Repairing a hole in the ceiling....

[Nick]

Hi,

I have a 6" x 6" hole in the ceiling in our lounge. The wooden lathes are visible (broken) and the white plaster? has fallen away.

What should I do to repair this. I'm reluctant to make the hole bigger to expose more material, but just putting new plaster onto the exposed lathes could just see gravity working against me!

Has anyone any tips and products that are easy to work with?

Thank you

[Dick Smith]

Cut a piece of plasterboard to approximately the correct size, cut back the hole to fit, fix the plasterboard to the laths and skim.

I couldn't do that myself as I have the plastering skills of a 2-year old doing clay play, but I think that is what they did when I put my foot through the ceiling...

[steve]

in england there is a product called bonding (plaster) if you can get that here it will do the trick, its very sticky when mixed correctly and will stick to any thing. best to fill the hole abit at a time, working from the outside edges untill  you have filled the hole completely. then just go over with some filler or finish plaster.

there will be a similar product here in france, havent had the need to look for it, so dont know what is available !

[Bob T]

I would go with Dicks suggestion. If you want to try plastering it then build it up in thin layers letting it dry between layers, that way each layer has less weight and you will foil gravity.

[stewart]

A little tip when doing these repairs is to either wet the existing plaster/laths or seal in the dust with unibond (you know, that pva stuff) thsts why it always falls out the hole!!!

[Chancer]

There is no point trying to plaster over broken laths, the correct way is to cut back the good plaster to replace the broken laths from the adjoining joists then replaster.

I have never seen or been able to find bonding plaster in my area.

[Nick]

Thanks all for your suggestions

[Gastines]

If you cut a couple of thin battens, slightly larger than the hole,push them up and lay them on top of the exiting battens.Put a screw through the exiting battens into the new ones and yoy will have a solid fixing for a piece of plasterboard. You can but a special plaster called Mortier which is very hard when it goes off and gives a fine finish.

Regards. 5 mins.St.Malo

[legs_akimbo]

The best way to repair a hole in a ceiling is to cut a piece of plasterboard that is slightly bigger than the hole (wider or longer)  that can be wriggled up above the hole and will then cover the hole. In the centre of this piece of plasterboard push a nail all the way through , so that when you have manouvered it into position sitting above the hole the nail will protract downwards. Next take some Mortier/Bonding or such like and push it around the edges between the old lath and the new piece of plasterboard, then using the nail as a kind of handle pull the plasterboard tight to the lath squeezing the plaster into the joints of the lath. When this has set you simply push the nail up into the void above the repair and the now solid piece of plasterboard where the hole once was can be plastered up. It may take a couple of coats but at least you have something solid to plaster onto that will not budge.

[Dick Smith]

That would work with a plasterboard ceiling, but the OP says he has laths, which would mean a big hole to fill!

[tj]

[quote user="Dick Smith"]That would work with a plasterboard ceiling, but the OP says he has laths, which would mean a big hole to fill!
[/quote]

Yeah, too much to fill really, cut back the broken laths, put the first piece of board inside the hole above the laths and screw it down, then cut a piece smaller than the hole and attach to the first with montage kit (no nails I think its called in UK), this should bring you down enough for you just to skim over it.