michelin79 Posted October 16, 2013 Share Posted October 16, 2013 House built in 1950 in Poitou-Charentes. I was in the loft to drill a hole for an aerial cable expecting to easily go through plasterboard or plaster in some form when I came across something very hard: Red in colour with the texture of a floor tile and IIRC about 20mmx15mm. In between the tiles was plaster which presumably was pushed up into the gaps as it was plastered from below (having said plaster it looked to me more like tile adhesive). So I suppose a sort of lath and plaster with Marley tiles instead of wooden laths. The ceiling appeared to be held in place with long nails going up into the joists or, to be precise, nearly going into the joists; I thought at first that some shoddy worker had missed the joists but they appear to have the tips hammered into the joists from the sides. Final point: the upper sides of the red tiles are a couple of inches under the joists. So I ask first of all, out of interest, if anyone has come across this sort of construction. Secondly, is it safe to cut a 100mm hole for an extractor without bringing the whole lot down? (For my cable I went down between the "tiles") Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nomoss Posted October 16, 2013 Share Posted October 16, 2013 It's called a plafond brique suspendu. Google that for details.Quite an amazing way to build a ceiling, but it works, if a bit heavy.I demolished one in the current house, as the ceilings were too low.It was suspended using lengths of thin wire wrapped round nails into the joists, instead of purpose made supprts.I started cutting the wires at the far side, working my way towards the centre of the house. It didn't fall down until there were only 3 or 4 wires left uncut, I suppose the plaster around the edges kept it there.It made quite a noise when it eventually fell! On the basis of my experience, I don't think a 100mm hole would create any problem at all. Edit: I suggest cutting the hole with a carborundum (or diamond) hole saw, without any impact function, rather than with hammer and chisel, as the briques shatter quite easily. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michelin79 Posted October 17, 2013 Author Share Posted October 17, 2013 Thanks nomoss, excellent and interesting information. Yes, I thought a diamond hole cutter would be the way to go but I'm wondering if it's an option to cut out one or two tiles and patch up round the extractor. It's good to see that the suspended ceiling might offer some easier access for cabling above the ground floor without ripping up the very nice floorboards in the bedrooms. I'm making an assumption that the ground floor ceilings will probably be the same as the bedroom ceilings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nomoss Posted October 17, 2013 Share Posted October 17, 2013 If you don't have access to the top side of the ceilings to verify their construction, don't assume they are all the same.Our house was supposedly last "reformed" in about 1970, with plasterboard suspended ceilings below the original 2metre plus ceilings, but became a house long before that.The original ceilings were lath and plaster, but a large section, in one room only, had been replaced by suspended brick, presumably because it was damaged somehow.All the other rooms had lath and plaster originally. Edit: Our house is single storey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michelin79 Posted October 17, 2013 Author Share Posted October 17, 2013 Actually, now I've switched my brain on, I've remembered that the downstairs ceilings are indeed different. There are three battens, two plus one across which I've seen on lath and plaster ceilings in the UK. The material being "held up" by the battens is a mottled brown and has more of the appearance of hardboard than plaster and is a good tenacity tester if you want to paint it white to lighten up the room! Have you come across anything like that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nomoss Posted October 17, 2013 Share Posted October 17, 2013 Several of our walls had damaged plasterwork covered with plywood, so I suppose that could have been used for ceilings in the '50's, when it was probably cheaper than it is now. Hope it isn't asbestos, which we had for some ceilings in UK, probably put up in the '30's or '40's, amd may still be there for all I know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pitway Posted October 18, 2013 Share Posted October 18, 2013 quite common and still in use today, similar style brick is also used for internal walls, see below:http://www.bouyer-leroux.com/catalogue-produits/briques-de-plafond.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pommier Posted October 18, 2013 Share Posted October 18, 2013 Our new house (completed in March) has that sort of ceilings [URL=http://s1138.photobucket.com/user/cherylfrenchphotos/media/Our%20new%20house/DSCF0003-26.jpg.html][IMG]http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n523/cherylfrenchphotos/Our%20new%20house/DSCF0003-26.jpg[/IMG][/URL] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michelin79 Posted October 19, 2013 Author Share Posted October 19, 2013 "quite common and still in use today""Our new house (completed in March) has that sort of ceilings" It all sounds a bit labour-intensive (and presumably expensive?) compared with a quick plasterboard job! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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