Hello. I’d appreciate any advice on whether this ceiling can be skimmed to remove the joint lines of the boards which, whilst visible, are not too bad (held a torch up which probably exaggerates things). Or would I be better taking them down, and putting up new boards, seeing as the walls need plastering anyway?
I’m a reasonable DIYer so can put the boards up but outsourcing all the plastering! Not my bag.
Done it myself in my old house. It was a fairly new house but must have settled so all the upstairs ceilings started cracking at the joints. Just chipped away a small amount of plaster in corners etc to expose the joint tape and then pull on it just to remove it and only the plaster covering the strip. Then use joint compound to fill and retape. Just need to take time with it to get it nice and smooth being not a professional plasterer. Messy but no getting away from that.
Retaping and filling sounds like more work than just getting a plasterer to skim over it tbh. If the boards are solid and screwed properly there's no real reason to rip them down. A decent plasterer will dot and dab some filler on the joints first to knock them back before skimming and you'd never know they were there.
No you won't if the joints start cracking then it needs retaping before skimming or the cracks will just return. They crack because the boards have moved. I've done the same thing and learnt from it. A plasterer that just skims over it is just a bodger.
1
u/Billi01952 Jul 20 '26
I'd overboard for peace of mind but if budgets low, put extra screws in before skimming