Drywall ceiling

LRod <[email protected]> wrote in
news:[email protected]:

*snip*

>
> Oh, yeah. Screw. Period. Especially with 5/8". Get/rent a screw gun.
> Trust me. It's a gazillion times easier and faster, although you can
> get by with an inexpensive attachment for your drill. If you don't get
> a gun, a cordless is generally a better tool than a corded, because
> it's almost instant off. A corded drill tends to "wind down" some when
> you release the trigger, thus making the guaging of proper drive depth
> a hit-or-miss affair, which might be marginally workable on walls, but
> isn't acceptable on ceilings. You don't want to tear the paper by
> going too deep with the screw.
>

One more suggestion: Make sure you don't miss any rows of screws. I've
got an attic space in the garage where the installer missed a row of
screws and the drywall's drooping, ready to fall as a result. I haven't
quite decided how to fix it. (Probably use a 1x2 to hold it up... Simple
and easy fix.)

Puckdropper
--
You can only do so much with caulk, cardboard, and duct tape.

To email me directly, send a message to puckdropper (at) fastmail.fm

In article <[email protected]>,
Bob W <[email protected]> wrote:
>On Fri, 14 Mar 2008 21:59:46 GMT, "efgh" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>The proper way is to take down the plaster and lathe and then attach the
>>drywall to the ceiling joists directly.
>
>That's the way to do it. And it's lath, not lathe. A lathe is that
>"spinny" machine... know what I mean?
>

If he has a lathe on the ceiling, it *really* needs to come down before the
board goes up. <grin>

On Mar 15, 1:11=A0pm, Hoosierpopi <[email protected]> wrote:

> HFT sells a dry-wall mud splatter gun thing ($19 on sale) that allows
> you to spray mud on the ceiling so as to really hide any imperfections
> in the mudding and reduce the need for sanding/finishing while
> providing an interesting look. You can also "texture" the ceiling
> using a LONG NAP roller and wet mud - more time consuming and a
> different texture.

It doesnt matter if the ceiling is to be smooth or textured the first
two coats still have to be smooth, clean, and sanded. Many people
think that texture will "hide" poorly, sloppy, taping but it wont. You
will still see every joint through the texture especially in low angle
lighting. Though we dont use them this is especially true with rolled
(thin) textures.

Prep textured and smooth ceilings identically. Only difference is the
final coat.

Mark

On Mar 14, 6:00 pm, "noreaster" <noreaster1athotmaildotcom> wrote:
> I'm adding dry to my ceiling that is plaster and lathe. The joists go from
> right to left, the sheets will go from front to back.
> My thinking is that you should add strips ( I have to add them because the
> ceiling droops in one spot, so I'm leveling the whole ceiling) across the
> joints so when mounting the drywall you can screw into the joists and in
> between the joists ( to help the seams stay more rigid).
> What is the best (proper) way to place the strips and drywall compared to
> the joists

The question is why is your ceiling drooping. Is it because the
plaster has separated from the lath, the joists have sagged, or
there's another problem. The one joist at 24" is a red flag. Before
you go adding substantially more weight to your ceiling, you should
investigate fully and find out what's the root cause of the problem.

Here's how to install ceiling strapping, aka furring:
http://tinyurl.com/3dch5t

As others have said, removing the old ceiling is generally preferable.

R

Tear it out. Shim/furr it. Go rent a lift. They break down into pieces
so you can fit it into a small car if you have to. For around $40 a
day it will make the job much easier. I recently installed 12 sheets
of 4'x12' 5/8'' on a vaulted ceiling by my lonesome. The hardest part
was getting them onto the lift. Absolutely no way I could have done
it without the lift.

"noreaster" <noreaster1athotmaildotcom> took a can of maroon spray paint on
March 16, 2008 08:50 pm and wrote the following:

>> If he has a lathe on the ceiling, it *really* needs to come down before
>> the
>> board goes up. <grin>
>>
>
> The plaster and lathe has come down (in the dining room), what a mess.
> Tons
> of shimming to do, the joists are all over the place. A quick eyeball
> around its at least 1 1/2", looks like they sag but all are even at the
> top. I can see the living room being even messier.
> I guess I'm going the run the furring front to back and left to right.

