DIY Plasterboard ceiling hole fix.

jaspertheghost wrote: »

can you put up some pics of the stripped down ceiling???

Took a couple of pics yesterday.

Anyway, had some fun today playing around with string lines. Just string and nails trying to find a flat plane. Seems most of the joists are sagging to some degree but not as much as the joist over the door.

A friend is coming to the house tomorrow to loan me a power plane and look things over. I'll take a few more pics then, and post them together with yesterday's over the weekend.

Almost done.

Jacked up those two joists and have almost finished putting new slabs in.

Decided not to use a power plane on the joists due to the odd buried nail in some of them, so I used a small electric saw to cut in vertically about 1/8th inch every 4 or 5 inches, then a hammer and chisel. Used saftey goggles and gloves to protect eyes and hands from small splinters!

Where slabs met between joists, I used 8" 2x1 strips of wood to strengthen the edges and get them flush.

Small bits of folded corrugated cardboard were inserted between slabs and joist bottoms where there were gaps.

Light fitting was moved slightly to the center of the ceiling to meet with the two slab edges.

Insulation was pushed in, in 24" lengths, after each row of slab was screwed in. (Wore goggles, mask and gloves for that!)

Next step, mesh webbing tape and joint compound to cover gaps and screw holes.

The first pic shows a very small bulge in one of the slabs. That was there before that slab went up and the other side of that slab is undamaged, so don't know what that is. Hopefully, the textured ceiling paint will hide it.

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jaspertheghost wrote: »

Are your slabs finishing half way on a joist? They all have too be screwed on or else they will sag....the bump is broken chalk..just cut the paper with a stanley and take out the loose stuff...then fill it with filler...remove any loose paper too.

Thanks Jasper. Will do.

Some slab edges extend beyond a joist, yes, but I screwed the 'floating' edges of those to a piece of 2x1 timber and joined that with the edge of the next slab. It's not even 2x1, more like 5/8 x 1 3/4. Very light timber.

Do you reckon that's not strong enough and the textured paint will cause sagging?

Will have to take my chances at this stage.

jaspertheghost wrote: »

If you fixed the timber to the joist then it should be ok..watch the depth of the screws when your putting them in aswell...dont screw in to much.if ya break the paper with the head of the screw moisture will get in and loosen the slab...

Done. I've made sure the screws are only around 1mm into the board, thanks.

Well, there are guests staying in the house for a couple of weeks, so might wait 'till they leave before taping and jointing/painting. Had to move some clutter back in and hate working around it.

I'll check everything again before I start that, ie. make sure there are screws where there should be and that there are no screws that are too deep. I've got a spare slab, so may replace the damaged one if you reckon that's a better option.

jaspertheghost wrote: »

any updates for us?

Hello Jasper,

Well, there were visitors in the house until recently so the room was full of clutter. There's another relative staying there this week, so the room might not be available to work in for another week or so. :rolleyes:

Am going there tomorrow. Dependng on whether I can take the clutter out of the room or not, I can make a start then or wait 'till the visitor is gone.

jaspertheghost wrote: »

stipple is a pain in the arse.....ive seen it done with a paint roller before,or a sponge,if you have any leftover plaster board do a few tests first till you get it,if you start on the ceiling without trying it first ya might make a pigs ear of it and that would be one hell of a messy job to clean up..

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Thanks Jasper.

Sorry, no pics. Took the camera today, but the battery was flat. Will get
some pics up on Monday.

Have finished most of the plastering. Will probably need to go over some
parts again as the mesh is visible in places. It's tricky where top of wall
meets new ceiling, I found, because the faces of the walls are not 100%
flat at the top.

Tried the sponge to get the stipple effect, works like a charm. Just need to
buy a big sponge!



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I'm using joint compound.

Have started applying the textured paint today after sanding down the
dried plaster. A coat of sealant would have been helpful, will coat the
remainder of the ceiling with sealant before continuing.

Some pics before sanding. One pic shows a small patch of textured paint.
The walls are going to be painted a brighter colour later. Tops of the walls
are very bumpy in places, hence some extra plaster here and there.

Using a 4" putty knife.



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Almost done.

Ran out of branded textured paint, and it seems they don't make it
anymore, (Polycell?). The paint was bought well over a year ago to repair
the hole temporarily. Was lucky to find a Homebase equivalent. The
texture is slightly different, but the colour seems fine.

Will come back Monday when it's all dry and check for flat spots and the
odd spot where more texture is needed. May need to go over the first
half again. First half I did is that half between light & window. Then the
second half, I was putting on much more texture and it looks much better.

For the edges, I was thinking of applying 25mm tape around the ceiling
edge, stipple right up to the tape, then remove the tape when the texture
is dry to leave a nice border. Then just use a brush to apply a plain 25mm
edge all 'round. Have taped a test section. Will see what happens Monday
when I try to remove the tape, may have to score the dry paint with a
knife and maybe 25mm is too wide. It's the narrowest tape I could find.

Another alternative might be to stipple up close to the edge, with tape
at the top of the walls. Then use a brush to the edge. Then when dry,
score a half inch border with a screwdriver?



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jaspertheghost wrote: »

thats a great job,you could also flatten down around the borders with a paint brush while the stipple is still wet, you could nearly make a career for yourself now as a stippler!! good man

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Thanks for all your help Jasper.

I'll post another pic when it's finished.



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