Plaster and lathe ceilings - would that put you off a house?

[CatAndHisKit]

The survey noted that the terrace I'm buying has these, and he added that such ceilings can 'collapse without warning' - spoke to surveyor, he say well not quite with no warning but once there is a crack you need to act on it at once.

Are these usual for late Victorian houses? I have always lived in similar age places but either flats or a large house, haven't had them before. Is it more usual than I think it is?

So if cracks start appearing, how expensive are these to repair / replace potentially? And would you really need to act immdiately (I have a lot to spend on already when I buy, so I worry about endless ceiling repairs to come).
It's an end terrace over three floors (incl the loft) so pretty much two op two down plus loft.

I’m in my 50s, and have lived most of my life in properties with lathe and plaster ceilings. I have had one collapse - while the house was empty, fortunately. After that happened, I had the rest taken down and replaced with plaster board. I suspect it was caused by very heavy lorries passing by several times a day for several months to a nearby building site. May also have been related to damp issues with a chimney.

It wouldn’t put me off a similar property though.

Very common. DS pulled down two in his 1870 house, the living room and main bedroom. The mess and filth was horrendous, two skips full of rubble but his house needed a full Renovation and he wasn’t living in it.

He was strongly advised not to board over, can’t remember why now though. Not much help.

All ours are, some are papared over with woodchip, our bedroom is artex - very swirly ! Never had a ceiling fall down.

We have 200 year old plaster and lathe ceilings in two rooms. I pulled one out years ago (omg the messiest job ever but very satisfying) after I got sick of it sagging and cracked, but it did stay in its sorry state for a couple of years. I'm not replacing the two remaining ones as they seem very stable. Surveyors have to warn you about everything but if you can't see cracks or bulges I wouldn't worry.

We had them in our old house. We pulled one ceiling down as the roof had leaked and it was sodden. It was horrendously messy but it was quick to clear up. After that we overboarded the remaining ones.

We had a patch of the kitchen ceiling fall down while we were nailing floorboards in the room above. Don't think the cat ever recovered from the shock!

None of the other ceilings in the house ever had a problem.
It wouldn't put me off but it's just one of those things with an older house. There are millions of Victorian/Edwardian houses in the UK that still have the original ceilings I expect.

Our lathe and plaster ceiling came down while I was on the school run due to dodgy plumbing upstairs. The insurance company banned us from the room until is was tested for asbestos, which it was. Thankfully removal and repairs were all covered by our amazing insurers but it was months of disruption and not being able to use the kitchen. Houses of that vintage can often have asbestos so definitely worth checking that, plus making sure all plumbing is sound! We now have an entire 5 bed house to de-asbestos and a lot of bathrooms to replace.

Hello - adding to previous posters, L&P ceilings are normal in late Victorian buildings (everything up to 30s)

They will crack & fail before they come down, but as life span is around 100-120 years, they are showing their age a bit. However, yours might be perfectly sound: an absence of cracks and an honest plasterer would tell you. You can also tell yourself by feeling - if the ceiling is failing, you will be able to feel a 'bounce' or looseness which is the plaster nubs coming away from the lathes

Diagrams here:
handycrowd.com/tell-if-your-lath-and-plaster-ceiling-needs-to-come-down/

If you want a period property, this is something that comes with it, & you can go 1 of 3 ways...

• rip out ceiling, replace with plasterboard - if so do before you move in as insanely messy. I did this in my last place as the ceilings were not in the best condition. However, I realise now that I could have got another 10 years out of them as the few i did not replace held up
• check for any failing areas, & then patch repair & board over (I did this in my living room - it cost £580, 1 days work (london, room 17 x 14 ft, no cornicing)
• just leave it if its sound, but be alert for cracks etc. They are unlikely to fail without any cracks etc before (or a leak)

I preferred option 2 as overboarding so much less messy: bit more complex if you have ornate cornicing etc

The ceilings MIGHT have another 20+ years in them, this is surveyor speak to cover themselves. Can you ask the owners if they have had to replace any of the ceilings? If you go ahead, you could also ask this of neighbours to try to guess likelihood of failure

Its not that expensive, its normal & I would not let that put me off a property

Re prices - this £580 was this May, so similar to another posters £600. This was to take out damaged/live section. overboard, & skim

In another property, I spent a few K (5?K) to have ceilings & walls replaced in all rooms excl halls - so LR, 2 x bedroom, bathroom & Kitchen - remove L&P, replace with plasterboard, skim. That was a few years ago now though

Removing L&P is something I would avoid if at all possible because it is unbelievably filthy - black dust that is really hard to get rid of as its so fine, and is likely to have all sorts of nasties in it.

Some people paper over these ceilings, but I don't think that looks good/its just delaying the issue

Ours had a big crack and bow when we moved in, which we ignored.A few years later, there was a very large bang and a lot of dust. Luckily no one was in the area when it came down as there were some big heavy chunks. Wasn't expensive to plasterboard and skim back over.

I wish ours would have fallen down by themselves! We pulled them down which as others have said is very messy but quick to clean up but very very satisfying! The plaster was heavy so I'm glad we were wearing hard hats!

They can 'collapse without warning' but they rarely 'collapse without cause' and that cause would usually be a leak if some sort.

I agree with pp saying the surveyor was being dramatic if still technically correct.

Just be aware, so if you see damp or some sign of water ingress don't put off sorting out the cause (flashing, loose roof tile etc.)

We have them. Ours soaked up a flood from above, dried out and have been fine since. Wouldn’t have got away with that with plasterboard!

We had to replace two ceilings soon after we moved in to our Edwardian house. Another thing to note is that the old ceilings are great at absorbing sound. The bedrooms above the replastered rooms are now very noisy. (Ie put in insulation with the new ceiling)

I've had two ceilings come down due to leaks. It wasn't a big deal and as the plaster was wet it didn't create a lot of dust. Had them plaster boarded and skimmed over and was totally fine. Didn't cost loads either.