If they are as bad as you imply, you may want to consider adding cross
bracing while you have the chance. Just to stop any further movement from
the way they are, don't try to correct them, that could lead to a worse
mess.
--
Lits Slut #9
Life would be so much easier if we could just look at the source code.

I'm making sure the strapping is very well attached. I don't want to have to
go fix it later down the road.


"RicodJour" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:2e8c50c4-b048-41c4-82e6-27357e8dac2c@i29g2000prf.googlegroups.com...
> On Mar 16, 9:39 am, "noreaster" <noreaster1athotmaildotcom> wrote:
>> I wont miss a row. I'll put up enough screws to hold up the drywall so I
>> can
>> get all the sheets up then go fill in the blanks. I don't use any nails,
>> screws work much easier and wont pop out. I try getting what screws I can
>> to
>> go thru thru drywall, furring strips and joist where I can.
>
> If the strapping is well attached to the joists you don't need to
> worry about getting drywall screws into the joists.
> If the strapping is not well attached a few drywall screws won't help
> much.
>
> R

On Mar 16, 9:39 am, "noreaster" <noreaster1athotmaildotcom> wrote:
> I wont miss a row. I'll put up enough screws to hold up the drywall so I can
> get all the sheets up then go fill in the blanks. I don't use any nails,
> screws work much easier and wont pop out. I try getting what screws I can to
> go thru thru drywall, furring strips and joist where I can.

If the strapping is well attached to the joists you don't need to
worry about getting drywall screws into the joists.
If the strapping is not well attached a few drywall screws won't help
much.

R

On Fri, 14 Mar 2008 22:48:41 GMT, "Bonehenge (B A R R Y)"
<[email protected]> wrote:

>On Fri, 14 Mar 2008 18:00:04 -0400, "noreaster"
><noreaster1athotmaildotcom> wrote:
>
>>I'm adding dry to my ceiling that is plaster and lathe.
>
>Does the weight of the lathe make the ceiling sag?

LOL :-)

noreaster wrote:

> "RicodJour" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>
>>On Mar 14, 6:00 pm, "noreaster" <noreaster1athotmaildotcom> wrote:
>>
>>>I'm adding dry to my ceiling that is plaster and lathe. The joists go
>>>from
>>>right to left, the sheets will go from front to back.
>>>My thinking is that you should add strips ( I have to add them because
>>>the
>>>ceiling droops in one spot, so I'm leveling the whole ceiling) across the
>>>joints so when mounting the drywall you can screw into the joists and in
>>>between the joists ( to help the seams stay more rigid).
>>>What is the best (proper) way to place the strips and drywall compared to
>>>the joists
>>
>>The question is why is your ceiling drooping. Is it because the
>>plaster has separated from the lath, the joists have sagged, or
>>there's another problem. The one joist at 24" is a red flag. Before
>>you go adding substantially more weight to your ceiling, you should
>>investigate fully and find out what's the root cause of the problem.
>>
>>Here's how to install ceiling strapping, aka furring:
>>http://tinyurl.com/3dch5t
>>
>>As others have said, removing the old ceiling is generally preferable.
>>
>>R
>
> That one spot that is sagging feels pretty solid when I push up on it.
> In the dining room when I took off the square tiles, there was plaster
> missing.
> This house was built in the 40's. I could take off the plaster and lath but
> would have to find a wait to get the 4 x 12's up by myself w/o renting the
> drywall lift.
>
>
Rent the drywall lift, get a helper and install all the sheetrock in a
single day. I recently put up a complete ceiling inside a 32 foot by 48
foot building with inside pitch of 2" in 12" (scissor trusses on 24"
centers, 4x8 foot sheetrock with long edge at right angles to the
trusses. With one helper, it all went up in under 8 hours, including
breaks, lunch and a six pack or so of beers each along the way, so the
afternoon went slower than the morning, as you might expect... I don't
do this sort of thing for a living, so am definitely NOT as fast as the
pros. This ceiling started at 10' high at the low edge with peak at
about 12' 8". We laid the peak first and worked down to the lowest edge.

