Skimming over lathe and plaster ceiling?

[NewHouseNoMoney]

Is this possible? Or does the whole ceiling have to come down?

I had one covered in plasterboard, so the old ceiling didn't have to come down, but I have very high ceilings so it wasn't a problem.

Same here, DH put thin plasterboard over it.

If you take down the ceiling, you will be making one hell of a mess. I had a lath and plaster ceiling done recently, and the plasterers boarded and then skimmed; result one very smooth new ceiling with much less mess. Ditto with similar walls .

Do they board it right on top of the original ceiling or do they leave a void? I wouldn’t want to lose height you see.

Also, if it’s boarded, isn’t the risk that it’s still only as strong as the original laths? Which, if they’re reaching the end of their lifespan, means they need replacing anyway?

They board right over the original, so there is no gap, the original will be fixed to larger supports and will be quite sturdy. It will be the joists from the floor above IYSWIM. The plasterers who did mine said they never take down old ceilings unless they have to, as it is just filthy underneath ! Lots of dust etc which gets everywhere. You won't lose much height in the ceiling and really won't see any difference.

We had ours done earlier this year as the ceiling was caving in.

One heck of a mess. Plasterer swore he wouldn't have taken the job if he knew it was original lathes with horsehair render. Plasterer was black with dirt and dust accumulated since 1880s and kept running out into the road to get fresh air 😂 but then our beige carpet was also black during the work too, even though it was protected. And every surface was coated with dirt too. Filthy.

He took down the original render/plaster and left the wooden lathes up as they we still in tact. He then secured plasterboard to it and skimmed the lot. And put new plaster coving back up too.

Small room, took him a week to do. Good job done. He then refused to come back and any other plastering for us 😂

I had a ceiling like this skimmed without reboarding. I’m only assuming it was lathe plaster, but it would be fairly likely as all the walls definitely were. 1890s London property, with cornices around the outside.

The hardest part was they had to get the distemper off first. Prior to this job ceiling hadn’t been touched in decades, if ever. It looked horrendous but came up good. The guy who did it was very experienced though, federation of master builders, and had worked on many old and listed properties.

It sounds like it’s going to be quite the job!

thanks for sharing your experiences everyone.

how much did one ceiling cost you? I have a feeling this is going to get expensive?!

Not sure it’s much use as it was a decade ago now, and also was slightly mates rates as I knew the builders son. Approximately 12 by 14 ft with a bay, it was £300 iirc. Took two of them a long ish day.

Mine was about £500 for a ceiling that was about 4 m by 3 m. The other room also had walls skimmed and was a lot more. Of course, it will also vary according to where in the country you live.

£800 for ours and it was October. South East, very experienced and sought after plasterer.

It's not necessarily a big job, but plastering is very expensive.

We had our big hall boarded up as lath and plaster and we were having building work done and builders worried it was going to come down. They did it in a day, really quickly, didn’t lose any height that you’d notice and it looks great. Not messy at all. Not too expensive either.

having had one small bit of lath and plaster ceiling come down in an alcove, it just collapsed, and my god the mess and also would possibly have knocked someone out if it hit them….I’m now eyeing up the other ceilings and wondering whether to just get them boarded too.

but it’s not a huge messy job if you get them before they collapse. It strengthens supports and protects them so they won’t crack.

DS pulled his down in two
rooms and had new wiring out in for ceiling lights and the joists checked as the house was Victorian. Was a horrendous mess and he could only
do
it as the house was empty and doer up. Filled two large skips.