Crack on bathroom ceiling

ThisIsWeird

Is there a room above this? Are the floors springy?

This might be rescuable, provided there are joists and noggins along all these joints, and you could screw proper p'board screws into them, roughly 10-15mm from the edges. Then PVA as I described before - and which you didn't do - and finally a bit of filler and paint.

Your ceiling isn't 'crumbling' - it isn't breaking up into pieces - but looks like wot FreeBear said - the boards were fixed with nails (usually ok), but not scrimmed, and it looks as tho' there's movement in the timbers that caused these boards to loosen and move.

OrbitHeadache

Thankyou both .

I have decided to get this sorted and will get quotes from 2 plasterers over the next day or 2.

To answer the question above the ceiling is the roof.

The ceiling never leaks which is a good sign I suppose?

ThisIsWeird

OrbitHeadache said:

Thankyou both .

I have decided to get this sorted and will get quotes from 2 plasterers over the next day or 2.

To answer the question above the ceiling is the roof.

The ceiling never leaks which is a good sign I suppose?

Yes, a good sign.
There's no evidence of water damage, or anything else that could have caused this - very strange. So I guess it could simply be a combination of poor initially installation, coupled with the effects of heat and cold - expansion and contraction - over the years. But only guessing.
Should be easy to sort, tho'.

FreeBear

ThisIsWeird said: There's no evidence of water damage, or anything else that could have caused this - very strange. So I guess it could simply be a combination of poor initially installation, coupled with the effects of heat and cold - expansion and contraction - over the years. But only guessing.
Should be easy to sort, tho'.

Nailing up plasterboard was the standard way of fixing the stuff originally - Still a few diehards using nails, but the rest of the world has moved on to using screws. Problems can still arise with screws - Insufficient number used, too close to the board edge, driven in too deep, etc.

OrbitHeadache

Hi first plasterer came today and he quoted 

Hi there this is the quote for your bathroom ceiling.

1) Remove existing ceiling plasterboard and then skim including materials £1200

2) overboard ceiling and then skin £800 including materials.

3) if you go ahead with us and you wanted to paint the bathroom, including materials will be an extra £350

Is over boarding and skimming reasonable at £800?

And new ceiling plasterboard at £1200?

FreeBear

How big is this ceiling ?

ThisIsWeird

FreeBear said:

ThisIsWeird said: There's no evidence of water damage, or anything else that could have caused this - very strange. So I guess it could simply be a combination of poor initially installation, coupled with the effects of heat and cold - expansion and contraction - over the years. But only guessing.
Should be easy to sort, tho'.

Nailing up plasterboard was the standard way of fixing the stuff originally - Still a few diehards using nails, but the rest of the world has moved on to using screws. Problems can still arise with screws - Insufficient number used, too close to the board edge, driven in too deep, etc.

Yes, indeed. And nailing has done the job successfully for eons, usually without issue, provided there isn't excessive movement or vibration.
Screws are not only easier, but the head design is less likely to damage the board.
Hard to figure out what's gone wrong in this case - apart from the lack of scrim - but there does appear to be a surprising amount of movement in one board at least - perhaps that's the only nail that was used!
Almost certainly it's 'rescuable' - glue and screw - but I'd only suggest that to a keen DIYer. Best to redo.

FreeBear

ThisIsWeird said:

FreeBear said:

ThisIsWeird said: There's no evidence of water damage, or anything else that could have caused this - very strange. So I guess it could simply be a combination of poor initially installation, coupled with the effects of heat and cold - expansion and contraction - over the years. But only guessing.
Should be easy to sort, tho'.

Nailing up plasterboard was the standard way of fixing the stuff originally - Still a few diehards using nails, but the rest of the world has moved on to using screws. Problems can still arise with screws - Insufficient number used, too close to the board edge, driven in too deep, etc.

Yes, indeed. And nailing has done the job successfully for eons, usually without issue, provided there isn't excessive movement or vibration.

My original ceilings were all held up with nails, lots of nails. Lath & lime plaster... Cracks everywhere, and nails slowly rusting away (big problem in the kitchen & bathroom). Glad to see the back of the stuff.

When nailing up plasterboard, you have to be very, very careful not to strike the plasterboard - If you do, it makes a mess of the board and ruins the structural integrity. That said, driving screws in too deep will also compromise integrity, but the damage is localised in a smaller area.

stuart45

Nowadays I use bits with a depth stop for plasterboard. I don't personally know anyone in the trade who still tacks plasterboard.

Bigphil1474

OrbitHeadache said:

Hi first plasterer came today and he quoted 

Hi there this is the quote for your bathroom ceiling.

1) Remove existing ceiling plasterboard and then skim including materials £1200

2) overboard ceiling and then skin £800 including materials.

3) if you go ahead with us and you wanted to paint the bathroom, including materials will be an extra £350

Is over boarding and skimming reasonable at £800?

And new ceiling plasterboard at £1200?

Based on your photos, I wouldn't go for over-boarding. Looks to be at least 2 layers of Artex on there and the old boards, and what you now know are old nails. I think over-boarding is just delaying the inevitable rather than fixing the issue. Plasterers aren't cheap these days, whether the quote is reasonable depends on the size of the room. Obviously, there's a possibility the Artex contains asbestos so there's that added element, but £1,200 all in doesn't sound overly expensive. Wait and see what the other quote comes back at.

I'd say save yourself a few quid and paint it yourself after. Not too hard with some bathroom ceiling paint - I made the mistake of using the wrong stuff once, but proper bathroom paint isn't that expensive and your time is essentially free.