Lath ceiling

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Foxcroft

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Alright guys, Ive got a water damaged lath and plaster ceiling repair to do, its about 2mx1m.  Ive squared up the hole, and hacked off the previous plaster.  Some of the laths are water damaged due to a boiler leak (which has been repaired), but there still quite strong.

What would you guys recomend, either backing plaster + skim, or cut out all the laths and then board to the joist behind + skim.  I'm tempted by the second option, just after a second opinion, this is my first lath related job.

Thanks for any help folks

EDIT

Just had a brainwave, think Ive answered my own question, if i cut out the damaged laths back to the joists, then reboard that, and then with bonding coat fill out the undamaged laths back to the plaster edge (where no joist is available), then float up to the board (and bonding the board if necessary to get desired depth), scratch and skim.
 
why not just cut all the scabby old dusty woodworm infested  :p lath out back to the joists and reboard the entire hole...use 15mm board (or 12mm if the origionals a bit thin) then skim the whole ceiling..
in fact time youve messed about patchin up the hole, how much extra would you charge em to skim the entire ceiling?
most customers i've had would gladly shell out an extra 50 quid for a brand new ceiling and it makes life easier not having to try and make the join disappear...or is it massive? like 25m2+
 
Dont know the exact dimensions, but the ceiling is very big, otherwise i would have recomended it (its a long terraced house kitchen)

Is there any special way to bonding coat into the laths, do I just get it inbetween the laths and get it level, leave it to firm up, then build up the depth, or can I get away with doing it all at the same time?
 
first one...get something solid in there and let it go a bit before you fill it right out or it'll be on the floor. ;)
 
No, def dont want it on the floor!!!  :eek:
How much would you put on (to what depth) and how long would you leave it for before building it up?
 
just enough to cover the laths mate, its the bit that squishes inbetween and grabs the back that holds it up there...then let it go just enough so its firm enough to hold the next coat, trial and error or experience, or maybe so it just takes a firm fingerprint?
alternatively, base it out, scratch it and let it go right off before you apply a 'float coat' bit long winded for a patch though...
id just rule the top coat off, sod the float, let that firm up and straight on with the skim...
a perfectionist would tell u to wait until the bonding has 'set' which is correct but ive never had any real problems hitting it early..might get a bit of pimpling but let the skim pull in a bit before you top it or trowel it and youll be fine..
easy job really mate, dont fanny about too much or it'll just cost you time and effort, adopt a 'get it done' attitude like you're late for your own wedding and it'll go sweet...
spend the time gained on trying to make a patch look half decent with the skim  :D
 
in fact theres nothing to stop you throwin a handful of cement in your first coat of bonding, saves you drinking too much tea while you wait for it to go...
 
Thanks for the help segs,  :)

Havent got any cement at the moment, would a splash of pva or dirty water do fine for helping it pull in quicker?

EDIT:

Final question (i promise  ;)), with or against the laths with bonding?
 
pva wont do anything, and unless youve just had a set of skimming 'dirty' water will be hard to come by...unless u use something else...someone once said that if you pee in the water it pretty much goes off in the bucket...wouldnt recomend it though!!
i'd just cut the old laths out and replace em with board mate, it saves all the messin around, then if you still need to add thickness a real tight coat of bonding will be ready to skim in 15 minutes...
im all for makin life easy and drawin the cash mate, only time i'd entertain lath is if its a tiny little hole not worth boarding or the customer is precious about his 'origional features'...

wot about fixin a 9mm board over the laths? long as you can get a reasonable fixing to something its just as good as bonding it out and 5 times quicker..
bag of bonding - 6.50
1 900x1800x9mm plasterboard - 4 quid...
or even 1 1200x2400x9mm plasterboard - 5 quid
time - 15 minutes..

bond it out, least an hour, prolly 2 time youve messed about..

as for cuttin back to a joist, find the centre of the joist and use something straight, score it with the knife, then again, and again till your through the board, it just pulls off clean then, knock the nails in (sod pullin em out) send a few drywalls (screws) round the edge and stick a few into the laths?
bit of scrim, skim it, 1 thick coat, overlap the edge by 4 inch, keep wettin the edge as you trowel up...total time 1/2 day (3 hours), cleaned up, paid, in the pub...take hundred quid off em..or 80 if youre feelin generous...
 
Thanks for the help segs,  :)

Havent got any cement at the moment, would a splash of pva or dirty water do fine for helping it pull in quicker?

EDIT:

Final question (i promise  ;)), with or against the laths with bonding?
Click to expand...
not bein a period renovation specialist i'd say with but back into itself like render, not skim...
p.s if you havent got a van to get a board in, cut it at the shop/merchants :)
 
hmmm, not sure if the board would fit over the top, it could quite well do!!! i did think of that, but dismissed it thinking there wasnt enough depth without actaully measuring the gap between the lath and excisting ceiling. That could save a lot of work though.

If I need bonding, i'll just chuck a slack amount of multi in it to help it go off. (was bonding around the board where there no joist, i dont plan on bonding the whole patch)


Think i owe you a few pints Seg, Cheers!
 
Old style ceilings, pre plasterboard era, usuually found in old houses (in this case a terrace house), the ceiling has joists, then lotsof small batons of timber running square against the joists (laths), then a backing plaster is used to fill in the gaps between the laths and give depth, leveled, floated then skimmed to create a ceiling
 
wot about fixin a 9mm board over the laths? long as you can get a reasonable fixing to something its just as good as bonding it out and 5 times quicker..
Click to expand...


Think i'm gonna run with this, will the individual laths take the weight of the board + skim? There could be a lot of weight on 1 lath, and next to nothing on the lath next to it. Mind you, i suppose the weight of board is a lot less than the weight of set bonding.
 
could always feed some 2x2 through the laths and secure in place first then just use longer drywalls to go through the board + lath into the 2x2...not exactly orthodox but its a repair, not a newbuild and its still quicker than bonding it out, use plenty screws...
 
What a disaster that was  :(  Didnt cut the hole out as square as I thought, so the board just didnt fit in properly, there were some hge gaps around the edging.  Hate boarding ceilings.
 
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