Slight problem

LegacyUser

I'm such an idiot. I fell through the ceiling from my attic into my own bedroom when I was moving stuff into the attic. My parents were both out at the time. I locked my bedroom door and since they came home they know nothing about it. Luckily I wasn't hurt although. It will cost a lot to repair. I really don't know what to do as I haven't got the money to repair it and my parents are not well off so I don't think they could afford it either. My bedroom is freezing. I can't tell them. Any advice Please? This is not a troll.

Beruthiel

are you old enough to get a part time job to help pay for it?

Kell

How big is the hole? I had a similar situation last year in the house I was renting. Cost about €100 for the repair.

K-

Unpossible

LMAO, Ok you're going to have to tell your parents they will find out eventually. If its anything like my family your father willrant for a little while and then the whole incident will just become a funny story.

As for cost, if its your house then you might be able to cut corners and try to fix it yourselves (by cutting corners I mean just fill the section with plasterboard, replace that insulation wool stuff whose name escapes me, no need to replaster your ceiling as it was you after all who did it). Then again six months in a cold bedroom might teach you to be more carefull in the attic

seamus

Accidents happen, don't cry over spilt milk, etc.

You had a reason to be in the attic, you fell through by accident. Why would your parents be angry?

You can bet they'll be angry when they go into your room and see a big ****ing hole in the roof, that they were never told about, or wonder why their heating bill has soared because your room is sucking the heat out.

Tell them.

Going Demented

That happened in my brothers house. His teenage daughter's leg fell through the attic into her own bedroom (she's over 6 foot so you can imagine the damage she done). He ranted and raved for a while but it was forgotten about fairly fast. He fixed it himself with plasterboard. He did not replaster the ceiling. You would have to be look straight up at the ceiling to notice so not really a big issue seen as it's a bedroom and not many people are going to be in there to notice. After he fixed it my nephew went into the attic and he fell through into the same room again. No ranting and raving this time, just fixed it themselves again. It's not the end of the world. Bite the bullet and tell them. May as well be sooner rather than later.

Unpossible

not many people are going to be in there to notice.

Or so she would leave him to believe

Going Demented

Unpossible wrote:

Or so she would leave him to believe

Indeed you are probably spot on there.

misswex

It was just an accident and they are eventually going to find out anyway!! They will be a hundred times more angrier if they find out for themselves so just fess up - might be annnoyed over it but the longer you leave it the harder it will be to tell them!!

Gurgle

Theres no damage that cant be fixed with:
plywood, no more nails, polyfilla, duct tape & some ingenuity.

When I was growing up, there was all kinds of damage done & covered up that my parents never knew about.

At least the damage was in your room.

Ever tried to take down two doors, switch the handles / locks / hinges around and re-hang them so the hole that was on the outside of the bathroom door is left on the inside of your bedroom door ?

(On a 2 hour time budget )

Sleepy

Gurgle wrote:

Theres no damage that cant be fixed with:
plywood, no more nails, polyfilla, duct tape & some ingenuity.

When I was growing up, there was all kinds of damage done & covered up that my parents never knew about.

At least the damage was in your room.

Ever tried to take down two doors, switch the handles / locks / hinges around and re-hang them so the hole that was on the outside of the bathroom door is left on the inside of your bedroom door ?

(On a 2 hour time budget )

I literally have tears rolling down my cheeks from that post!

Ah, the memories:)

Sleepy

Original Poster: As long as you weren't in the attic to attend to a home-grow kit of some kind, I'm sure your parents will get over it. Otherwise, follow Gurgle's advice and do a cover-up job until you can afford to get in a plasterer.

Beruthiel

Gurgle wrote:

Ever tried to take down two doors, switch the handles / locks / hinges around and re-hang them so the hole that was on the outside of the bathroom door is left on the inside of your bedroom door ?

(On a 2 hour time budget )

it's posts like this which make me wonder if I should ever live my kid in the house by herself! :eek:

orig. poster
I think once your parents get over the shock of the hole I think they will just be glad you didn't break your neck
tell them, it will be ok

Sleepy

You're gettin old when you look at a post like that as a parent worried about her house instead of remembering a similar incident from your own childhood

Beruthiel

Sleepy wrote:

You're gettin old when you look at a post like that as a parent worried about her house instead of remembering a similar incident from your own childhood

ain't that the truth!
and you've just reminded me of something I did do while working for me Da,
I was so worried I said nothing to him hoping it would just go away!
he found out of course and all he said was, don't worry about it, everyone fuks up at some stage

Gurgle

Beruthiel wrote:

it's posts like this which make me wonder if I should ever live my kid in the house by herself! :eek:

What you don't know won't hurt you.