After previously done the short stilts thing, and the short scaffold
thing even on an 8 foot high flat ceiling, I wouldn't even think about
putting up ANY overhead sheet goods without a sheetrock lift. They rent
pretty cheap, are easy to use, and if you have one long enough, you
could do the whole job by yourself and not be beating yourself to death
doing it. After remembering four of us (late high school and college
age) holding up sheets of 1/2" sheetrock and nailing them to the ceiling
joists way back in the 70's, finishing out a garage, there had to be a
better way. The lift is the obvious tool for the job. The hardest part
of the whole process is loading the sheetrock on the lift, and after
that all you do is flip it up flat, crank it up to the ceiling, and
position it. Once in position, a little more crank on the lift to press
it against the joists and you've got it in place while you screw in
sheetrock screws at a liesurely pace. No bent and strained back trying
to hold up one part while screwing or nailing as far as you can reach so
the sheet doesn't fall down before you can get more fasteners in
place... No bitching at the brothers holding up the other corners when
you find out they couldn't hold the sheet on line so now you have to
trim the next one.... and so on. I wish such equipment existed in the
70's, it would have made things a lot easier in the family, if you know
what I mean...
Today, in my 50's, any money I can spend to rent machines that save my
back and make life easier is money well spent, particularly when I sit
still long enough to remember the "old days" of my youth...

Others are right, you need to pull down the old plaster and lath, for
two reasons. First, to determine and correct (if possible) the reaon
for the current "sag", and second, to reduce the load on the ceiling
that you'd have if you added the sheetrock. Given the older
construction, I'd not want the added weight of the sheetrock in place,
and besides, it would be nearly impossible to ensure the fasteners went
into the joists instead of just the lath, which would make for problems
down the road. I wouldn't be too concerned about the one place with a
24" joist spacing, if the truss structure looks appropriate. (Current
trusses are 24" or 48" spacing, depending on design "snow load" and
such. If the joists are actually part of engineered trusses you
shouldn't have any problems. Even if they aren't, if the span isn't
that great (say 12 feet), you may still not have any issues. If in
doubt, have a qualified building engineer take a look and determine if
the load is appropriate for the joist spacing and bracing. Even a
couple hundred dollars would be well spent knowing things are up to
current code.

Good luck, take every opportunity to let the machines do the work for
you. Any time you can get a machine to lift, position and hold
something like sheetrock in place while you take care of fastening it in
a lesurely manner, the money you spent on the tool rental was cheap
cheap cheap, particularly if you factor in the emergency room or doctor
visit for the strained back from trying to hold up one end of a sheet
while you reach out and drive screws, not to mention the days of pain or
aches you endure during recovery from the strain.
Yep, tools are our friends, in many ways...

--Rick
--Rick

NOT SO FAST; NOT SO "PROPER"
>
> The proper way is to take down the plaster and lathe and then attach the
> drywall to the ceiling joists directly.

When you have UNEVEN ceiling joists, the approach you appear to have
mentioned of installing 1 x 2" (or 1x3") strips perpendicular to the
run of the joists i correct.

Drill holes in the strips for nailing and use shims to assure that
these strips are level (bottom surfaces all in the same horizontal
plane) and set 12" or 16" (max) O.C.

I used construction adhesive to secure the shims in place (on one or
both sides of the nail/screw fastening these strips to the joists)
after getting everything level. THen screwing/nailing the strips
firmly to the joists.

Adhering the dry-wall to these strips so that the end/butt joints fall
on a strip will make those joints easier to obscure with mud - though
it takes a bit of planning.

I also used dry-wall adhesive on the stips to secure the sheet-rock to
them - reduces pull out and noise.

HFT sells a dry-wall mud splatter gun thing ($19 on sale) that allows
you to spray mud on the ceiling so as to really hide any imperfections
in the mudding and reduce the need for sanding/finishing while
providing an interesting look. You can also "texture" the ceiling
using a LONG NAP roller and wet mud - more time consuming and a
different texture.

In a Kitchen (where grease is an issue) or a shop (where dust is an
issue) the smoother ceiling finish may prove preferable and easier to
clean.

HFT Also sells an adjustable support pole thing for $8.99 on sale that
will help hold the panels in place if you cannot secure sufficient
helpers or a dry-wall lift (rental).

Rent or buy a dry-wall screw gun for the project.

