Ceiling overboarded with hardboard sheets....Help!

traineepensioner

Hi,
We're in the process of renovating a 1950's semi and have discovered that the plaster & lath ceiling has been overboarded with some kind of hardboard. The hardboard is about 15mm thick and the original plaster & lath ceiling is still in place. The joints have been covered with paper tape and the ceiling has been wallpapered many times. Removing the wallpaper also removes some of the hardboard.:(

http://i1201.photobucket.com/albums/bb358/trotter13/20140108_165942.jpg
http://i1201.photobucket.com/albums/bb358/trotter13/20140108_165654.jpg

Anybody any ideas of a cost effective way of sorting this, so we have a decent surface to wallpaper? I'm hoping not to have to remove the hardboard as this would probably dislodge a good portion of the original ceiling.

My first thought was to overboard the whole lot with 9mm plasterboard and skim. This would be less messy and increase sound insulation but the screws would have to be around 70 mm to provide sufficient anchorage. I've also thought of battening the ceiling and fixing plaster board to that but in both cases it's going to be difficult to locate the joists. (Height is not an issue.....loads of headroom)

I would really appreciate any thoughts/advice....haven't come across this way of overboarding before.:eek:

Many thanks,

warehouse

Once you remove the old wallpaper could you not just paper with heavy lining paper before wallpapering again?

Otherwise why not do the job properly and take down the whole lot, hardboard and old ceiling. Put up new plasterboard, skim and paint or paper. I did this in a couple of rooms in our old house and yes it was a bomb site in the room for a few days but the overall result was a superb ceiling.

manda1205

We are currently re-doing our 1890's cottage. We have found various different "bodges" to lots of things in various rooms. With lath and plaster ceilings we have found the only way to get the best finish without losing inches from a room and the least hassle is to remove it all. If it were me Id pull it all down and put new plaster board up and skim. It will be horrendously messy(and I can't emphasize it enough, you will need face masks as the lime is terrible to breath in), but its only for a few days and then you can start boarding it and the dust stops then. At least you'll know its been done properly and will be up there for years to come with no bother.

Stooby2

We had a similar issue in our dining room. The house was originally lathe and plaster, but due to bomb damage during the war, now has plasterboard just nailed over the old lathes, that was about 10mm thick. So probably 20-30mm in all to the joists.

In the dining room, the ceiling had been wallpapered with woodchip and painted several times. Trying to get it off was a disaster and was damaging the plasterboard. In the end I got a plasterer in, who simply nailed/screwed new plasterboards on and skimmed it. He had no issue with the thickness of the existing ceiling and now it looks great.

Leon_W

As is I would consider that ceiling a total fire hazard. You wouldn't want a burning ceiling raining down on you hindering escape ! It certainly doesn't meet newer fire regs.


Wallpapering over it is not an option so, as others have said, pull it down or overboard. Realistically, if it's as thick as you say it is then it is likely best to pull it down and start again.

27col

Rip it down and re-board. Any other solution is nothing but a bodge.

bradleigh1977

rip it down, then you can insulate between the joists, maybe have different lights fitted etc, before the ceiling goes back up. It will be a dirty job, everyone in a 10 mile radius will have black bogeys!!!! Remember also the old ceiling will be a lot thicker than the new plasterboard ceiling, so the wall edge, where it joins the ceiling will need to be made good, as the ceiling will now be higher than the original. If you need a reccomendation for a plasterer i may be able to help, depending on where you are in the world. brad

phill99

Your 'hardboard' may well be asbestos sheets.

Best get it tested.

traineepensioner

Many thanks for the replies :beer: A lot to think about.

I have to admit that I didn't consider the fire risk that the overboarding would pose. I've thought long & hard about taking the whole lot down and, having done this many times in the past, I know the amount of mess that this creates. We've already installed a new kitchen and decorated adjacent rooms, so this would be a last resort option. I've double checked the thickness of the hardboard and it is definitely 15mm. It's very flat and appears to be well fixed. It was only noticeable through the wallpaper at the joins.

This is all down to me not checking earlier.:( I saw the 8' x 4' shaped joins through some of the wallpaper and assumed it had been overboarded with plasterboard and would require a skim.

The option I'm considering is to overboard the whole lot with 9mm plasterboard. This would provide some fire protection and a decent surface for decorating.

Thanks again

Bluebell1000

We had problems with our ceilings upstairs when we found that the wallpaper was the only thing holding the lath and plaster together. It was a horribly messy job taking it all down, but we did find that polythene sheet taped around the door frame did a good job of containing the dust and protecting the other rooms.

traineepensioner

Hi again,

Follow up info.... Just in case anyone else finds they have this sort of overboarding.

The material appears to be soft fibre board, 13mm thick, with a fire performance rating that satisfies EN 13986 (whatever that is!):o

source : http://www.wpif.org.uk/uploads/PanelGuide/44_%20Annex%202f%20TRADA%20V3%2021_04.pdf

I'm still going to overboard with 9mm plasterboard though.:cool: