Replacing ceiling, will this timber be rigid enough?

I have some 3x2 timbers running across a 6 foot span at 2 foot intervals attached to a frame on the wall.

The have ended up being fitted so that the plasterboards (9mm) will be screwed to the 3 inch side.

(reason for this is that we made a frame around the edge just under the original ceiling with timbers flat against the wall but there are some areas with a bit of sag.)

Will this have enough rigidity? I can't decide whether to find some wood above and fire some long screws into it.

Ta.

Reply to
R D S
Loading thread data ...

I've done something quite similar. IIRC, I used 2x2 timbers along where the plasterboard joins would be, but the occasional 3x0.5 timber standing on edge across the middle of the plasterboard spans to reduce any tendancy to sag, but the 2x2's would probably have been fine for all of it - it was pretty rigid when finished and plastered.

Mark where the timbers are on the wall, so you know where to put the screws though when you can't see them anymore ;-)

Of course it's not strong enough to store any weight on top of it, but as the original ceiling was still there (in this case, it was too high up for a small bathroom), there's no way to do that.

A couple of other things to think about...

Ventilate the gap between the ceilings. In my case, the original ceiling had a couple of giant holes in it where pipes used to go through into the loft.

You might want to take the opportunity to add insulation. I bought some 2" celotex and cut it to be a tight pushfit between the timber, before fitting the plasterboard. (There was still the loft insulation on top of the original celing too.) Another option would be to use plasterboard with pre-attached celotex.

If the room below is likely to generate moisture (kitchen, bath or shower, bedroom), then seal the ceiling against moisture. The celotext will do this of you seal the joins with aluminium tape. Otherwise, think about using foil backed plasterboard.

Reply to
Andrew Gabriel

Try and get a fixing 3 ft in from each wall to improve rigidity, one fixing per joist will be ample. You don't need any near the walls as the 3X2 are affixed to the edge joists and these won't sag

Reply to
Phil L

HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.