There's a hole in my ceiling

[cawright1]

A Saturday evening, just before tea time, a couple of weeks ago, a resounding crash went around our house. Everyone jumped up and panicked, wondering who had been involved, in what, and hoping that no one was hurt. As we all converged on the lounge, the issue was revealed: - Seems the 115 year old coving had finally given way, and pulled down a chunk of the ceiling with it. Dust and rubble everywhere, but, thankfully, no-one hurt.

Anyway, we now need to get this repaired. Had a few builder types round, but most just couldn't get their heads around repairing the length of coving, and did not even bother following up with a quote. We have one quote, and the guy seems ok, but we really need a couple of other quotes for comparison. Basically, the hole needs plastering and the coving needs moulding and replacement. So, can anyone recommend someone in the Cheshire area (we live in Stockport), who has the skills for the job? In no rush to get this done before Xmas, obviously, but still be nice to get something arranged for the new year.

Oh, and if anyone thinks they've seen this room before, they have. It's Lady T's room, and she's so distressed with the mess and damage to her precious lounge that she's been nowhere near the computer since. Help!

 

[88v8]

Oh dear.

The coving is or can be solid-run.
Put a big blob of plaster up, then take a template made of, errrm, aluminium would probably be the easiest material, anyway a template in the profile of the cornice, and just run it along the plaster blob to form the cornice shape.

Any competent plasterer should be able to repair the ceiling (two-coat work, you will have to strip back the paper a little) and running the cornice.
Example
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ey6zcULTFTg
Search 'solid run cornice' and you will find many others more local.

You can significantly help the process along by making the template yourself.
Start with one of these.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/25cm-Tiling-Shape-Tracer-Brand-new-Profile-gauge-ideal-for-awkward-shapes-/190876068440?pt=UK_Baby_BabyFeedingUtensils_EH&hash=item2c7119aa58

From this, make a pattern in hardboard, then transfer that to aluminium. I would think about 1/8" thick. Or plywood, in which case varnish it. The plasterer can use your template to repair the cornice.

Now, just to get into a slight side issue, the existing coving is to some extent filled up with paint. Do you want to recreate the original profile with its sharper delineations? If so you'll be wanting to strip off all the existing pant all the way round the room, then you can reproduce the original coving cross-section.
Yes?
Thought not

Lovely room, btw.

Ivor

 

[Flyfisher]

Oh dear indeed.

Has anyone thought to investigate the cause and the condition of the remaining ceiling plasterwork?

The laths look a bit discoloured around the outside angle of what I assume is a bay window, which would make me suspicious about the integrity of the roof covering. There would be little point in repairing the ceiling if the roof is still leaking.

 

[plasticpigeon]

What a shame. This happened to a friend recently in their rented house. The landlord just replaced everything and to be honest I would never have guessed it wasn't always there when it was done, but I agree with Ivor running in situ would be a good way to preserve what is there with the minimum of mess.

 

[Feltwell]

The laths look a bit discoloured around the outside angle of what I assume is a bay window, which would make me suspicious about the integrity of the roof covering. There would be little point in repairing the ceiling if the roof is still leaking.

My thoughts exactly - something has caused that coving to give way and especially in a bay my suspicion is water penetration. Might be historic and long since repaired but needs investigating carefully before you reinstate the ceiling & cornice.

 

[cawright1]

Hi guys,

firstly, the ceiling is fine. There are no pipes above it and it is not a flat roof bay. (Above it our a bedroom). The discolouring on the lathes is just the aged wood. As for what caused it, well, it could be long term subsidence, which led to the coving cracking and pulling down the ceiling. For many years, massive HGV trucks used to pass our house, rumbling along, but they have now stopped, thankfully. Alternatively, we dropped a weighty iron bed on the floor just above it prior to the collapse so maybe that was the cause.

As for the work, appreciate the advice, but neither of us are confident of doing this efficiently, so really looking for someone to take hold of the task for us.

Oh, and NO. We wont be scraping all that gold leaf paint off the coving. :lol:

 

[Owain]

Anna Kettle is in Suffolk so might be too far away from you, but she might know of someone more local
http://www.kettlenet.co.uk/

 

[CliffordPope]

It's curious that the plaster seems to have dropped cleanly off the lathes. They look remarkably intact, not rotted or broken off. Normally plaster won't separate from lathes like that because when applied it squeezes through the gaps and forms a solid lock behind the battens.
It suggests that either it was never plastered properly, or that something has caused the plaster to soften so that it has simply crumbled. There seems to be remarkably little plaster trapped above the battens, suggesting that it was never bonded properly.

 

[cawright1]

It's curious that the plaster seems to have dropped cleanly off the lathes. They look remarkably intact, not rotted or broken off. Normally plaster won't separate from lathes like that because when applied it squeezes through the gaps and forms a solid lock behind the battens.
It suggests that either it was never plastered properly, or that something has caused the plaster to soften so that it has simply crumbled. There seems to be remarkably little plaster trapped above the battens, suggesting that it was never bonded properly.

Good point. Although I did do a lot of brushing around the battens to bring the dusty plaster down just after it happened. (Getting all the dust issues out of the way early).

As for it softening and crumbling, well, be interested to hear any poss reasons for that. It sure isn't - and never has been -water, as all the pipes are at the back of our house, and there is only a bedroom above that ceiling.

Meanwhile, can anyone recommend me a suitable tradesman around my area please??