New Ceiling plus spot lights?

desire99 · 18 July 2014 at 11:00AM

Hi Guys,

I have a bedroom that has lath and plaster celiling thats all cracked up. I've been searching for a plaster and electrician to complete this job. The bedroom is approx 4m x 4m.

The plasterer says he can "over board" the ceiling. Can anyone advise whether I can still have downlights fitted? I've been told to overboard the whole ceiling and complete a few other odd cracks and holes in other walls will be £250.

I've spoken to electrician who has advised fire rated gu10 led down lights are £20 each I am having 6 put in.

I also only have one double plug socket in my room and would like 3 more double sockets put it on the same wall. I've been given a total price of £440 exclud certificate for the electrical work.

Does this sound reasonable? Please can you let me know.......also would a lowered ceiling be better? I mean one where a wooden frame is built and then plasterboard screwed into the frame if so how much more would this cost?

lackingwedge · 18 July 2014 at 2:23PM

I bought 10 fire rated tilting GU10 downlights (minus bulbs) for about £65 delivered from Ebay.

desire99 · 18 July 2014 at 2:28PM

Many thanks for the reply I've taken a look on ebay and found some including 4W LED bulbs and a 7 year gurantee for £9.99 each so that should hopefully take the cost down a bit. I really need someone to advise about the ceiling though this is my biggest concern...

1) Can Down Lights be fitted into an overboarded ceiling?
2) How much roughly more would it cost to have a lowered ceiling with a wooden frame and plasterboard screwed to this as opposed to overboarding?

stebiz · 21 July 2014 at 9:07AM

There won't be an issue with the lathe plaster. Once the ceilings are plated they will go along with a drill and put holes were required. Only difference is that instead of going through 1/2 inch they'll need to go through a couple of inches. Alternatively the plasterer could knock some of the lathe plaster off in the parts were the lights are and leave a mark for the electrician where it has been removed.

aggypanthus · 21 July 2014 at 5:33PM

What does overboard mean? I thought it meant to put a frame then plasterboard?

electrics sound expensive!

Risteard · 21 July 2014 at 5:33PM

What do you mean "excluding certificate"?

Certification is a requirement of the Wiring Regulations.

desire99 · 22 July 2014 at 1:17PM

I asked the plasterer what over-boarding was he said he would break the ceiling to find the joists and then screw the plasterboard directly to it.
I've now had a falling out with the plasterer as I'm 100% sure when he gave the initial quote he said he would be building a wooden frame and then screwing the platerboard to this we both agreed to this as he said it would be a lot less mess. He said breaking the ceiling would create too much mess but now he wants to do the job that way which I don't agree with.

I've had quotes from 3 different electricians and everyone is giving me roughly the same price..but they are all telling me different things. The first one who came said it was a "big job" to add 3X2 plug sockets as it would require an extra fuse and this would take the quote to over £600.

The second electrician said having a double light switch would be a "big job" as a seperate wire would need to go from the ceiling to the light switch, he said there was no issue in having the extra plug sockets as he would create a new spur? and add a 13a fuse. This same electrician said he does not need to give a certificate and that if I required one it would be at least another £75+ as he would need to test all the electrics in the house.

The third electrician looked at my fuse box and said its too old and does not meet new regulations so he wont be doing any work until I get this changed...and refused to give a quote on the rest of the work. The other two electricians did not even take a look at my fuse box I did ask them to take a look but they said they do not need to

I am now trying to get a revised quote for the plasterering!

fluffpot · 22 July 2014 at 10:16PM

Please do not use either of the 'electricians' who didn't even bother to look at the fuse board - they are not electricians!

The board might be old, but the electrician as a bare minimum only had to ensure that the circuits he/she is working on are up to current standards (this does not necessarily mean a whole new fuse board if you cannot afford that), that there is proper earthing to the property (confirmed by a test) and that there is earthing to the gas and water pipes.

Find another electrician or two and get some more prices. Make sure they look at the board and ask about options other than a new one - a good electrician will suggest them anyway

good luck

Risteard · 24 July 2014 at 4:00PM

fluffpot wrote: »

that there is earthing to the gas and water pipes.

Main protective bonding actually, and that is based on the assumption that they are extraneous conductive parts.

ceredigion · 25 July 2014 at 10:11PM

As for the plastering , in the first post you say overboard and £250 for a 4x4 m ceiling. Which certainly isn't expensive . In fact positively cheap. For that you`re certainly not going to get a wooden frame put in under your existing ceiling. How would propose holding such a structure up in the air anyway? You would have to knock holes in the ceiling and strap it and suspend it from the original joists. If you are going to do that , you may as well just rip the old ceiling down and board directly too the original timber work. Never going to happen. To overboard you screw the plasterboard directly too the old joists through the existing ceiling , leaving it in place. Personally I wouldn't even knock holes in it to find the joists , just walk along the edge with hammer and nail , mark them up then pining a chalk line across and away you go.