Decorative Plasterboard Fitted Ceilings – Brief Technical Guide
An effective way in decorating a room is to plasterboard an existing ceiling, doing it in many ways and design so the room gets extra fine texture and become more welcoming on all levels. Besides their ornamental role, plasterboarded ceilings also come with some practical roles, such as soundproofing, absorbing vapors, with most of the boards being environmental friendly materials and fireproof. So here is more information on decorative plasterboard fitted ceilings with some technical details included, coming via Homebuilding.co.uk
You can fix plasterboard over an existing ceiling, but you’ll need to determine where the joists are first. For upstairs rooms this can be done by measuring the joist gaps in the loft. Downstairs you’ll have to prod the ceiling with an awl or lift the floorboards in the room above. Mark the joist gaps on the wall with chalk and you’re ready to go. The other option is to strip off the existing ceiling to reveal the joists.
In case of non-sloping ceilings you can get a pretty accurate area measurement of the ceiling by measuring the floor. Multiply the width of the room by its length (in meters) and this will give you a square meter figure. Plasterboard is commonly available in 2.4 x 1.2m (2.8m2), 1.8 x 1.2m (2.1m2) and 1.2 x .9m (1.08m2) sizes at most builder merchants and DIY stores.
Then, plasterboard needs to be well supported. If there is no wood between the joists where they meet the wall, nail in some noggings made up of 50mm x 50mm wood. You should also nail in noggings between the joists where the long edges of the plasterboard will fall. The end of the plasterboard sits half way across the joist to allow the next board to butt up to it.
Position the first board, starting from the corner of the room. Various pieces of wood can be used to prop up the board while working. Use 38mm plasterboard screws to fix the board to the joists and noggings. Screws are a better bet than nails for renovation projects, where hammering can potentially disturb or damage the joists. Fixings should be made every 150mm.
Make sure to keep fixings at least 13mm away from board edges that have been cut; 10mm away from factory-bound edges. Be careful not to drive the screws in too deep or you’ll damage the board. Once the screw head dips just below the face of the board, stop tightening. At the end, apply the filler and, after 24 hours during which the ceiling dries, lightly sand down with a 120-grit paper. Here is a video showing all this process in details:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9TnvS5UqQc