Enjoy

noreaster wrote:

>
> That one spot that is sagging feels pretty solid when I push up on it.
> In the dining room when I took off the square tiles, there was plaster
> missing.
> This house was built in the 40's. I could take off the plaster and lath but
> would have to find a wait to get the 4 x 12's up by myself w/o renting the
> drywall lift.
>
>

Make a couple "deadman" supports of the proper height to lift/hold the
in place. A "deadman" is just a "T" made out of a couple of 2" x 4"'s.
With the help of my wife and the deadmans we were able to put up 16's by
ourselves.

--
Jack Novak
Buffalo, NY - USA
[email protected]

At that one spot I think it does, it looks and feel solid.
The spot is about 3/4 lower than all the others.
"Bonehenge (B A R R Y)" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Fri, 14 Mar 2008 18:00:04 -0400, "noreaster"
> <noreaster1athotmaildotcom> wrote:
>
>>I'm adding dry to my ceiling that is plaster and lathe.
>
> Does the weight of the lathe make the ceiling sag?

"efgh" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:mzCCj.88552$w57.84157@edtnps90...
>
> "noreaster" <noreaster1athotmaildotcom> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> I'm adding dry to my ceiling that is plaster and lathe. The joists go
>> from right to left, the sheets will go from front to back.
>> My thinking is that you should add strips ( I have to add them because
>> the ceiling droops in one spot, so I'm leveling the whole ceiling) across
>> the joints so when mounting the drywall you can screw into the joists and
>> in between the joists ( to help the seams stay more rigid).
>> What is the best (proper) way to place the strips and drywall compared to
>> the joists
>> TIA
>
> The proper way is to take down the plaster and lathe and then attach the
> drywall to the ceiling joists directly.
>
>
If I take it all down, which way would you run the strips if needed?
One of the joists is 24" across, the rest is about 16" centers.

I know about the shiny spinny thing, I wasn't sure about the plaster path
spelling
"Bob W" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Fri, 14 Mar 2008 21:59:46 GMT, "efgh" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>>The proper way is to take down the plaster and lathe and then attach the
>>drywall to the ceiling joists directly.
>
> That's the way to do it. And it's lath, not lathe. A lathe is that
> "spinny" machine... know what I mean?
>

Let me chime in and second the idea of removing the old lath. I did it here
on a ceiling and it was much better than furring on top of the existing
plaster. If you need to level the ceiling joists, you can sister new ones
onto the existing ones.
"noreaster" <noreaster1athotmaildotcom> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I'm adding dry to my ceiling that is plaster and lathe. The joists go from
> right to left, the sheets will go from front to back.
> My thinking is that you should add strips ( I have to add them because the
> ceiling droops in one spot, so I'm leveling the whole ceiling) across the
> joints so when mounting the drywall you can screw into the joists and in
> between the joists ( to help the seams stay more rigid).
> What is the best (proper) way to place the strips and drywall compared to
> the joists
> TIA
>

> If he has a lathe on the ceiling, it *really* needs to come down before
> the
> board goes up. <grin>
>

The plaster and lathe has come down (in the dining room), what a mess. Tons
of shimming to do, the joists are all over the place. A quick eyeball
around its at least 1 1/2", looks like they sag but all are even at the top.
I can see the living room being even messier.
I guess I'm going the run the furring front to back and left to right.

If I'm understanding to what you are suggesting I do is: If I run furring
strips front to back 16" OC, drywall left to right?

What I failed to mention this is a ceiling for the first floor in a 2 story
house.
What I had done in the kitchen was run furring strips front to back, drywall
left to right with 4x8 sheets, some spots I still notice because I know
where they are.

That's why I would like to use 4x12's with 3" towards the front that wont be
noticed when I'm done.
I'll take off the plaster then lath, find out how much the lift would cost
to rent. I only have 6 sheets to put up for 2 rooms.

