Yeah you are right about that, depending on how the system is wired. You could loose other lights in the house, but with the electric off for the light circuits anyway - you would loose the downstairs at least as a minimum. Your method is definitely the way to go if you have more than one feed running through the light fitting and the works are going to take more than a day to complete.

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Mike,

£160 does not sound to bad to me, my kitchen is about 6ft X 9ft, maybe a tad smaller, I cannot remember to be honest. Anyway, I am doing mine my self and if I could have all the ceiling done for that price I would probably take it. Ask to see an example of some of his previous work.

The only reason I am doing it my self is because I need to do every ceiling in the house, I have had to remove hundreds of those stupid white polystyrene tiles that people used for insulation, in the 70's (ish) I believe. Talk about fire hazard. The glue left behind is a nightmare to remove (practically impossible), so I bit the bullet and I have started putting fresh plasterboard up.