Removing woodchip from reed ceiling

[JoceAndChris]

Hi, this is my first post here. We have recently bought a lovely Georgian cottage / hunting lodge / love nest in Lincolnshire, it's a nice mix of part fancy, part cottagey.

The cottage has reed ceilings throughout, most of which are fine. However the ceiling in the dining room is sagging badly and has been papered with woodchip!

The sagging is fine and arguably adds to the charm, but I am worried if we try to remove the woodchip it will bring the whole ceiling down. Which is maybe what we need to do.

Also, we would love to install ceiling roses and chandeliers in all rooms, but have been told that electrical wiring above a reed ceiling is a no no due to fire hazard. Can this be true?

 

[plumbers mate]

Chandeliers and ceiling roses in a cottage?

 

[Flyfisher]

Hello and welcome to the forum.
I don't know about any specific regulations concerning wiring above reed ceilings and I don't really understand why a properly designed system would be any more of a fire hazard for a reed ceiling than for a 'normal' wooden roof structure, or thatch for that matter. But I'm not a qualified electrician so this is just amateur musing.

However, I do know that our roof had reed & lime underneath the pantiles (not in the ceilings) and had been extensively re-wired in the not-too-distant past (i.e. plastic wiring). We also had some totally new wiring work done last year - i.e. latest wiring regs - and the electrician had no concerns about the reeds in the roof.

You don't mention any intention of DIY, but you should be aware of recent regulations requiring all but the simplest electrical works to be formally certified by a 'competent' person. In practice, this means a qualified electrician.

As for the sagging ceilings, you probably need to investigate a little more. Is the plaster coming away from the reed or the reed and plaster coming away from the beams. This could influence the repair options. I've seen 'repair washers' (oversize metal washers) used to fix plaster back to walls, but have no experience of this with ceilings. There are plastering experts on here who will hopefully be able to offer better suggestions than me.

 

[Jon Maine]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

I've seen 'repair washers' (oversize metal washers) used to fix plaster back to walls, but have no experience of this with ceilings.

Should be possible, very often reed was pinched back to the rafters or joists with a lathe running the length of the timber and the reeds at right angles. You can get several different failures occuring.

1/ Fixings through the lathes giving way. Certainly the large washer and screw should help this re-fixing through the lathe and ( stainless steel )

2/ Joist / rafter giving up, possibly could be strengthened by laying a timber along side and fixing to the origional.

3/ Reeds rotted out, new ceiling time.

4/ Nibs broken off back of plaster, may be possible to repair sections or again new ceiling time.

Of course you can have any combination of these at the same time too.

As for the wiring don't see a problem as long as it complies to the regs.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Hmm, interesting that the sagging can be fixed with these washer things.

I think we'll probably have a go at removing the woodchip using the wallpaper stripper sprays (as opposed to steaming), and if the ceiling comes down then it's new ceiling time, otherwise we probably save a hell of a lot of money by restoring the old one (not to mention that it is probably the right thing to do).

By the way, chandeliers and ceiling roses in a cottage may sound daft, but the reception rooms are actually quite grand with high ceilings and sweeping views of the countryside / B&Q (depending on which direction you look).

Thanks for all the helpful advice.

 

[Jon Maine]

Hmm, interesting that the sagging can be fixed with these washer things.

Maybe not stop the sagging shape but consolidate it so it doesn't fall down.

 

[biffvernon]

Oooh, another in Lincolnshire. You're very welcome.

Apart from reeds, what else is the ceiling made from and how?

 

[MdB]

Do not what ever you do, follow Jon's advice and stick lathes to the underside of your joists. This is very non traditional, expensive, requires monster fixings and if you are not careful ends up with oil / grease dropping into your tea....

 

[yamin]

Bahahaha!! :lol: (these things amuse me!)

 

[Jon Maine]

Doh, did we gat photoshp for xmas ??

Rusty stains on my lathes, not enough oil I presume so no drips there then

Anyway the lathes are supposed to be in the thickness of the plaster silly .

 

[MdB]

Suit yourself, but lathes of that size are rather difficult to source...

If it were me, I would stick some laths on instead. Far easier to get hold of. In fact there are some on your picture already if you look carefully.

(The program I used was the gimp (http://www.gimp.org/) which is a very good open source (therefore free) image editing program. It takes a little learning but is recommended)

 

[Jon Maine]

Its a west-country spelling............ :lol:

 

[MdB]

Sorry, I just couldn't resist though it was especially cheeky due my own complete inability to spell.

 

[Jon Maine]

Its a west-country spelling............ :lol:

Opps I forgot you were from Cornwall when I made that excuse...... :shock:

 

[essexbearhunter]

Also, we would love to install ceiling roses and chandeliers in all rooms,

A magnificent idea! If you choose something like Zepherine Drouhin "– deep pink blooms – grows to 12 foot, strong fragrance – happy on north facing walls"...and perhaps on ceilings as well....you don't even need to worry about thorns! I reckon that the light from the chandeliers would look superb diffused through its foliage. My only worry is that you might need something more height-tolerant for upstairs rooms.

:wink:

 

[DaveBrigg]

If you leave the woodchip, once everything else is fixed you'll sit there all evening looking at it and thinking 'I hate that wallpaper'. You would be very unlucky indeed if the entire ceiling collapsed; if the sagging bit is beyond repair it will be possible to patch rather than having to start from scratch.

You mentioned in another post that at some point you would like to be listed. A fine idea, but before undertaking works that might alter the character of the building, you may want to have an informal chat with the CO. If they are not too busy, you could get some useful free advice regarding possible future listing, in the knowledge that you are still free to make your own decisions.

 

[Jon Maine]

You mentioned in another post that at some point you would like to be listed. A fine idea, but before undertaking works that might alter the character of the building, you may want to have an informal chat with the CO. If they are not too busy, you could get some useful free advice regarding possible future listing, in the knowledge that you are still free to make your own decisions.

Wise advice, we were grade 2 listed here and before we started the works had it uplisted to grade 2*. Why does everyone think it has to be done after works have happened? There is no guarantee that it will be a successful application as indeed the local building preservation trust had tried to achieve what I did achieve with no success, although I did have an ace card up my sleeve which they had overlooked.

At least talk to your local CO they should be an ally not an enemy and treated as such will respond accordingly.

 

[skier-hughes]

At least talk to your local CO they should be an ally not an enemy and treated as such will respond accordingly.

We did this, he came round twice to chat about our plans and gave us some really useful advice, dropped off copies of paperwork that had been done some years ago, took plenty of pictures for himself and said he would try to get it listed, but not to hold out hope of a quick result.

I still chat on the odd occasion with him.

 

[JoceAndChris]

I'll try to make contact with the local CO.

Thanks for the information!

 

[biffvernon]

Now that we've got through the lath/lathe jokes,

Apart from reeds, what else is the ceiling made from and how?

Might it be a lime ash ceiling/floor? As is in one of these.