Ceiling crack - what to do

CarPark2

We bought this house almost two years ago. At the time, there was what appeared to be a crack in the kitchen ceiling that had been repaired. Since then, a new crack has appeared and another area that is bulging - all around the same area of the ceiling.
When I press against the area, it feels like it is not stuck to the underlying (overlying as it is ceiling!!) plasterboard.
Some photos are attached.
We have a communion coming up in May, so would like it fixed, but ideally not turn the house into a building site between now and then. Also, we plan to get some work done in the house next year.
Any advice on what is the best way to deal with this?
Will the ceiling have to be re-plastered?
Is there a short-term fix?
If the ceiling does have to be replastered, how long would that take?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Payton

You could spend time and money trying to fix this and not get to the bottom of it. Probably better off to pull it all down and reslabbing and skim. Where are you based?

anthony500_1

Agree with this person. It's as if there was a leak or someone stepped on it from above and the plasterboard has sagged from the joisting. Bar pulling it down it's next to impossible to actually diy repair it
It's a day's work for 1 lad to take down the affected area reslab and reskim. Otherwise if taking down the hole ceiling give 2 lads 1 day to do it, then give a week or so to dry out before painting

Calahonda52

Best find out what is happening above to cause this to happen.
Ceiling joists might be too weak,/ not enough bridging/ giving rise to deflections
PB might not be fixed properly.
Any one you know have a portable CCTV type camera that you could shove up the downlighter, assuming they don't have a flowerpot above

CarPark2

Payton wrote: »

You could spend time and money trying to fix this and not get to the bottom of it. Probably better off to pull it all down and reslabbing and skim. Where are you based?

Thanks!

Based in Gorey.

CarPark2

Calahonda52 wrote: »

Best find out what is happening above to cause this to happen.
Ceiling joists might be too weak,/ not enough bridging/ giving rise to deflections
PB might not be fixed properly.
Any one you know have a portable CCTV type camera that you could shove up the downlighter, assuming they don't have a flowerpot above

There is no flowerpot over the downlight, but I don’t know anybody with a CCTV. Would that mean getting in a civil engineer?

vicwatson

I would have the lot taken down, checked as to the problem, have it reinstated and skimmed. Should never have probs again.

jack of all

It could be a combination of poor fixing (nails rather than coarse thread drywall screws) and poor jointing/ no mesh over the joints. You are lucky that you have ready access to access what's going on underneath by way of the holes for the downlighters. A boroscop camera would be ideal but failing that a small light and a cheap inspection mirror (Halfords?) would be a good place to start.

FrancieBrady

The bow in the plasterboard would lead me to think it hasn't been nailed/screwed on properly.
Do you know the size of the joists?

As others say, easiest fix and for future peace of mind - is to take it down and remedy bridging in joists.

CarPark2

Thanks for all the replies. I know this is the DIY forum, but I am very limited in my DIY abilities. "size of joists" etc. is like a foreign language to me! Will a general builder be able to look after the whole thing or would I need to get an engineer to assess it and recommend a solution?
If I get a builder in to take down the current ceiling, will it be like a blank cheque, because he will only know what to do (and how much it will cost) when the ceiling is down (and I am committed to going with him)?

Payton

CarPark2 wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies. I know this is the DIY forum, but I am very limited in my DIY abilities. "size of joists" etc. is like a foreign language to me! Will a general builder be able to look after the whole thing or would I need to get an engineer to assess it and recommend a solution?
If I get a builder in to take down the current ceiling, will it be like a blank cheque, because he will only know what to do (and how much it will cost) when the ceiling is down (and I am committed to going with him)?

Ask around if people got any work done by a plasterer or if they had any work done by a builder. Get 3 quotes and a breakdown of what is included and take it from there.

s7ryf3925pivug

CarPark2 wrote: »

Thanks for all the replies. I know this is the DIY forum, but I am very limited in my DIY abilities. "size of joists" etc. is like a foreign language to me! Will a general builder be able to look after the whole thing or would I need to get an engineer to assess it and recommend a solution?
If I get a builder in to take down the current ceiling, will it be like a blank cheque, because he will only know what to do (and how much it will cost) when the ceiling is down (and I am committed to going with him)?

As regards avoiding being ripped off: Get quotes from three people. Look for recommendations from people you know. Don't pay under the table. Look for someone with a good reputation. Don't agree to a price there and then if they are looking at it.

A good reputation is worth a lot more to them than a couple of grand overcharging you. That in itself should be grand. Just make sure it's genuine. I almost hired one guy based on Google reviews, then noticed that almost all the positive reviews were by he himself (under his own name).

FrancieBrady

If you are going to take it down (and I can't see how you can avoid it) why not cut a hole in it and see what is going on with joists etc?

CarPark2

Mikayla Hallowed Firefly wrote: »

I almost hired one guy based on Google reviews, then noticed that almost all the positive reviews were by he himself (under his own name).

Haha!!

CarPark2

Payton wrote: »

Ask around if people got any work done by a plasterer or if they had any work done by a builder. Get 3 quotes and a breakdown of what is included and take it from there.

Thanks.
So no need for an engineer?

twowheelsonly

CarPark2 wrote: »

Thanks.
So no need for an engineer?