"noreaster" <noreaster1athotmaildotcom> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> At that one spot I think it does, it looks and feel solid.
> The spot is about 3/4 lower than all the others.
>

Remove the old plaster first, then the lath, trust me it is easier then
ripping it all down! Run strapping across the exposed joists every 16
inches. Shim as needed to get them as level as reasonable. I say reasonable
because with old houses you sometimes have to just accept the fact that it
not possible get things level and true.
Greg

On Sun, 16 Mar 2008 00:52:43 -0000, [email protected]
(Robert Bonomi) wrote:

>In article <[email protected]>,
>Bob W <[email protected]> wrote:
>>On Fri, 14 Mar 2008 21:59:46 GMT, "efgh" <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>>>The proper way is to take down the plaster and lathe and then attach the
>>>drywall to the ceiling joists directly.
>>
>>That's the way to do it. And it's lath, not lathe. A lathe is that
>>"spinny" machine... know what I mean?
>>
>
>If he has a lathe on the ceiling, it *really* needs to come down before the
>board goes up. <grin>


Actually both spellings are correct.
In the original English it was lathe.
Common use today tends to favour (note the spelling) lath.


Lathe \Lathe\ (l[=a][th]), n. [OE. lathe a granary; akin to G. lade
a chest, Icel. hla[eth]a a storehouse, barn; but cf. also Icel.
l["o][eth] a smith's lathe. Senses 2 and 3 are perh. of the same
origin as lathe a granary, the original meaning being, a frame to
hold something. If so, the word is from an older form of E. lade to
load. See {Lade} to load.] 1. A granary; a barn. [Obs.] --Chaucer.

Note "the original meaning being, a frame to hold something."

A Lathe is also an ancient geo-political (administrative) division in
parts of England (Kent in particular)


--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

On Mar 15, 11:50=A0pm, clare at snyder dot ontario dot canada wrote:
> On Sun, 16 Mar 2008 00:52:43 -0000, [email protected]
>
> (Robert Bonomi) wrote:
> >In article <[email protected]>,
> >Bob W =A0<[email protected]> wrote:
> >>On Fri, 14 Mar 2008 21:59:46 GMT, "efgh" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> >>>The proper way is to take down the plaster and lathe and then attach th=
e
> >>>drywall to the ceiling joists directly.
>
> >>That's the way to do it. And it's lath, not lathe. A lathe is that
> >>"spinny" machine... know what I mean?
>
> >If he has a lathe on the ceiling, it *really* needs to come down before t=
he
> >board goes up. =A0 <grin>
>
> Actually both spellings are correct.
> In the original English it was lathe.
> Common use today tends to favour (note the spelling) lath.
>
> Lathe \Lathe\ (l[=3Da][th]), n. [OE. lathe a granary; akin to G. =A0 lade
> a chest, Icel. hla[eth]a a storehouse, barn; but cf. =A0 also Icel.
> l["o][eth] a smith's lathe. Senses 2 and 3 are =A0 perh. of the same
> origin as lathe a granary, the original =A0 meaning being, a frame to
> hold something. If so, the word is =A0 from an older form of E. lade to
> load. See {Lade} to load.] =A0 1. A granary; a barn. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
>
> Note "the original meaning being, a frame to hold something."
>
> A Lathe is also an ancient geo-political (administrative) division in
> parts of England (Kent in particular)
>
> --
> Posted via a free Usenet account fromhttp://www.teranews.com

Good reply. I have always used lathe not lath. Most everything I have
read regarding the subject uses lathe as well. I am glad someone
clarified this for Robert and others.

Mark

noreaster wrote:
> "RicodJour" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> On Mar 14, 6:00 pm, "noreaster" <noreaster1athotmaildotcom> wrote:
>>> I'm adding dry to my ceiling that is plaster and lathe. The joists go
>>> from
>>> right to left, the sheets will go from front to back.
>>> My thinking is that you should add strips ( I have to add them because
>>> the
>>> ceiling droops in one spot, so I'm leveling the whole ceiling) across the
>>> joints so when mounting the drywall you can screw into the joists and in
>>> between the joists ( to help the seams stay more rigid).
>>> What is the best (proper) way to place the strips and drywall compared to
>>> the joists
>> The question is why is your ceiling drooping. Is it because the
>> plaster has separated from the lath, the joists have sagged, or
>> there's another problem. The one joist at 24" is a red flag. Before
>> you go adding substantially more weight to your ceiling, you should
>> investigate fully and find out what's the root cause of the problem.
>>
>> Here's how to install ceiling strapping, aka furring:
>> http://tinyurl.com/3dch5t
>>
>> As others have said, removing the old ceiling is generally preferable.
>>
>> R
> That one spot that is sagging feels pretty solid when I push up on it.
> In the dining room when I took off the square tiles, there was plaster
> missing.
> This house was built in the 40's. I could take off the plaster and lath but
> would have to find a wait to get the 4 x 12's up by myself w/o renting the
> drywall lift.
>
>

When you've determined for sure that
subsequent work won't be necessary on
the joists, I'd recommend that you put
up 4x8 sheets, if you're doing it alone.
With two T-braces, I've successfully
installed 4x8 sheets, but I cringe at
the thought of 12 footers.

