Plastering a Heinz 57 Ceiling

[Morten225]

Hi.

I'd really appreciate any advice anyone might have.

I have an 1880 Victorian House and I'm working on my bedroom. It has a dormer window and to insulate the dead space above, I've taken down about 1/3 of the whole ceiling and put plasterboard back up.

Given the house's age, the rest of the ceiling has had alot of lining paper put on, including a layer which has been painted with eggshell paint which makes it tough to get off. However, I'm happy that the ceiling is still okay (horsehair plaster still attached to lath without too much movement).

I'm leaning towards generous use of pva and a skim of multifinish on this to cover the multitude of sins of plasterboard, lime plaster, cracks and eggshell paint.

Is there a remote possibility that I will get away with it or am I a poor deluded idiot ?

 

[dann09]

1. I dont understand why you didn't cut an access trap in the dormer ceiling, or come into that area from the main loft space?

2. Perhaps research recent posts ref. plaster lath. Any movement must be screwed up - dont increase the weight on loose material.

3. Is your wiring and accessories up to code and your satisfaction? Take care of all details before a new ceiling installation.

4. Using PVA and perhaps, bonding will pull the whole thing together.

5. FWIW: eggshell, and other difficult paints, and their backing paper, can be scored with a utility knife and then repeatedly soaked and then, using a "spatula" or floor scraper, scraped off.

 

[Morten225]

Thanks for the reply.

Q1 is a good question. For some reason, the dormer was constructed so that there is/was no access from the main loft space. Completely inaccessible dead space. Victorians eh?

The plaster in that part of the ceiling was not in a good condition because of (probably minor) water leaks over the years. In addition, the join between the dormer and non-dormer parts of the ceiling was looking a bit scaggy and made a natural cut-off point (probably owing to movement of the wooden dormer construction over 100 odd years). I suggested to the missus that I put a loft hatch for maintenance this time around but that didn't go down well.