When deciding whether to put up new ceilings or re-skim what is the best option?

[NOAH]

Its me again. I have old plasterboad ceilings that are artexed and have a few cracks. The advice is a) re-skim the existing ceilings, b) fix new plasterboard to existing and re-plaster, or c) take down old put up new plasterboard and re-plaster?

Apparently C can be the best and most cost effective option but who do I believe?

Help??


noah

 

[Diziet]

C would be the messiest, and b would be overkill. Both would involve re-skimming anyway, so why not go for a? Unless your artex is very very spiky, reskimming should be all you need.

 

[NOAH]

thanks for reply, I agree with you, I don't know how spiky it is but I have a reliable plasterer calling to have a look in the next few days.

noah

 

[Marie]

Be careful! The best solution very much depends on the state of the ceiling underneath the 'Airtex' and this gunge was often trowelled on to cover a multitude of flaws, cracks etc. When I had this dilemma (with original Victorian lime-plaster ceilings which had had polystyrine tiles glued onto it) the excellent plasterer advised that the weight of even a thin skim of plaster (and its chemical effect on weakening the existing layer) might structurally weaken the ceilings.

Therefore the options were (a) take down the existing ceilings (filthy job) put up new plasterboard and skim or (b) fix another kind of board (slightly thinner than plasterboard but unfortunately the name escapes me) to the joists and skim plaster.

I settled for the latter and it works well.