BuffyBot

Original poster - if this is the worst that happens in your teenage years, think yourself lucky. Even if they are angry, it won't last for long. These things happen

cormie

If you want to do it right you will have to:

get a blade and cut around the hole to the nearest rafters(?) they are the pieces of wood you should have been standing on in the attic. Cut the plasterboard to leave half of what's to stay up on the wood and then the other half of the wood will be free to screw/nail a new section of plasterboard up. Assuming since you fell through it will be big enough. Plasterboard isn't that expensive if I remember right. €20 worth of it should cover your problem I'd say. Make sure that all edges of plasterboard are secrued to the wood. You can make this easier by putting up new ridges between the rafters. So instead of cutting the pb all the way back to the wood, you can insert a new piece of wood and just cut it back to that. So once you have all your pb cut, stick up a new piece making sure the remains of the board you fell through is secured on wood and making sure you secure the replacement bit to wood also. Go up to the attic and cover with rockwool (insulation that is probably in your attic)

To plaster you could probably get away with pollyfilla and a lick of paint after. Job done.

Or else you could get it done professionally by a plasterer who would probably rip you off.

If you're parents start moaning then they're not great parents. They should be more concerned with you rather than a ceiling. Job wont take more than an hour.

sceptre

Gurgle wrote:

Ever tried to take down two doors, switch the handles / locks / hinges around and re-hang them so the hole that was on the outside of the bathroom door is left on the inside of your bedroom door ?

No, but I've heard of a guy in a student house who lost his bedroom key, made a hole in the wall instead, happily used that as the door for the year and on moving out put two wardrobes, one on each side of the (now man-sized) hole so they'd all get their deposits back. Might be one of those student stories though.

@ the original poster
It may not cost as much as you might think. If you had a legitimate reason for being in the attic you're likely to get in less trouble as people have mentioned. Find some way to pay for the damage if you can, say you feel like a plonker and just own up - they'll find out in due time in any case. Those attics can be pretty dodgy to move around in and it's pretty easy to do what you did.

Victor

When my parents were having the attic converted, the plumber fell through the ceiling. A six inch nail just missed his nads. :eek:

As said above €20 will fix it. Own up and ask your father if he would help you fix it, bonding experience and all that.

SantaHoe

Just tell them, or at least setup a hidden camera that'll capture the expression on their faces when they walk in to see a large hole in the cieling.
I find faking an injury of your own helps cussion the blow... they'll probably be more worried about your sore knees and frantic crying, then years later you can tell them that it was all just a play for simpathy... you all can have a great laugh about it over a few pints.

red_ice

if the hole is about a foot wide or so you can do it yourself. Ive plastered many a hole and wall and theres really nothing to it. Theres a quick fix solution taht will set you back 10 quid or so.

Base coat plaster
Skim coat plaster
a block of wood that will fit in between the gap on the roof side
and paint!

Drill holes into the wood, mix a thick solution of base coat and make sure the solution goes through the wood - that will give grip to it. Then place the wood down on top, and plaster a thin layer of base coat from that to the edges of your celing. Then try making it all look even with skim coat plaster, then paint it over with emulsion or something..

You can always do the 'creative' angle, and tell your parents you want to repaint your room. that will make them think otherwise about the hole in the roof!

Its a very quick solution to that problem, and it does aquaire patients and prep work - you can get the cover up job without the paint done in a few hours.

Move stuff around your room and hang a poster to cover the hole on the roof.. i know it sounds stupid, but you can pretend its a new trend or something stupid :P

red_ice

with regards to plasterboard, it gets really messy trying to cut angles out of a roof especially with no experience - you could damage a supporting beam... which will most definitly cost you alot more money. If your gonna use plasterboard, cut the roof of your room with a stanly blade.. it will be a long and tedious job..then get a cornflake boxbox and place it over the area that you cut out and cut that to the size of the hole you just made, then nail that board to the roof. Chances are with replacementplasterboard you wont get the smooth finish you want becasue of nails n stuff

Id use a 5kg (i think) bag of base and skim, its only like 4.50 a bag (was plastering 3 weeks ago) in woodies. just sand down the edges and clean up what you can.

It is a very easy job to do mate - you just need to take your time with it.

lisa.c

Just tell them. Bring them both in to your room and tell them you have an embarrassing problem that you would like to share with them. when you show them your celing they'll be so happy you havent brought them there to tell them your gay.
then when your father realises what you have done he'll hit the roof in anger causing more damage and ye can split the costs. Nah! i just joking be honest and in years to come ye'll look back and laugh about it.

smokey2

try talking to your dad after you've wrote off his new car and you're not covered by insurance to drive it so ye may pay to get it fixed yourselves!!!

we laugh about it now though!!

in the long run they'll be more concerned you're ok!!

PS: fakin a limp or other injury will always help your case!!!!

stevenmu

I've done many a similar thing, I don't know how are house was still standing by the time I left. The thing I discovered eventually was that sitting around worrying about telling them/them finding out was always way worse than just telling them and gettting it sorted.