My ceiling fell in during last summer's rain - do I just need a plasterer to fix it?

[MeerkatMerkin]

It's actually in a flat that we rent to tenants. It is a kitchen extension on a ground floor flat and the roof came in. Roof was repaired a while ago, now we can finally get started on the ceiling after a financial battle with the bastard buildings management people.

However, I have no idea who would do a job like this? There is a hole in the ceiling about 3ft long and 1.5ft wide, and the coving between the ceiling and wall was all damaged too, plus water damage to areas of ceiling and wall neighbouring the hole itself.

Would I just need to hire a plasterer, are they sufficiently skilled to deal with this level of damage or do I need some sort of builder as well? Structurally everything is fine, the ceiling just needs patching up and cosmetic damage repaired.

Sorry for the dim question!

[MeerkatMerkin]

Oh! And from my description, could anyone have a guess at how much this will actually cost?

[MeerkatMerkin]

Bump

[Selks]

A decent plasterer should be able to do it.

[fridayfreedom]

We had two water damaged ceilings from leaks. Sounds like for a good job that the area needs to be cut out - if it is a large room or the whole ceiling replaced. A plasterer can do plasterboard then skim over with finishing plaster.
Around here, south of England, a plasterer is about £200 a day but worth their money as it is a tricky job.

[kelda]

You need to know exactly how much water damage there is. In our case, we saw the damage long before the ceiling was at risk of collapsing. I hope your tenants weren't hurt and nothing damaged?

For us, the whole of the ceiling and insulation needed to be removed, and then left open for the roof to dry internally (couple of months)

The roof wood needs to be reinforced. For the outside, the flat roof needs to be assessed and repaired for leaks. Then new insulation needs to be put in.

All this has to be done before the plasterer.

So yes, you definitely need to get a builder in.

[MeerkatMerkin]

Luckily the tenants were on holiday and nothing was damaged.

The roof has been repaired (replaced for the most part in fact). So is a builder a necessity in light of this? If so, are there particular builders that specialise in ceiling, er, rebuilding?! It seems a bit niche, but I really wouldn't know.

In terms of water damage, it happened as follows: We were concerned there was damp in the ceiling caused by the rubbish old roof, which was manifesting in a bulge the size of a 2p piece. There was no actual damp/water. We got the managing agents to agree to replacing the roof as they had known for a long time it needed doing, and the other landlords in the building had agreed that this should be funded by our maintenance pot - BUT only by mouth - the lazy managing agents didn't bother taking if any further so we hassled them for months and it was only when the roof fell in that they started moving the process along slightly (this is a whole other tale in itself). Anyway, their contractor who looked at it said that the reason it had fallen in was not because of the water itself, but the fact that there was a 'tarpaulin' layer (for insulation purposes, but an absolutely counter-productive solution in the end!) between the ceiling and roof, above the wooden rafters/beams (not sure what they're called?) and all the other 'ceiling gumpf' (another technical name there) and that the water had collected in this from a leak in the roof over a long time, then the pressure on this 'tarpaulin' finally gave way at the site of the 'bulge', the tarpaulin/ceiling split and the water came into the kitchen.

They said it would have been preferable to have a steady leak as this wouldn't have caused the ceiling to fall in, just a dripping ceiling, but the bloody plastic layer meant that there was nowhere for the water to go.

So, I am not aware of extensive water damage because of the fact that the water collected ABOVE the components of the ceiling in this tarpaulin thing - there was no opportunity for it to spread throughout the other insulation/gumpf/wooden beams and cause damage over a long period of time.

Any idea how much all of this would cost with a plasterer AND a builder then?!

Thanks so much for your help so far - it's really useful.

[Selks]

Kelda, OP said that the roof was repaired so I don't understand why you think it now needs 'reinforcing' and repairing.

If the roof work is done then the ceiling just needs a patch repair which any good plasterer can do.

[Anifrangapani]

Replace the plasterboard, have it skimmed by a plasterer, seal ( watered down emulsion -20% paint to water) and repaint. Plaster board and tacks £30, skim around here 100 per room so yours will be less because it is a patch. Paint and brushes no more than 20. Having said that you will need a square, saw and hammer as well.

[MeerkatMerkin]

Ok great, I will make some enquiries! Thanks.

[kelda]

Ooops. Misread OP!

[AliceWChild]

We've had not dissimilar stuff done by bog standard builder who also plasters. Bog standard as in does the usual building work type of builder.