exposed joists

saraann21

hi,i have an old house with lathe and plaster on the ceilings.i do have some damp aswell.anyway the ceilings have been cracking/starting to sag so decided to take the bit down by my bay window.some mold so have treated that.ill have to wait a bit to get new ceilings as skint but im thinking of taking it all off the whole room before it comes down itself.would it be better to leave it off for a bit to air the joists?and can i just leave it off anyway?i know people have exposed beams but not sure bout joists?it doesnt bother me but my kids think im mad so interested to know if anyone else has left their joists exposed?thanks for any help.forgot to say,been cracking for about four years so not removed on a whim!

Furts

No ceiling equates to noise from the floor above, dust and dirt coming through from gaps in the floor, and infringing the principles of fire protecting a home. Here a plastered/plasterboard ceiling provides fire protection to the timber floor and joists.

It is your choice, but your proposal of no ceiling is not one I would be keen to undertake.

flashg67

As above, you'll find it noisier and possibly colder and draughty, depending on what the flooring above is. If you're taking the ceiling down anyway, try it and see if you like it!

As long as you've cured the cause of the damp, it shouldn't need long to dry out the joists.

leveller2911

Many old Oak timber framed houses have the joists exposed. Its common to find lath and plaster /Gyproc ceilings pulled down and then 2x1 nailed on the sides of the joists and soundprooffing put in the void and then Gyproc cut in between the joists and either plastered of dry lined.

The soundproofing can be Celotex type board or in the past I have used a product called (Acoustilay or similar name) which is basically a very thin sheet of flexible lead with a layer of foam on each side. This is excellent in curtain walls so no reason why that couldn't be used in the void.

If you think about it a modern floor joist is 9" deep with no soundproofing in ,its just an open void so if you had a 2" void filled with celotex or similar it has to be more quiet than 9" of air that you would usually have.

You wouldn't see the whole depth of the joist or the underside of the floorbaords above but why would you want too.. That said, I'm not sure I'd want exposed Joists in a house dating post WW2. Wouldn't look right but if its pre 1939 it could work and plenty of Arts & Crafts dated houses have exposed joists and beams. Or if you want that industrial "warehouse living look"...:D

keith969

If you take down a lathe and plaster ceiling, be prepared for a hell of a mess... Did that in a bathroom in a 1860's house once and the amount of dust and dirt was unbelievable.

leveller2911

keith969 wrote: »

If you take down a lathe and plaster ceiling, be prepared for a hell of a mess... Did that in a bathroom in a 1860's house once and the amount of dust and dirt was unbelievable.

I've done dozens over the years and had one down where we opened a window each end of the room to help blow the dust out of the room only for someone to phone the fire brigade because they thought smoke was pouring out of a bedroom window..:D

FreeBear

keith969 wrote: »

If you take down a lathe and plaster ceiling, be prepared for a hell of a mess... Did that in a bathroom in a 1860's house once and the amount of dust and dirt was unbelievable.

Took a 1920s build plaster & lath ceiling down a couple of months back - It does indeed make a hell of a mess and generated quite a bit of waste. Filled one of those bags that are used for delivering bulk sand in. Probably close to a ton of lime plaster in there now (the laths are stacked to use as kindling over the winter months).

Getting all the nails out of the joists was a pain, and when it came to putting the plasterboard up, I found I had missed a couple. Certainly wouldn't have wanted the timbers exposed - They looked damned ugly with all the nail holes...

When the ceiling is finally finished, it will be worth it as I've had the chance to locate the source of a number of draughts and puts some insulation up there. That should reduce the amount of noise being transmitted and make things a bit warmer.

For the OP: You don't say what type of roof you have over the bay window - Is it flat, tiled, or does the bay extend to the upper floor(s) ?

If it is a flat roof or tiled (like mine), then you will certainly want to insulate and reinstate a ceiling rather than having bare timbers showing. And yes, I do know what it is like to do this on a zero budget (that's why it is taking me so long to finish mine).