Ok, "success" is a relative term. I did
lose one sheet in a 17x20 room. I also
didn't have the t-braces that i should
have had. 12 sheets are a good idea for
the pros, for people with the lifts, and
for people not working alone. For the
rest of us, 8 feet seems the maximum

Tanus

--

> On Sun, 16 Mar 2008 15:14:57 -0700 (PDT), BDBConstruction
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> On Mar 15, 11:50 pm, clare at snyder dot ontario dot canada wrote:
>>> On Sun, 16 Mar 2008 00:52:43 -0000, [email protected]
>>>
>>> (Robert Bonomi) wrote:
>>>> In article <[email protected]>,
>>>> Bob W <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>>> On Fri, 14 Mar 2008 21:59:46 GMT, "efgh" <[email protected]>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>>>> The proper way is to take down the plaster and lathe and then
>>>>>> attach the drywall to the ceiling joists directly.
>>>
>>>>> That's the way to do it. And it's lath, not lathe. A lathe is
>>>>> that
>>>>> "spinny" machine... know what I mean?
>>>
>>>> If he has a lathe on the ceiling, it *really* needs to come down
>>>> before the board goes up. <grin>
>>>
>>> Actually both spellings are correct.
>>> In the original English it was lathe.
>>> Common use today tends to favour (note the spelling) lath.
>>>
>>> Lathe \Lathe\ (l[=a][th]), n. [OE. lathe a granary; akin to G.
>>> lade
>>> a chest, Icel. hla[eth]a a storehouse, barn; but cf. also Icel.
>>> l["o][eth] a smith's lathe. Senses 2 and 3 are perh. of the same
>>> origin as lathe a granary, the original meaning being, a frame to
>>> hold something. If so, the word is from an older form of E. lade
>>> to
>>> load. See {Lade} to load.] 1. A granary; a barn. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
>>>
>>> Note "the original meaning being, a frame to hold something."
>>>
>>> A Lathe is also an ancient geo-political (administrative) division
>>> in parts of England (Kent in particular)
>>>
>>> --
>>> Posted via a free Usenet account fromhttp://www.teranews.com
>>
>> Good reply. I have always used lathe not lath. Most everything I
>> have
>> read regarding the subject uses lathe as well. I am glad someone
>> clarified this for Robert and others.
>>
>> Mark
> Only Yanks use lath. Too bloody lazy to spell correctly. color vs
> colour, valor vs valour, lite vs light,

"Lite" is a brand name for a kind of substance that pretends to be
beer. The things that go on the ceiling and provide illumination are
"lights" as is the radiation that they emit, and one of the properties
of helium gas, and so on.

> you'd think ink was expensive
> or something. <BG>

--
--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

I wont miss a row. I'll put up enough screws to hold up the drywall so I can
get all the sheets up then go fill in the blanks. I don't use any nails,
screws work much easier and wont pop out. I try getting what screws I can to
go thru thru drywall, furring strips and joist where I can.


"Puckdropper" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> LRod <[email protected]> wrote in
> news:[email protected]:
>
> *snip*
>
>>
>> Oh, yeah. Screw. Period. Especially with 5/8". Get/rent a screw gun.
>> Trust me. It's a gazillion times easier and faster, although you can
>> get by with an inexpensive attachment for your drill. If you don't get
>> a gun, a cordless is generally a better tool than a corded, because
>> it's almost instant off. A corded drill tends to "wind down" some when
>> you release the trigger, thus making the guaging of proper drive depth
>> a hit-or-miss affair, which might be marginally workable on walls, but
>> isn't acceptable on ceilings. You don't want to tear the paper by
>> going too deep with the screw.
>>
>
> One more suggestion: Make sure you don't miss any rows of screws. I've
> got an attic space in the garage where the installer missed a row of
> screws and the drywall's drooping, ready to fall as a result. I haven't
> quite decided how to fix it. (Probably use a 1x2 to hold it up... Simple
> and easy fix.)
>
> Puckdropper
> --
> You can only do so much with caulk, cardboard, and duct tape.
>
> To email me directly, send a message to puckdropper (at) fastmail.fm

On Fri, 14 Mar 2008 21:59:46 GMT, "efgh" <[email protected]> wrote:

>The proper way is to take down the plaster and lathe and then attach the
>drywall to the ceiling joists directly.

