Lath & plaster ceilings.

[Madmarchlockdown]

Just taking on a huge project, full house reno but ultimately dream house in dream location at great price.

Hallway lath and plaster ceiling has fallen in. I think that all the upstairs ceilings are likely to be lath and plaster. Should we be looking to take them all out in one go, given we wont be in house and are doing rewire/replumb etc?

It’s not a small job, ask your builder how much extra it would cost and that may make up your mind for you. It’s very messy and also you would need to replace any cornicing (if you have any).

We did in our bedroom but only because we were changing the layout so required work to the joists, plus it was cracked. I’m not sure if we’d have done it otherwise and we didn’t replace other ceilings.

If you do replace ceilings it’s worth using soundproof plasterboard (2 layers) to replace them for any rooms with another room above - helps reduce noise from above. We did this in our bedroom (child room above) and the noise is a lot better than it was before.

It is much better to just leave the lath and plaster well alone. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. It doesn't fail of it's own accord and lath and plaster can last hundreds of years. You need to find out the reason for the problem with that area, could be someone stepped on an attic floor, or water coming in from a tank, or water damage from water coming in through the roof tiles or slates.

You don't need to replace lath and plaster in order to re-wire.
And it's much cheaper and more sustainable to keep it!

Great news! We are already trying to rescue the house as previous owner left to rack and ruin because they wanted to redevelop.

Anything that helps cut cost and is environmentally sound is music to my ears.

Any thoughts about reroofing? It’s blue slate, so we could take them off and use again, if we had to, right?

We have a survey, just waiting on a mega specialist surveyor to tell us alll the nitty gritty on whether we def have to reroof.

So terrifying, all of it!

We weren’t planning on doing it but as the build progressed it became more unsustainable to keep it - if you have wallpaper in place today and want it taken down you’ll likely end up with plaster coming away - we ended up re-doing a good proportion of walls and ceilings as a result

Only take it down if you have to, but if you do do it all at once. The mess is something else. I git a specialist plaster guy to take a profile of the coving from an intact room and he used it to make up the cornicing.

Unless your ceilings are really low you can just get a plasterer to tack plasterboard over the top and skim it. No need to take the old ceiling down. Yes you may lose a couple of centimetres but worth it.

Just as decorate said!! We have a grade 2 listed house and have lath and plaster all over the place. Some of it 'gone' and as we have very high ceilings we have just tacked plasterboard over the top. It is horrendous to take down, and also you are losing part of the history. This way is cleaner and quicker, but you aren't losing the integrity of the building.

Decorhate

I had my flat plasterboarded and skimmed as part of a refurb. So much easier than removal

@Madmarchlockdown

Great news! We are already trying to rescue the house as previous owner left to rack and ruin because they wanted to redevelop.

Anything that helps cut cost and is environmentally sound is music to my ears.

Any thoughts about reroofing? It’s blue slate, so we could take them off and use again, if we had to, right?

We have a survey, just waiting on a mega specialist surveyor to tell us alll the nitty gritty on whether we def have to reroof.

So terrifying, all of it!

About the slates, definitely have them carefully set aside for re-use. If you have proper natural Welsh slate, dishonest builders can allege that they cannot be reused, because they keep them and sell them on! Knowing their value! It all depends on the state of the roof timbers themselves and whether any slates have slipped and need to be nailed back again.

Don't rush into reroofing. You can probably just get a roofer to repair any dodgy bits. And I agree with the others, don't take ceilings down unless you need to. It is a horrible job. If you have an attic room it might be worth thinking about in order to put insulation in.

This is all so helpful.

I will probably have to strip walls of paper and am expecting half the walls to come too, but if we could save the ceilings more or less that would be something.

Grew up in a Georgian house where layers of wallpaper held up the plaster on the side walls - it meant that we could never have any pictures up! This is a late twenties house, so while the original features are nice, things like cornicing are very standard and not ornate/irreplaceable.

That said, this is the time to do it all when the house is and will be a wreck for some time to come. Really trying to do all the stuff that will be messy and involve plasterwork and floors coming up done now.

Hmm, why strip the wallpaper off and why take up floor boards?

www.spab.org.uk

The Society for the Protection of Ancient Buildings offers lots of technical information and is for all older buildings! It's a reasonable price to join.

I had all my lathe & plaster ceilings removed in (empty) Victorian property when I moved in

10 years later, I’m still traumatised...

• was hoovering up dust for 4 years
• burnt though 3-4 hoovers

I’d see if overboarding is an option 1st: fireproofing & sound proofing. Buy the best quality boards you can get: the cost is marginal but benefits re fire proofing worth it

I’m buying a 1926 cottage, most of ceilings have been replaced but I will overboard the L&P in living room as soon as I can after getting keys

Agree with @Wauden re the roof: your slates are hot commodity:) See if you can overhaul roof before taking all off

Is the loft boarded? Get loads of quotes on roof, mine varied hugely