False Ceiling

| I am about to attempt putting up a false ceiling at the top of the landing. | I don't want the hassle and mess of pulling down the old one. | | I was thinking of screwing some 3" x 2" timber around the walls, and then | fixing some battens to the timber at 600mm. | Does this sound reasonable ?

Have you thought of a suspended ceiling as can be found in many offices? They are just squares of polystyrene on thin aluminium angle hung from wires.

This is pretty much exactly what the previous owner did in the bathroom of my house, using t&g flooring as the actual ceiling. The surveyor told me to pull it down as it was a fire hazard.

Dave

I would rather stick with a plasterboard ceiling.

Thanks

Sorry, I forgot to mention that I intend to plasterboard and plaster the ceiling after I get the timber structure in place.

Can't see why this wouldn't work then....

The reason for the false ceiling is that I am going to replace the existing light with some spots, and this would make the wiring job a lot cleaner & easier; I hope.

I'm with rat on this,there's no need to put a framework up at all.Like he says,mark out the centres before you offer the board up.You might like to use a straight edge/level just to check the ceiling you've got is flat and level first though. Alternatively,just seal and glue before you skim.

On Wed, 12 Oct 2005 12:29:02 +0100, "United" scrawled:

What's wrong with putting the lights in the existing ceiling and wiring through the loft?

Dave Fawthrop wrote: [snip]

Would you have a suspended ceiling of this ilk at the top of your landing/hallway?

/me shudders

-- Sir Benjamin Middlethwaite

Fit a suspended ceiling? Ready finished, easy to place lights etc. Very little hassle. You need about 2" of clearance to insert the panels.

Regards Capitol

The existing ceiling is very uneven, and a section of it has actually fallen down., hence I was thinking that it would be easier to put up a new one. It would not be easy getting access through the loft.

Should work fine. Make sure your "battens" (actually joists) are large enough for the span. They should be "on edge", with the longer dimension vertical. 600mm centres require 12.5mm plasterboard. You should only use

Christian.

Thanks Christian

What size timber do you suggest I use for the battens ? I don't have the measurement of the span at present; would need to measure Would 2" x 1" be ok ?

Without the span (even approximate), then no calculation can be made.

Christian.