That's the way to do it. And it's lath, not lathe. A lathe is that
"spinny" machine... know what I mean?

On Fri, 14 Mar 2008 23:01:19 -0400, "noreaster"
<noreaster1athotmaildotcom> wrote:

>I forgot to ask, which way would run the sheets? Not all my joists are 16"
>centers, one is 24"

Some people will laugh, but drywall has "grain," believe it or not.
For a demonstration of this, see Taunton's book on sheetrock. It will
sag greater across the long dimension than it will across the short
dimension. Now read why this is important to you:

Because you have a mix of spacing, I'd suggest furring strips on 16"
centers. Also, sheetrock people usually recommend 5/8" on ceilings to
minimize sag (may even be code). My 35 year old ceilings have
noticable (with lights on) sag with 16" spacing and 3/8" thickness.

Regardless of how you'd *like* to do it, with your joists running
crosswise (right to left), furring will effectively force you to run
your drywall 90° to what you want/should without furring. In other
words, if you were rocking directly to the joists, the sheets should
be installed with the long side perpendicular to the joists (long
dimension front to back)--your stated preference.

Now, although theoretically you could still run the drywall
"front-to-back" (because of the multiples-of-16" dimensions of the
rock), if you take into account the "grain" of the rock, you can see
you will need to run the rock left-to-right, i.e., long dimension
parallel to the joists.

By the way, 5/8" will make you think in terms of a lift, as well--it's
heavy. So long as you'll be using a lift, you're back to thinking
about 12 footers, again. It kind of depends on the dimension of the
ceiling, but you could save as much as 15-20% time and effort taping
and mudding difficult butt joints.

One other thing: edge support. Along the walls which are
perpendicular to the joists (or furring strips, if you use them),
you'll have plenty of support for the edges of the rock. On the other
two, you won't. In new construction, they rock the ceilings first so
that the wall rock can be butted up to the ceiling rock, thus
supporting the edges of the ceiling rock. You may want to consider
bridging the joists along the two parallel walls. Fur close to the
wall to provide that missing support, or screw into those bridges
directly if you don't fur.

Oh, yeah. Screw. Period. Especially with 5/8". Get/rent a screw gun.
Trust me. It's a gazillion times easier and faster, although you can
get by with an inexpensive attachment for your drill. If you don't get
a gun, a cordless is generally a better tool than a corded, because
it's almost instant off. A corded drill tends to "wind down" some when
you release the trigger, thus making the guaging of proper drive depth
a hit-or-miss affair, which might be marginally workable on walls, but
isn't acceptable on ceilings. You don't want to tear the paper by
going too deep with the screw.


--
LRod

Master Woodbutcher and seasoned termite

Shamelessly whoring my website since 1999

http://www.woodbutcher.net
http://www.normstools.com

Proud participant of rec.woodworking since February, 1997

email addy de-spam-ified due to 1,000 spams per month.
If you can't figure out how to use it, I probably wouldn't
care to correspond with you anyway.

On Fri, 14 Mar 2008 18:00:04 -0400, "noreaster"
<noreaster1athotmaildotcom> wrote:

>I'm adding dry to my ceiling that is plaster and lathe.

Does the weight of the lathe make the ceiling sag?

