Large & plaster ceiling cracked...

[7catsisnotenough]

Hi all, the lathe and plaster ceiling in my tiny galley kitchen is quite badly cracked (happened slowly over the last 20 years!)

Do I have to pull the ceiling down or is there a sneaky way to repair it or perhaps put a suspended ceiling in? The ceiling is reasonably high so, if it would work, a lower plasterboard ceiling is a possibility.

Any advice/ suggestions gratefully received, I really don't want to have black mortar dust everywhere if I can avoid it!!!

Many thanks 😊

Bloody autocorrect!!! Title should be LATHE and plaster not large 🤣🤣🤣

Watching with interest. I'm in the same boat except it's the living room.

depends how much it has moved

Can you get above it to remove the broken nibs? If yes, you have a chance of pressing it back up

but unless it is ornate and expensive, you may as well pull it down.

It will be dirtier than you could have believed possible

you will have to take all furniture, carpets etc out of the room

and put up a new ceiling

I prefer two layers of plasterboard plus a skim. It will block noise better.

You can take advantage of the access to run any pipes and cables.

Hi @PigletJohn, sadly I don't think it's going to be easily accessible from above. Looks like I'm going to be pulling it down then! Do you think installing a new, slightly lower, plasterboard ceiling without removing the lathe & plaster one is at all viable?

We had a cracked L&P bedroom ceiling when we moved in. The section to the side of the crack was visibly lower so had clearly detached. Painter refused to touch it. Our builder put in about 20 self tapping screws to stabilise it, it stayed there for 8 years till we did a refurb and replaced the ceiling for other reasons.

So you could try that if you are feeling brave!! With hindsight it was a bit of a risk especially above our bed...

I wouldn’t put a false ceiling across without sorting the old ceiling, as the old plaster could fall onto the new plasterboard and make it sag or even detach.

you could, but I'd just rip down the old.

otherwise it will, over time, fall down in fragments onto your new ceiling. Or possibly in a big fall. Very dirty and may damage your new ceiling.

It's also a good time to add insulation. Some small or sloping ceilings can't be done from the loft.