Is it only in this room ?
Doubtful that there's any need for an engineer. Any competent builder should be able to repair this quite easily and will advise if they think that there is a need for an engineer.
As stated by others get a couple of quotes and get the whole ceiling done. Patchwork is ok if there's one crack but not with the extent of damage that's there now. You'll only end up throwing good money after bad. The whole ceiling should only take a day and leave it as long as you can before painting (at least a week)

FrancieBrady

twowheelsonly wrote: »

Is it only in this room ?
Doubtful that there's any need for an engineer. Any competent builder should be able to repair this quite easily and will advise if they think that there is a need for an engineer.
As stated by others get a couple of quotes and get the whole ceiling done. Patchwork is ok if there's one crack but not with the extent of damage that's there now. You'll only end up throwing good money after bad. The whole ceiling should only take a day and leave it as long as you can before painting (at least a week)

A 'week' is asking for more trouble. I would leave for 2 to 3 weeks. Never rush the first mist coat, if it isn't right on the first coats, it likely never will be.

Tiercel Dave

What's overhead, is it a bedroom or attic space?.....

CarPark2

Tiercel Dave wrote: »

What's overhead, is it a bedroom or attic space?.....

Bathroom.

BrokenArrows

So as mentioned the only proper solution here is to replace the whole ceiling.
It wont take very long to do at all and shouldn't be that expensive. Very simple job for any plasterer.

If money is tight then you can save yourself a bit my removing the existing boards yourself. This is nothing more than pulling down the existing plasterboard. No special knowledge needed. Just slowly and carefully pull down the whole ceiling.

The benefit to this is that you can see for yourself if there are any leaks from the bathroom in advance of the plasterer coming to put up the new ceiling.

If you wait until the plasterer comes then hes going to need to stop work if he finds any leaks after pulling down the ceiling which will cause you some delays while you find a plumber to fix a leak.

You mentioned that you have work planned for the house next year. If any of this work relates to underfloor plumbing in the bathroom then maybe now is the time to do this rather than waiting until next year.

CarPark2

BrokenArrows wrote: »

So as mentioned the only proper solution here is to replace the whole ceiling.
It wont take very long to do at all and shouldn't be that expensive. Very simple job for any plasterer.

If money is tight then you can save yourself a bit my removing the existing boards yourself. This is nothing more than pulling down the existing plasterboard. No special knowledge needed. Just slowly and carefully pull down the whole ceiling.

The benefit to this is that you can see for yourself if there are any leaks from the bathroom in advance of the plasterer coming to put up the new ceiling.

If you wait until the plasterer comes then hes going to need to stop work if he finds any leaks after pulling down the ceiling which will cause you some delays while you find a plumber to fix a leak.

You mentioned that you have work planned for the house next year. If any of this work relates to underfloor plumbing in the bathroom then maybe now is the time to do this rather than waiting until next year.

Thanks for that. We have a first communion in early May. At this stage, I guess it is unrealistic to think that we would have quotes, agreed a price and job complete by then. What do you think?

vicwatson

CarPark2 wrote: »

Bathroom.

No leaks from this on to to plasterboard anywhere??

CarPark2

vicwatson wrote: »

No leaks from this on to to plasterboard anywhere??

Not that I know of. There isn’t any stain from water damage. But it’s possible that there was a leak in the past (we only bought the house two years ago) and maybe that affected the adherence of the plaster to the plaster board.

Re-reading the posts above, a lot of people seem to think that the plaster board has cobe away from the joists. When I feel the bulge it feels more like the skim of plaster has come away from the plasterboard.

twowheelsonly

CarPark2 wrote: »

Not that I know of. There isn’t any stain from water damage. But it’s possible that there was a leak in the past (we only bought the house two years ago) and maybe that affected the adherence of the plaster to the plaster board.

Re-reading the posts above, a lot of people seem to think that the plaster board has cobe away from the joists. When I feel the bulge it feels more like the skim of plaster has come away from the plasterboard.

That's nearly always damp related. Might be historic but the easiest way to check is to stick a screwdriver in it. You should be able to feel if the plasterboard is hard or soft. It needs repairing anyway so sticking a screwdriver in it isn't going to make much of a difference and any plasterer that turns up will probably do it anyway !!

If it is damp then best to follow the advice from an earlier poster and rip the whole lot down and call in a plumber to fix the problem before the plasterer / builder starts. If there's damp in there I'd leave it until after the communion as you'll need to leave any dampness dry out properly before re-slabbing it.
The labour for plumber and plasterer is only about a day or less but the drying out time before finally getting it painted could easily be 2 to 3 weeks or more.

DublinDilbert

Was the ceiling stippled then plastered over? I've seen plaster come away from the stipple, but there was also a small leak.

As others have said you'll need to cut an access hole to see what's happening.

BrokenArrows

CarPark2 wrote: »

Thanks for that. We have a first communion in early May. At this stage, I guess it is unrealistic to think that we would have quotes, agreed a price and job complete by then. What do you think?

It's realistic to have the job done, however not painted as you will need to leave the plaster for a few weeks before painting.

the_pen_turner

Personally I wouldn't do it before the communion. It's a dirty messy job . It's only a month away. You are unlikely to get anyone good in the next week or 2 and you will not want the place a building site the week before. That only leaves one week. Its very duable but no room for anything to go wrong

CarPark2

DublinDilbert wrote: »

Was the ceiling stippled then plastered over? I've seen plaster come away from the stipple, but there was also a small leak.

As others have said you'll need to cut an access hole to see what's happening.

I don’t know much about how it was built. House is ~ 15 years old and we bought it 2 years ago.

CarPark2

the_pen_turner wrote: »

Personally I wouldn't do it before the communion. It's a dirty messy job . It's only a month away. You are unlikely to get anyone good in the next week or 2 and you will not want the place a building site the week before. That only leaves one week. Its very duable but no room for anything to go wrong

Thanks. Based on what i’ve Read here, I’m inclined to leave it for now. We have plans to do a few bits with the house early next year. If we can’t do a patch up on this before the communion, I think that we might roll it in with the other work next year and that might involve repositioning some light fittings etc.