What's the best way to sheetrock a plaster and wood-lath ceiling?

Question

So we try to go to bed one night and the old plaster ceiling is laying on the bed as well as the suspended ceiling that it took with it. We are ripping out the remaining plaster to just go ahead and sheetrock it.

Should we rip down the lath and old, nasty black insulation up there, or just sheetrock thru the lathe to the ceiling supports. I want to add some insulation also, so additionally, is it better to throw roll insulation in the ceiling, or can I use the blue sheet insulation between the sheetrock and whatever we end up s******g it into?

Answer 1

Either way is good. Knock down all of the old plaster, Snap a chalk line to locate the ceiling joists and (I would) s***w the sheetrock to the joists. That way, if the joists are further than 16" apart, which they probably are, you can s***w into some of the lath for extra support. Be sure to use long enough screws to go through the lath and sheetrock into the ceiling joists.Same if you add blue board to the lath, which personally I don't recommend. I would rather see rolled insulation or blown in insulation installed after the sheetrock is installed. Of course that is if the attic is accessible.

While you are up there, take a good look at the wiring to see if it is in good order.

Answer 2

Back when they used wood lathe and plaster, the carpenters didn't pay that much attention to getting the ceiling joist perfectly straight and on uniform centers. This is why I would leave the wood lathe in place - just make sure it is secured good to the joist.

Still measure your blueboard (this is what you use for plaster), so it breaks on your joist. You should be able to see the joist above the lathe. If you want some additional security use liquid nail heavy duty construction adhesive on the wood lathe.

I would leave the old insulation in place and then blow in a product called "Insul Safe" This is a white lightweight blown insulation product with a Class A fire rating.

Now is the time to add any can lights, or other kind of lights in the bedroom ceiling.

Good Luck !

Answer 3

rolled insulation between the joists would be best.  you could sheetrock directly over the lathe if you clean up all the protrusions and only s***w it into the joists, not the lathe, (with longer screws).  However, since you've already removed the plaster it's really not much more effort to strip off the lathe.  without it, you'd have a cleaner, easier installation, less chance of uneven spots, and a bit more headroom.  

Answer 4

Insulate in the attic with the rolls if you can.

I would possibly s***w furring strips to the ceiling with some screws long enough to get into the ceiling joists. Then you will have a good surface to s***w your sheetrock to.

Run them on 16 or 24 inch centers depending how your joists are spaced. example: 0-24-48-72-96-120 , or 0-16-32-48-64 etc. You can also make a mark on the wall where every joist is once you find them. Then when you put the sheetrock up you can look over at the mark on the wall and you will know where to nail.

I would not pull all that old stuff out unless its uneven to the point it will make your sheetrock uneven.

Answer 5

i would fur down the ceiling with rc-1 channels which will help level out the ceiling. then sheet rock over that and leave the insulation in the ceiling and roll out new insulation over it if possible. that will make the job faster and less messy.  

Answer 6

I encountered the same problem today.  I hope you get a good answer.  I will be watching!

Answer 7

The best way would be to remove the laying and insulation. The reason being is that it will be more even when you are putting the sheetrock up. If it is a old house and the joist are made of rough cut lumber you are probably going to want to put strapping up so that you can make sure that it is even. It is a good idea to remove the insulation and replace because it might have gotten wet over time or even just be no good. if you can get up above it would be best if you could put insulation between the joist and then another layer across the joist from above. (paper back between paper face down then non-papered over the joist)