Fixing a water damaged ceiling

Garyw · Post by **Garyw** » Mon Nov 09, 2009 5:52 pm

Thanks to a burst pipe in the bathroom quite a bit of water ended up flowing into the dinning room. The pipe has been repaired but I'm now left with some very long brown streaks on the dining room ceiling and some hairline cracks.

The ceiling isn't sagging so I don't think the water logging was too bad.

Any suggestions on how best to fix this? What's best for filling in the cracks? and what recommendations do you have for covering the brown streaks prior to repainting?

Many thanks.

trowel monkey · Post by **trowel monkey** » Mon Nov 09, 2009 7:31 pm

easifill for filling and stain block for the brown bits.

could consider overboarding it and re-skimming for a proper job but that's way more more costly and not a diy job, the boarding part could be of course.

Simon Site Manager · Post by **Simon Site Manager** » Tue Nov 10, 2009 6:07 pm

Hi Gary,

Don't do anything until the plaster has dried out completely (if time is of the essence, put a dehumidifier in there). When totally dry, just fill the cracks and paint over.

Simon

JMEPLASTERING · Post by **JMEPLASTERING** » Tue Nov 10, 2009 7:48 pm

have the boards sagged in any way?

has the water been completely drained from above?

if it has sagged then then the board has come away and needs to be either cut out, replaced and patched in or for a better finish, overboarded.

i personally would not use any filler on that, get it sorted properly.

paul the spread · Post by **paul the spread** » Tue Nov 10, 2009 9:38 pm

there aint no boards up there. thats an old lath ceiling, the ONLY way to fix this is to re board over the original ceiling and skim.
if you simply fill it and stain paint it, then those cracks will be back with a month, 'specially cos of foot traffic above.
if you're going to fix, do it properly, do it once.

trowel monkey · Post by **trowel monkey** » Tue Nov 10, 2009 10:15 pm

hello paul, long time no post!

how can you tell from that pic that its lath?

i agrre with you all by the way, i would recommend overboarding and skimming, it's what i always suggest to my customers when the ceiling is damaged unless it's a tiny area.

paul the spread · Post by **paul the spread** » Tue Nov 10, 2009 10:30 pm

just looking at the cracks mate. i could be wrong, the skim could have come away from the boards, bubbled and cracked. but a leak on boards normally bends the whole board as well.

thats cracked all over and the water has come thru these cracks.

you shouldn't ever repair downstairs lath ceilings. foot traffic will always cause it to crack again. once the sand/lime has come away from the laths, no amount of skimming will make it retake. it will only add more weight.

the only time you can get away with it, is over short spans. say a landing ceiling, a narrow toilet or hallway.

the hard thing is letting your customer know without it looking like you're money grabbing. all you can do is advise what you would do if it was your house. once you've covered yourself, it's up to them.

Simon Site Manager · Post by **Simon Site Manager** » Tue Nov 10, 2009 10:40 pm

Guys,

Before going to the expense of boarding and skimming, why not let it dry and see how it goes? (it isn't a large area). If you want to do the job properly, I wouldn't board over the existing, I would pull the old ceiling down and re-board/skim (if nessecary of course).

paul the spread · Post by **paul the spread** » Tue Nov 10, 2009 10:45 pm

nothing wrong in over boarding. nothing at all.

Simon Site Manager · Post by **Simon Site Manager** » Tue Nov 10, 2009 11:18 pm

Hi Paul,

But if as you say that the ceiling has dropped, surely boarding over the dropped P/board or L & P ceiling you are just going to exagerate the bulge in it. Surely better to remove the blown plaster/or board and replace?

Simon

k.w.plastering · Post by **k.w.plastering** » Wed Nov 11, 2009 9:27 am

Hi all. If its only just happened, you should be able to pull the bow out by using 12.5mm board and 75mm screws. Its only if you use 9.5mm boards that the bow will still show. Unless its happened a while ago and it has set in a bowed postion, you would cut the bowed ceiling out and screw slips of plasterboard to the exposed joists and overboard as normal. cheers kevin.

paul the spread · Post by **paul the spread** » Wed Nov 11, 2009 3:29 pm

Simon Site Manager wrote:Hi Paul,

But if as you say that the ceiling has dropped, surely boarding over the dropped P/board or L & P ceiling you are just going to exaggerate the bulge in it. Surely better to remove the blown plaster/or board and replace?

Simon

of course mate. as KW says, if its set in place cut out the bad and pack out the joists. i thought you were suggesting taking down the lot

not a fan of that dust me

Garyw · Post by **Garyw** » Thu Nov 12, 2009 5:13 pm

Everyone - I appreciate the responses and interesting replies! (learning a lot here!)

Ok, a few days later and it's started to dry out. I do have a dehumidifier going and the moisture is coming out.

None of the boards have sagged however one of the cracks has gotten pretty bad. I'm got someone coming over next week to take a look and make a call on the type of repair required, I'm starting to think that reskimming/overboarding/something will be required for about a quarter of the ceiling.