How bad/cracked should a ceiling be before you replaster?

[Ecoo]

DH and I want to decorate the dining room, this will include wallpaper and wall paint, and coving too.

There is a faint crack in the existing ceiling, that bisects the ceiling light. I think this is just part and parcel of having a 130 year old house.

DH thinks we should get the ceiling boarded and plastered, as once the coving goes up then the ceiling can never be re-plastered again.

WWYD?

I’d take a photo and post it.

Or at least draw a diagram.

If it is 130 years old it is very likely lath and plaster, with lime that is thick and heavy.

The nibs probably broke off in 1940 and the nails may be rusted away. Perhaps it is only staying up out of habit and might fall down at any time.

If it falls down, or you pull it down, you will be astonished at the amount of dirt and dust, and everything in the room will be ruined

You can form an opinion on its condition by lifting the floorboards above and looking at the ceiling's upper surface.

In contrast to Piglet above, if you decide the ceiling is ok, you can use a product called 'WallRock' paper. When I bought my 20s semi I was told the ceilings had reached the end of their 'period of lift' by the surveyor & that they needed to be replaced. There were cracks all over. Our decorator (an old chap with decades of experience) said he disagreed. He introduced us to wallrock. It's a lining paper made like felt with fibres that go in every direction so that it can accommodate movement without tearing. It's super strong. We had all the ceilings lined with wallrock and now 30yrs later they still look perfect so the surveyor was wrong.

However your house is older, so it may well be worth changing the ceiling. Piglet is right, the mess of taking a ceiling down is horrendous.

We just used a product by Pollyfilla called No Crack Ceilings. It's a thicker than normal paint and worked well at covering small cracks up. I hate removing ceilings, so much dust and debris!

How long are you going to live there? I'm of the view if it isn't falling down, don't meddle, the paint will hold it up! Another fan of Polyfilla Crack-Free Ceiling Paint. Not cheap, but fabulous finish.

I'd maintain it for as long as I can. It sounds like it's a small crack so I'd either: just paint over, fill it with something very fine, or rake it open a little and fill it. However, it's quite possible that it will reappear at some stage.

I like these old walls & ceilings as they are a big part of a room's character (especially with cracks). I'd do anything to repair them.

What if there are little holes in the ceiling? Stripping paper in a room last decorated in 1956....

Its very likely if you pull the coving down it will take the original ceiling with it - we did the exact same thing and had to take the whole lath and plaster ceiling down which was extremely messy! I would ask the opinion of a good plasterer of the best route - overboarding an old ceiling isn’t always possible but get an expert opinion!

We have lath-and-plaster ceilings in some rooms. Two rooms both have a small area of minor deflection, which looks perfectly secure from the loft side, so may always have been like that, and both rooms have old plaster coving. (You'd not nitice it if a previous owner hadn't put some fancywork on the ceiling in a straight line about a foot in from the coving.)
We asked our plasterer to take a look. He said what he does with lath and plaster is fix plasterboard to it from underneath, finding all the joists, and putting lots of long screws through the lath and plaster and into the joists. He then skims the plasterboard. I am reluctant to do this unless the laths start to fail, as it would interfere with the coving. But it is the way I'd go, I think, as taking the old ceiling down would totally wreck the coving. (Our plasterer also says if there is a loft above, the plaster is often discoloured by stray smoke from leaky chimneys, which makes it even nastier to deal with, though ours seems clean.)
If the deflection looked to be becoming a problem, I would have something done, as I have been underneath a lath-and-plaster ceiling when it came down due to a hot water leak, and it's not funny- even a lower-storey one. As our surveyor for here said, when a lath and plaster ceiling fails, it can fail pretty catastrophically.

(we do have wallpaper on our plaster ceilings- I don't like it, but I am sure as heck not taking it off.....being under a collapsing ceiling once is a misfortune, but twice might look like carelesness.....😊)

These are probably popped nail heads. Buy a neodymium magnet and see if it sticks. If so there will be plenty more nail heads, in straight lines and at regular intervals, that have not yet popped

Quite often seen where the floors of lofts above have been overloaded, and in houses where teenage daughters have discovered the benefits of slamming doors.

Part of our lath and plaster ceiling came down - only about 3 square metres in an alcove where the fire is. Just above where the dog normally lies - it would have killed her if it had landed on her. Luckily it was at night, you wouldn't believe the mess. We've had another one boarded and skimmed and I'm keeping a close eye on the cracks in the living room.

I'd get someone in to have a look. You really need to get it done before it gets too bad. I don't think the lining paper etc linked too above would hold it if the nibs have failed.

What’s that beautiful swirly plaster effect you used to get on ceilings in 1972? I have a bedroom with this beauty. Should I ask the plasterer to sand it off or do you think he can skim over the top?

You can ask the plasterer to sand it off and then visit him in Respiratory Ward of your local hospital, if the asbestos in the Artex hasn't killed him. 💀

I would get it meshed and then skimmed.

There are technical words for that but don’t know them sorry. Better than boarding as you keep the height, and the boards can move anyway so cause their own issues.

This huge mesh is stuck to the ceiling which reinforces any cracks and then they skim. Had it done at the last house and it was perfect. Had them boarded in this house as beyond meshing (huge holes and missing parts). Already have cracks as the boards settle.

Asbestos in the artex? Fml, I hate my surveyor.

Thanks for the tip about the mesh. I’ll try and get hold of a plasterer.

It does depend how old the Artex is,

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artex

'Until 1984 the Artex coating was made with white asbestos to strengthen it. Therefore old Artex manufactured by Artex Ltd. will contain asbestos while Artex coatings applied after 2000 may or may not contain asbestos. It is also worth noting that the texture is only harmful when in a powder form, i.e., being sanded, and poses no risk while it is undisturbed (without drilling holes or more substantial practices) on ceilings or walls and covered with emulsion paint.'

Also if it is old plaster and lathe that is beginning to fail (as @PigletJohn said it might) then adding mesh and another thin layer of plaster may just hasten its demise...

We did something very similar. I suspect a lot of the cracks were due to movement living on a busy road.

Fortunately our ceilings were high so the second ceiling looks fine, we also took the opportunity to redo the ceiling lighting.

I’ll take some photos in the daylight when I am home and share them!