PlasterBoard Over That Ceiling And Save Yourself A Headache
If you have an old ceiling that is totally knackered with cracks all over it or perhaps you have a ceiling that has been wallpapered with that dreaded chipwood!! Aaagghhhh!!!
Straight away you know you have your work cut out for you before even starting to do anything. Well don’t get too despondent as there is an old trick you can use that will save all the hassle of either pulling the whole ceiling down, or if it’s papered, getting that wallpaper steamer out and going through the mundane task of trying to get all the paper off. Depending on how old the ceiling is, most of it will come down with the heat from the steam anyway.
Stop right there in your tracks and try this:
Measure the ceiling and then go to your local DIY or home improvement store and buy some 12.5 mm plasterboard. Our company uses 8 x 4 sheets when boarding out but just buy whatever is more comfortable to work with. 6 x 3 sheets are also fine for this task. Buy enough to cover the area required with a little bit of waste as well. What we are going to do is plasterboard (plate) over the existing ceiling.
It’s actually quite easy providing you follow a few simple rules.
The main and most important part of this exercise is that we secure the new plasterboard securely to the ceiling above. Now that doesn’t mean to the actual plaster itself or even the laths; What we want to do is screw the new plasterboard directly to the existing ceiling joists.
Now you’re probably wondering how you will find these joists without being able to see them because the ceiling has already been plastered. Well there are a number of ways to do this. By the way, don’t go out and waste your money on one of the so called ‘joist or stud finders’, as they are seldom accurate and will probably give false readings in the ceiling due to old laths etc.
I’ve also seen some blokes getting a long nail and tapping it into the ceiling in various places to try and find the joists that way. Total waste of time in my opinion and if anything, you may end up going through a cable or pipe from above. You’ll be surprised where cables and pipes can crop up.
Here’s the simplest way to fin the joists. Take a hammer and knock small holes in the ceiling around the perimeter of the ceiling, take care not to damage any coving or mouldings etc. Joists are normally at 14 or 16 inch centres in older houses so you will be able to knock the holes in round about the right places. At first glance the ceiling will look somewhat of an eyesore but don’t worry about this as you will be covering all of the holes you made with new plasterboard.
Now that you know where your joists are located, mark on the wall with a thick pencil their positions. Mark from the centre of each joist. Now comes the clever part, you will need a chalk line for this. With the use of a helper, snap a line from each end of the ceiling where the joists are so that you can see exactly where the joists are running. As we plasterboard, we will then know where to screw the plasterboard to. Also, plasterboard the ceiling (at right angles to the joists) and use abou 2 or 2 ½ inch screws for this purpose. Any longer screws than this and you will struggle to drive the home, any shorter and you will not find the joist.
Once finished, tape all the joints, skim it up and Voilla!! You have a brand new ceiling ready for painting when dry.
4K
Can use 9.5mm plasterboard insead of a 12mm to cover the old ceiling. Thank you for our answer
Hi John, Yes you could use 9.5 mm to board over, however, 12.5 is more sturdier and accommodates for deviances. Is there any particular reason why you want to use 9.5 mm?
4K
I never ever imagined that headaches can be prevented by having plasterboard over the ceiling. Though it definitely sounds like a good idea and seems useful, so no harm in trying it out!
How do you accommodate for the light fixtures and/or ceiling fans? The fans in my ceilings are blocked, and I don’t know how to lower or extend the block and wiring.
Hi Julie. Good question regarding light fixtures and fittings. The way around extending existing wiring is to fit a JB or (junction box)to the circuit and then fit a new length of wiring to that. Wiring on a light circuit will normally be in 1 or 1.5 mm twin and earth and you would use a 20 amp junction box.
Always use a competent electrician if you are not familiar with electrical circuits etc.
Hi there, question for you… What do you do if you have cornices? How do you put the plasterboard up if you have cornices around the edges of the ceiling? The pasterboard will end up in line with the cornice, won’t it? Please help
Hi Alice!
That’s a great question and yes you are absolutely correct in saying that the plasterboard edge would become flush, or near flush with the cornices edge should you board on top of the existing plaster.
Some people still go ahead and do this but it looks absolutely unsightly and very amateur in appearance.
There are a number of ways to get around this.
1. Strip the original ceiling back to the timber joists and plate it with your new plasterboard. In this case you will need to make sure that you score around the edge of the cornice with a sharp knife before attempting to move the old plaster, else you may lose parts of the original cornice. You would also need to de nail the ceiling joists before plating with board.
2. You can still board over the original bad ceiling with new plasterboard but instead of using 12.5 mm board, use 9.5 mm instead and also with a tapered edge so that the taper buts up to the cornice, If after this you are not left with enough of a lip on the cornice you can try option 3 below.
3. If you board over and find the lip of the cornice is flush with the plasterboard, you will need to either use some form work by way of fixing timber battens in place at the edge of the cornice (time consuming) and then forming the lip with new plaster. Or, you could cheat the cornice lip by running some 13mm beading strips around the edge of the cornice. If fitted well, once painted, it would be very difficult to pick out. This creates an illusion and makes it appear that the cornice still has its original lip at the edge.