One last bit of advice - Don't skimp on PPE. Get several decent dust masks, disposable overalls, goggles and a hard hat.

Furts

leveller2911 wrote: »

If you think about it a modern floor joist is 9" deep with no soundproofing in ,its just an open void so if you had a 2" void filled with celotex or similar it has to be more quiet than 9" of air that you would usually have.

I second your post and would add modern floors must have a minimum density for sound proofing. In practical terms this can mean stuffing the joist depth with sound quilting. This would give better sound deadening than Celotex type products.

If OP reinstates, or replaces, their ceiling then insulation in the void is a must.

saraann21

FreeBear wrote: »

Took a 1920s build plaster & lath ceiling down a couple of months back - It does indeed make a hell of a mess and generated quite a bit of waste. Filled one of those bags that are used for delivering bulk sand in. Probably close to a ton of lime plaster in there now (the laths are stacked to use as kindling over the winter months).

Getting all the nails out of the joists was a pain, and when it came to putting the plasterboard up, I found I had missed a couple. Certainly wouldn't have wanted the timbers exposed - They looked damned ugly with all the nail holes...

When the ceiling is finally finished, it will be worth it as I've had the chance to locate the source of a number of draughts and puts some insulation up there. That should reduce the amount of noise being transmitted and make things a bit warmer.

For the OP: You don't say what type of roof you have over the bay window - Is it flat, tiled, or does the bay extend to the upper floor(s) ?

If it is a flat roof or tiled (like mine), then you will certainly want to insulate and reinstate a ceiling rather than having bare timbers showing. And yes, I do know what it is like to do this on a zero budget (that's why it is taking me so long to finish mine).

One last bit of advice - Don't skimp on PPE. Get several decent dust masks, disposable overalls, goggles and a hard hat.

i have 4 bay windows,1 on top of the other.2 each side of front door,if you know what i mean.had a new roof a few years ago and the bit above the windows is flat.the ceiling im starting to take down is in the living room.i knew dust would be horrendous so was expecting that,and yes always wear hat gloves mask etc.thought it was best to get roof done first as we had a hole in it for 12 months and it was just slate,no lining so needed doing.trying to stay positive as has to be done!thanks

FreeBear

When it comes to putting the plasterboard up, I'd recommend using 1800x900mm sheets as they are only 14Kgs each. The larger 2400x1200mm sheets weigh around 25Kgs. Even with the smaller sheets, it is worth having a helper to lift and prop the boards in place... I did my ceiling all on my own and came close to dropping a couple of sheets.

Another tip - Save an old mastic tube and clean it out. When you have the boards up (leave a 3mm gap between each board), fill the tube with jointing compound and squirt it in between the joints. Wipe off the excess with a spatula and then apply scrim tape. Depending on the size of room, you may need to refill the tube four or five times... And use the ready-mixed jointing compound - It doesn't harden in the tub like dry mix does.

If you intend to do plaster & lath, none of the above is relevant.

saraann21

FreeBear wrote: »

When it comes to putting the plasterboard up, I'd recommend using 1800x900mm sheets as they are only 14Kgs each. The larger 2400x1200mm sheets weigh around 25Kgs. Even with the smaller sheets, it is worth having a helper to lift and prop the boards in place... I did my ceiling all on my own and came close to dropping a couple of sheets.

Another tip - Save an old mastic tube and clean it out. When you have the boards up (leave a 3mm gap between each board), fill the tube with jointing compound and squirt it in between the joints. Wipe off the excess with a spatula and then apply scrim tape. Depending on the size of room, you may need to refill the tube four or five times... And use the ready-mixed jointing compound - It doesn't harden in the tub like dry mix does.




If you intend to do plaster & lath, none of the above is relevant.

thanks for the tips,i can guarentee plaster n lathe will not be coming back lol!