Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Other subjects
Original poster

OK silly question number 47 - who knows how ceilings are made?

56 replies

Katymac · 27/10/2006 21:18

I need to build a ceiling 20m by 10m how do I do this?

I don't really want a white plastic suspended ceiling (bit Cr*p to look at imo)

Thanks

OP posts:
Mumpbump · 27/10/2006 22:21

We used someone who is not a fully qualified architect (and therefore much cheaper) but who did the job perfectly well. Not very creative, but as long as you have a clear idea of what you want, he's fine. One of my friends is starting a property development business, got a quote of £25,000 for architect drawings and decided to use him - she's used him for 3 projects already... Can't remember his company name, but can look it up in our papers, if of interest...

Original poster
Katymac · 27/10/2006 22:23

My total budget is 100K and that includes furniture & toys

I think an architect is out of my price range

So I do the research and fit it all together like a jigsaw - it takes longer and probably won't be as good - but it's the way life is

OP posts:
Mumpbump · 27/10/2006 22:29

Sorry - quote for £25,000 was from a qualified architect. This partly qualified one is much cheaper! Think he charged us about £750 for drawings showing a small extension to accommodate a new staircase and a big extension for a new bedroom with en suite over our kitchen.

Original poster
Katymac · 27/10/2006 22:29

I guess a plaster board ceiling would cost about £500 for stuff (this is about right) and maybe £1000 for labour (that is a total guess) - so that leaves £3K (of the suspended ceiling price) to add to the roof price

Does that make any sense?

OP posts:
Mumpbump · 27/10/2006 22:29

Plus a double garage, all the building regulation notes and this included dealing with the PP application... Bargain!!

Original poster
Katymac · 27/10/2006 22:31

That sounds good - £750 is much better

OP posts:
Mumpbump · 27/10/2006 22:34

DH says sheet of plasterboard is 1.2m x 2.4 m and costs £8 so that's for about 3sq m and you need 200sq m which means about 70 sheets costing £560 - you did mean 20x10m and not feet, didn't you?

Plus timber and screws - you'll need quite a lot for that area so I wouldn't underestimate the costs... Labour depends on how you do it and plastering is very expensive - we paid £250 a day for plasterer and his mate.

Mumpbump · 27/10/2006 22:37

Our quasi-architect is Building Designs in Horsham. The guy's name is David Algar and his telephone no. is 01403 250831. Don't know if that's anywhere near you. The retired structural engineer is one that he uses...

Original poster
Katymac · 27/10/2006 22:42

www.wickes.co.uk/invt/220205

I took the price from here (mind you it's getting late & I could have punched the numbers in wrong)

I thought they would be nailed to the bottem of the trusses?

It's about £200 a day round here so I thought about 5 days work (that was a guess)

OP posts:
Mumpbump · 27/10/2006 22:44

I don't know about roof trusses, but what I would expect is for them to put in joists spanning the void and then nail the plasterboard to the underneath, then put in the insulating mineral wool. Can't imagine that the plasterboard would already be nailed to the trusses because it would be perpindicular and therefore very difficult to handle without breaking it...

Mumpbump · 27/10/2006 22:45

For the quantity of plasterboard that you're looking at, you should definitely negotiate. 200 sqm is a hell of a lot!

Original poster
Katymac · 27/10/2006 22:47

Sorry - I ment the trusses would span the room (with the roof on top) then you would put the plaster board up and then attach them (to the horizontal bit)...or not?

OP posts:
Mumpbump · 27/10/2006 22:47

Here is a link to one of the building control websites. It looks as though the longest span is about 5m, but that's for C16...

www.salford.gov.uk/timber-floors.pdf

Original poster
Katymac · 27/10/2006 22:48

Yep I found that - that's why I think lowering the roof might be a better option

I wonder how long it takes to plaster 200 sqm

OP posts:
Mumpbump · 27/10/2006 22:49

Misread your post! That sounds right. Can you get trusses this large then?

Original poster
Katymac · 27/10/2006 22:50

Oh hell I hadn't thought of that

They msut make them that big
BU&&ER I really hadn't thought of that

OP posts:
Mumpbump · 27/10/2006 22:51

I think our plasterer did our kitchen ceiling (25 sqm) in about a day so maybe a week or so?

Mumpbump · 27/10/2006 22:52

I've seen open plan buildings of a comparable size in Chamonix where they build everything from wood, but they had huge posts in the middle to prop the beams up. Is that an option for you?

Original poster
Katymac · 27/10/2006 22:53

Well maybe - but the children will run round it;climb it;smear it with snot and try to use it for teething

OP posts:
Mumpbump · 27/10/2006 22:54

I think there are ways of making beams stronger, eg. bolting two together with plywood in the middle. I also recall seeing a metal product which was to be bolted between beams to give them extra strength... 10m is a huge span, though...

Original poster
Katymac · 27/10/2006 22:56

There are trusses already - but they are metal and all rusty

I guess we are back on the metal/rsj/stuff again

Bummer

OP posts:
Mumpbump · 27/10/2006 23:02

Are there metal beams spanning the space horizontally as well? I guess you might be able to attach plasterboard to metal or bolt on wooden chocks and attach the plasterboard to that...

Mumpbump · 27/10/2006 23:03

If you had vertical wooden posts, perhaps you could turn them into a treehouse/slide or something else that's a feature. Ds' nursery has a flight of stairs that's done up to look like a castle!

Original poster
Katymac · 27/10/2006 23:05

There are metal beams but they are all way too high - so I couldn't attach stuff to it up there

But if I took them down lowered the walls - I'm not sure if we could reuse the metal beams or if they are too old

OP posts:
bran · 27/10/2006 23:08

I wish you were doing a blog with photos Katymac, your project sounds fascinating. It's going to be wonderful when it's finished.

Sorry, that's a bit off topic, but I know less than nothing about ceilings so I can't be of any help at all.

Swipe left for the next trending thread