I have done a few of these and have found any of the above methods to all work well. You will need to decide which method best suits the ceiling you are working with.
Hope this helps
Kirk
4K Construction
Hi
We have had to remove the plaster as it was so loose. We are now left with neat lath and would like to screw the plasterboard up without removing them. My question is though that the lath seems to be nailed up with so many nails, I’m worried about finding a space between them to be able to nail into the joist. I wondered what your thoughts about this are.
Many thanks.
I’m sure will have no problems in finding the joist to screw into Anne. They do tend to nail the lath pretty well to the joists but there is always room to get some good screw fixings in. Also remember that most joists in older houses are usually around 3 inches thick or so you should have enough to play with.
If you do screw and hit a nail then just reverse and try another point.
I have one of those ‘wallpapered over with chipwood’ ceilings!!
i tried scraping the wallpaper off but that would near impossible, so i was thinking of putting new plasterboard over the whole thing.
I can see where the old plasterboard has been nailed up so can i not just screw the new plasterboard right next to the exsiting nails?
could i hire a decorator to do this?
Hi Sarah
Sorry for the late reply but we’ve been really hectic on site lately.
Yes, you can just screw platerboard over the existing ceiling. You will have to use approx 50mm screws depending on the depth of the existing plaster on the ceiling and the new board you are putting up. You will want to find the existing joists and nail the new board up to those.
I doubt a decorator will want to do this but you can always enquire. Probably best suited to a plasterer or builder.
Are you in the Northwest?
If you are local we would be more than happy to take a look at this for you.
Regards
Kirk Smith (FMB)
4K Construction
Kirk,
Thanks for the information. I am considering this as a solution to my ceiling problem. I live in a flat (1st floor) and I want to plaster over the Artex and cracks and also put in spotlights. Can i follow the method above?
Hi Dominic
Welcome to 4K Builder’s Talk!
You can plasterboard over almost any ceiling providing the surface is flat enough to receive the boards and you can find the ceiling joists to screw the new board to.
However, if the building you live in is a multi occupancy premises, in flats etc, you may need to check with the freeholder, landlord or building regulations dept regarding putting in the spotlights as there may be a health and safety restriction in doing so due to the heat produced from the lights.
Worth checking the regs on this before you proceed!
Kirk
4K Construction.
Hi Kirk
We’re about to board over a plaster ceiling (needs to be quite thin board as there are floor-to-ceiling cupboards) but our builder has told us we need to use fire resistant board to meet the building regs. Is this right? And how much more expensive is fireboard than the normal stuff?
Thanks
Hi Sarah
Fire resistant board is required in any situation where there is a chance of fire damage in a premises and would cause an excessive burn rate. On a kitchen ceiling for example, or as I understand it, it is now a requirement to use fireline board on the ceilings in muliti occupancy properties like flats. By using fireline plasterboard, the burn rate would be slowed down allowing more time for the structure to not to collapse.
Fireline plasterboard is easily identified as the paper backing colour is pink and it is usually 12.5 mm thick. There are situations however, when it will be a requirement to fit inch thick plasterboard. Our company recently fitted out a large commercial development here in the Northwest, and in the kitchen area, the local building inspectors insisted on inch thick board.
If you are in any doubt you can always call your local BCO, who will be pleased to help!
Hope this helps Sarah and great to have you visit 4K Builder’s Talk
Kirk
hey,this is Annis Melland,just discovered your Blog on google and i must say this blog is great.may I quote some of the writing found in this site to my local people?i’m not sure and what you think?in any case,Thank you!
PLEASE HELP!!
I need to do the ceiling in my garage. I have all the plasternoards ready, but not sure how to put them on.
Can I use a nail gun? If so, which gun is good and which nails shall I use?
Please help.
Kind regards
Marlin
Hi Marlin, hope you’re well!
If your garage ceiling is framed out of timber, as most garages are, then you would fit the plasterboard by either nailing with plate or plasterboard nails. You can also screw them in as well with drywall screws. You don’t need to use a nail gun for fitting plasterboard to joists. A good cordless screwdriver will do the trick or the good old hammer.
Buy small boards if you are working by yourself and if need be use a prop (deadman) or other supports to hold the plasterboard in place whilst you secure the boards. The boards should be fitted at right angles to the joists and staggered. Before plastering them you will need to apply scrim tape to stop cracking etc.
Hope this helps
Kirk
4K Construction
Hi Kirk,
Very helpful thread and an interesting blog. I am thinking of tackling a bedroom ceiling soon.
Just wanted to check the orientation of the boards, they go right angles to the joists, right? also does this mean that some of the edge joins will meet inbetween joists, and therefore be unstable without noggins?
many thanks
Reece
Hi Reece
Yes, Boards are usually fitted at right angles to the ceiling joists. The joists are usually fitted with spacings that will fit dofferent sizes of plasterboards. For eg, joists fitted at 400mm centres will work well with 8×4 plasterboards sheets and spacings of 450mm will work well with 6×3 plasterboards.
Naturally this will not always be the case, so yes, any unsupported ends need noggins or the board should be cut halfway on the joist.
Hope this helps
Kirk
4K