We have a water damaged living room ceiling. The two builders we had round for quotes tell us that it is a lath and plaster ceiling. However, today the claims assessor tells us that it is plasterboard.
And here is my quandary: - is there any straightforward way of telling how the ceiling is constructed? (I couldn't find anything in Google).
Thanks in advance
Ian
Only real way would be to lift a floorboard upstairs. Failing that, poke at the damaged bit with a broom handle. If it's lath and plaster half a tonne of crud'll fall down..
Badly finished plasterboard ceilings sometimes have visible lines where the boards meet.
Lift a floorboard in the room above and have a look.
You should be able to tell at a glance - lath & plaster is old and can look a bit uneven and may have wandering cracks, plaster board looks flat and any cracks or visible uneveness will be along the board edges in straight lines. If you shine a torch holding it up to the ceiling and pointing across the surface it may show up the difference. But if perfect you might not be able to tell so poke a hole where the damage is and see if you can find any laths i.e. thin bits of wood, or edge of plaster board with paper or card on both faces. (+ plaster skim on the face side)
chees
Jacob
Is there a light fitting you could unscrew? You might be able to tell from that.
D
Ideally lift a floorboard upstairs and look though - you'll see the laths. OR remove a light fitting - normally the holes where the cables come through are big enough to see how the ceiling is constructed. Alternatively, if you gently drive a 2" nail into the ceiling in a few different places you'll soon know when you've hit a lath - it'll feel springy and the nail almost certainly won't go through it (unless you happen to be right next to a joist). Don't drive the nail any further than 1/2" or so, to avoid pipes etc. above.
Andy
Hi
Lift a floorboard above if you can - it's very clear from the upper side if it's lath+plaster (you'll be able to see laths and curly bits of plaster).
If that's not possible, probing the ceiling with a small drill shoudl reveal the truth. Laths have only a small gap between them, so a couple tiny holes 3/4 inch apart and see if wood dust comes out once you are
1/2-3/4 inch in. Better run a cable detector over the area first though!If you say it's water damaged, couldn't you dig a bit of plaster out?
Plasterboard is cardboard-coated so you should spot this after going through the skim plaster.
If it is plasterboard with no skim coat, look at it from an angle and you might be able to see the long straight joins around the edge of the boards.
If you have some known ceilings to compare with you might be able to discern by the sound it makes when tapped - never tried this on ceilings, except to find loose plaster...
HTH
Timbo
That'll be every single such ceiling I've ever seen then :-/
Modern house-building for you...
Timbo
If there's a dry bit left, tap it with your knuckle. Plasterboard will 'ring' - rather like tapping a sheet of wood - a sort of hollow sound. Lath and plaster will not.
Remember that many, many original lath ceilings will have been augmented by plasterboard underneath, as it is an acceptable and time (and mess) saving alternative to replacement.
However, if it has been badly damaged, it will probably be as expensive to fix as though it was pure lath and plaster anyway. It is extremely messy to remove.
Christian.
================== You could use a magnet to detect nails which will be much closer together (about 1" apart) for lath / plaster than for plasterboard. Of course you'll have to find a joist but that shouldn't be difficult.
Cic.
In message , Christian McArdle writes
yep, that's exactly what someone would find in this house.
poking around from underneath is the way to go here.
It could also explain why some think it is plasterboard and some lath. They're both right!
Christian.
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