Can I replace ceiling but keep original coving?

[steshaw74]

Hello guys and gals
I'm decorating a victorian house that I've recently bought.
Just noticed that one of the ceilings is cracked and sags due to a leak (due to be repaired).
The ceiling has the original coving - will I have to kiss it goodbye if the ceiling is being replaced or can it be saved easily?

Thanks in advance

 

[Robbie uk]

The ceiling will be a lath and plaster ceilng and the coving will be a plaster cornice. It is possible to pull the old ceiling down up to the cornice and then re-board but its a slow job and you need to take care not to affect the cornice.

 

[dextrous]

As Robbie says. Also, there's no need to remove all the plaster up to the cornice if you're worried about disturbing it - leaving about 100 to 150mm of the original plaster may not be such a bad idea, but it depends on how thick it is and whether the new boards come anywhere within reason to the same level of thickness.

 

[matt1e]

yes it is possible I had to do the same in my front room which has a substantial Georgian cornice. as robbie has said its time consuming,we cut around the ceiling with an old tenon saw using the cornice as a guide (try not to disturb the lathes too much)and then took the plaster off working from the centre out to the cornice.be aware though you will probably find,as I did that you will need to double board/use different thicknesses to get the line around the cornice right or you could of course not use boards and get it done the "old-fashioned way"
mind you this is the way I did it and it worked for me you may be better off re-posting this in the plastering section for better advice
matt

ps alerted mods to move it for you as there some knowledgeable gents in there (roughcaster etc)

 

[roy c]

If you are careful you can run a 4" grinder around the edge of the coving the pull all the old plaster down re-board and skim. (May need a coat of bonding on it to give you the depth,,,,

 

[stevebamford]

We had a similar problem in our place and the plasterer boarded and skimmed over the existing ceiling - up to maybe 7cm from the edge of the coving. The edge of the boards looks like part of the coving design - looks good

 

[regsmyth]

As Steve says, if you overboard the existing ceiling, and cut the boards so they run along the edge of the coving, you don't notice the step up when it's skimmed. If you do it right.

You'll need millions of long drywall screws to pull the boards up hard against the existing ceiling, and you'll probably still notice the overall bowing.

The extra weight might also cause more sagging, so investigate whether there's any scope to add support above (eg replace the bendy binder with something bigger and stronger and fix the joists to it.

 

[Micilin]

You could use a plasterbard edging bead on the plasterboard. This will allow you to re tack and skim the ceiling . You can then set the new plasterboard back a suitable distance from the coving (say 150mm or whatever pleases your eye and the state of the old ceiling)

This gives you an new ceiling in the middle, and a feature around the perimeter which does not lose any definition of the ceiling member of the coving.

Yu could also go mad and put spotlights in this perimeter recess, but I don't like the light shining down my walls