What to do with this ceiling? (photos) To repair or remove and replace?

[Houseno22reno]

Hi all

Myself and my partner are renovating our 1930s semi detached house.

We have recently removed the wallpaper from the ceiling in the main bedroom and the ceiling is made from lath and plaster. There was an old leak that has caused some damage however we have now repaired the source of the leak.

I have attached photos of the condition of the ceilling. We are total newbies to all this and we would be really grateful for your advice.

Do you think this ceiling can be skimmed over with plaster? or do you think it would be better to completely remove the plaster and then perhaps replace with plasterboard?

Can the plasterboard be fitted over the lath, or do they also have to be removed?

We were hoping to install ceiling downlights, so I am not sure whether this will also affect our decision?

Any advice greatly welcomed

I fully renovated a 1930’s house. If it feels sound ( press up on it with a broom or something) then consider papering it, but skimming will only crack again. This is your best option.

If it has give in it, pull it down and plasterboard then skim it. You need proper PPE pulling it down, proper mask with a filter . If you can kick it down from in the loft. Terribly dusty , tape your door shut, and protect the bedroom floor with plyboard or something.
You can plasterboard over the existing ceiling and use very long nails, but that’s (a surprisingly common) bridge.

Agree with @C4tastrophe, pulling down old lath and plaster would be an awfully messy job. Skimming over the old lime plaster is probably not the best option either.

If you don't mind losing a couple of centimetres in ceiling height, your least distruptive option would be to fit plasterboard over the old plaster and then get that skimmed. Just make sure you screw the board into the celing joists, not just lath, and that the screws are long enough to penetrate throught the new plasterboard, the old lath & plaster, and well into the jost; we used 55mm drywall screws for a similar job. You should still be able to install downlights after all that - we did exaclty that in our kitchen (all electrics professionally done, so not a DIY bodge on that front ).

It will be a very very messy job but better to get it pulled down by professionals as there is lime in that ceiling and bad for lungs. Replace with plasterboard and skim. Worth getting it done as my Mum had a false ceiling put up underneath hers and about 7 years later it just broke down one day for no apparent reason. Then she wished she had had it done in full in the first in place. Dreadful mess and dust kept settling and resettling for a full 2 weeks after it was completed.

@caringcarer
lime in that ceiling and bad for lungs - Really? Why? Genuingly curious, as we have lots of lime plaster in our house. I've heard there's a (fairly small) risk very old lime plaster harbouring anthrax as it contains animal hair, but that's if it's greately disturbed (e.g. taken down and produces lots of dust), so proper PPE should be worn for jobs like that.

If you don't mind losing a couple of centimetres in ceiling height, your least distruptive option would be to fit plasterboard over the old plaster and then get that skimmed. Just make sure you screw the board into the celing joists, not just lath, and that the screws are long enough to penetrate throught the new plasterboard, the old lath & plaster, and well into the jost; we used 55mm drywall screws for a similar job

I agree - and you won't notice the very slight loss of height.

my Mum had a false ceiling put up underneath hers and about 7 years later it just broke down one day for no apparent reason

Maybe because it wasn't properly screwed into the joists, as mentioned above?

Lime plaster once cured (set) isn't bad for your lungs actually some say it's better than other plasters due to its anti-microbial and anti-fungal properties however when you mix it, you should wear a mask as the dust as you mix it up isn't good for you.
This is the case for all dry mix plasters though.

Good point @NoIdeasForWittyNickname, screws not nails.

I had similar in an old terrace. After knocking out the lathe and plaster ceiling in one bedroom that had half fallen down I overboarded the rest. The dust and work to remove the lathe & plaster was terrible.
I put up wooden roof lathe 25x50mm across the ceiling 90' to the current ceiling joists so I could set the spacing correctly for the plasterboard size and then screwed new boards up.
You could put up insulation backed boards if there is sufficient ceiling height.
If you are doing a few rooms get all your boarding done before calling a plasterer as it will be better use of their time and more cost effective to do multiple rooms at the same time.

Just had a ceiling done at home due to a now fixed water leak, plasterer recommended reboarding over pre existing ceiling as less messy and a much cheaper option, it only took a day and it looks lovely.

If you are putting up full 2400 x1200 boards there are lifters to make the job easier. If you have multiple rooms to do it might be cheaper to purchase one then sell it on.

www.hss.com/hire/p/panel-lifting-winch

Alternatively you can cut the board size down in 1/2 to make lifting easier if you are skimming.