Just how bad is this plaster job and how much and how easily can it be fixed?

southcoastrgi

Not good but you know that, to take an existing ceiling down is a messy job & can be time consuming, what a lot of people do is what you have had which is called over boarding

JohnB47

southcoastrgi wrote: »

Not good but you know that, to take an existing ceiling down is a messy job & can be time consuming, what a lot of people do is what you have had which is called over boarding

And overboarding (if that's what it's called) can cause subsequent problems - if you ever want to put recessed spots in the ceiling. The fittings are made to suit a certain maximum thickness of ceiling.

When you overboard, you get a really thick ceiling and the retaining clips are a real struggle to push home. I know this from experience - GU10 spots in the bathroom.

shaun_from_Africa

southcoastrgi wrote: »

Not good but you know that, to take an existing ceiling down is a messy job & can be time consuming, what a lot of people do is what you have had which is called over boarding

It doesn't matter what a lot of people have done as the OP specifically wanted the old plasterboard removing and the new boards fitted in their place.
If the plasterers concerned didn't want to do it this way then they should have stated this before accepting the job.
It wouldn't be so bad if they had overboarded and actually done a good job of it but this doesn't appear to be the case.

southcoastrgi

JohnB47 wrote: »

And overboarding (if that's what it's called) can cause subsequent problems - if you ever want to put recessed spots in the ceiling. The fittings are made to suit a certain maximum thickness of ceiling.

When you overboard, you get a really thick ceiling and the retaining clips are a real struggle to push home. I know this from experience - GU10 spots in the bathroom.

Yes it really is called overboarding
I didn't say you didn't get a thick ceiling whatever you want to put into it I would have thought that was blantly obvious

southcoastrgi

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

It doesn't matter what a lot of people have done as the OP specifically wanted the old plasterboard removing and the new boards fitted in their place.
If the plasterers concerned didn't want to do it this way then they should have stated this before accepting the job.
It wouldn't be so bad if they had overboarded and actually done a good job of it but this doesn't appear to be the case.

I know it doesn't matter what a lot of people do, I was informing the op of the name of what they have done as they didn't seem to know & what they have done is not unusual

TRB

I am so sorry this has been done to you , It makes me so angry it is what makes people wary of us competent tradesmen. As it is a small area and everyone knows him I hope you can make it very difficult for him by letting them all know what a bad job he has done.

andyhop

JohnB47 wrote: »

And overboarding (if that's what it's called) can cause subsequent problems - if you ever want to put recessed spots in the ceiling. The fittings are made to suit a certain maximum thickness of ceiling.

When you overboard, you get a really thick ceiling and the retaining clips are a real struggle to push home. I know this from experience - GU10 spots in the bathroom.

What a load of crock

All my ground floor ceilings are double 15mm boarded for fire protection to upper floors. Ansell I cage light all cope with this thickness just fine .

Maybe the off the shelf junk they sell at B&Q won't work but there are fittings out there that will work fine

The amount charged isn't a huge amount given most plasterers I know would charge £400 plus for a skim of a average room, the amount of waste your average lathe ceiling can create plus materials could easily be a few hundred

Mr.Generous

It doesn't look like someone's first ever go at plastering, they would have taken more care.

Plasterissue

Nope, in fact, this plaster has been doing it for 30+ years...

Which was why I was okayish with paying a large amount as I knew he was experienced, well recommended and I hoped would be trustworthy enough to do a good job.


I took up more floorboards up and found that the screws he used were too short to go far enough into the wood lath to secure everything properly, that's assuming he did actually screw into the wood and not as it appears (hence me knowing about the size of the screws) straight into the plasterboard above it. Which in my very limited knowledge seems a terrible idea when the original plasterboard was already cracked and unstable after a flood.

I am just trying to work out how best to proceed here.

Should I get a quote first about how much it'll cost to set right?
Or should I just contact him and demand a refund?

phil24_7

Get him back to show him the standard of work and get him to put it right.

If this is a no goer, taking him to court is likely to be time consuming, difficult and ultimately fruitless.

If this is the case then I would set about finding all of your floor joists. A stud finder may be useful, if not then you have 2 options.

1. Put a screw beside the/a joist from above to so you know where at least 1 of the joists is (both ends), then measure the distance between joists and mark the ceiling below.

2. Hammer holes in the plasterboard to reveal the joists ends and once done you would need to repair the holes.

Use a string line to put lines where the joists are.

Then use 45-50mm long drywall screws and a drywall screwdriver bit (it has a collar that means your screws wont pull through the board) and screw the boards in place with spacings of about 400mm between screws.

You will then need to use and easy sand filler to fill the screw heads and any cracks.