"RicodJour" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On Mar 14, 6:00 pm, "noreaster" <noreaster1athotmaildotcom> wrote:
>> I'm adding dry to my ceiling that is plaster and lathe. The joists go
>> from
>> right to left, the sheets will go from front to back.
>> My thinking is that you should add strips ( I have to add them because
>> the
>> ceiling droops in one spot, so I'm leveling the whole ceiling) across the
>> joints so when mounting the drywall you can screw into the joists and in
>> between the joists ( to help the seams stay more rigid).
>> What is the best (proper) way to place the strips and drywall compared to
>> the joists
>
> The question is why is your ceiling drooping. Is it because the
> plaster has separated from the lath, the joists have sagged, or
> there's another problem. The one joist at 24" is a red flag. Before
> you go adding substantially more weight to your ceiling, you should
> investigate fully and find out what's the root cause of the problem.
>
> Here's how to install ceiling strapping, aka furring:
> http://tinyurl.com/3dch5t
>
> As others have said, removing the old ceiling is generally preferable.
>
> R
That one spot that is sagging feels pretty solid when I push up on it.
In the dining room when I took off the square tiles, there was plaster
missing.
This house was built in the 40's. I could take off the plaster and lath but
would have to find a wait to get the 4 x 12's up by myself w/o renting the
drywall lift.

"noreaster" <noreaster1athotmaildotcom> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> I'm adding dry to my ceiling that is plaster and lathe. The joists go from
> right to left, the sheets will go from front to back.
> My thinking is that you should add strips ( I have to add them because the
> ceiling droops in one spot, so I'm leveling the whole ceiling) across the
> joints so when mounting the drywall you can screw into the joists and in
> between the joists ( to help the seams stay more rigid).
> What is the best (proper) way to place the strips and drywall compared to
> the joists
> TIA

The proper way is to take down the plaster and lathe and then attach the
drywall to the ceiling joists directly.

On Sun, 16 Mar 2008 15:14:57 -0700 (PDT), BDBConstruction
<[email protected]> wrote:

>On Mar 15, 11:50 pm, clare at snyder dot ontario dot canada wrote:
>> On Sun, 16 Mar 2008 00:52:43 -0000, [email protected]
>>
>> (Robert Bonomi) wrote:
>> >In article <[email protected]>,
>> >Bob W  <[email protected]> wrote:
>> >>On Fri, 14 Mar 2008 21:59:46 GMT, "efgh" <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>> >>>The proper way is to take down the plaster and lathe and then attach the
>> >>>drywall to the ceiling joists directly.
>>
>> >>That's the way to do it. And it's lath, not lathe. A lathe is that
>> >>"spinny" machine... know what I mean?
>>
>> >If he has a lathe on the ceiling, it *really* needs to come down before the
>> >board goes up.   <grin>
>>
>> Actually both spellings are correct.
>> In the original English it was lathe.
>> Common use today tends to favour (note the spelling) lath.
>>
>> Lathe \Lathe\ (l[=a][th]), n. [OE. lathe a granary; akin to G.   lade
>> a chest, Icel. hla[eth]a a storehouse, barn; but cf.   also Icel.
>> l["o][eth] a smith's lathe. Senses 2 and 3 are   perh. of the same
>> origin as lathe a granary, the original   meaning being, a frame to
>> hold something. If so, the word is   from an older form of E. lade to
>> load. See {Lade} to load.]   1. A granary; a barn. [Obs.] --Chaucer.
>>
>> Note "the original meaning being, a frame to hold something."
>>
>> A Lathe is also an ancient geo-political (administrative) division in
>> parts of England (Kent in particular)
>>
>> --
>> Posted via a free Usenet account fromhttp://www.teranews.com
>
>Good reply. I have always used lathe not lath. Most everything I have
>read regarding the subject uses lathe as well. I am glad someone
>clarified this for Robert and others.
>
>Mark
Only Yanks use lath. Too bloody lazy to spell correctly. color vs
colour, valor vs valour, lite vs light, you'd think ink was expensive
or something. <BG>

--
Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com

I have started taking down the plaster in the dining room ( I stopped work
in the living room because the other room was missing about 16 square feet,
gave me more incentive(yeah right)), whatever they used for the ceiling is
not the same for the walls, much harder to take down and weighs pretty
heavy. I haven't taken down a ceiling before. I hope the 2/5th's come down a
lot easier.

"noreaster" <noreaster1athotmaildotcom> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> "efgh" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:mzCCj.88552$w57.84157@edtnps90...
>>
>> "noreaster" <noreaster1athotmaildotcom> wrote in message
>> news:[email protected]...
>>> I'm adding dry to my ceiling that is plaster and lathe. The joists go
>>> from right to left, the sheets will go from front to back.
>>> My thinking is that you should add strips ( I have to add them because
>>> the ceiling droops in one spot, so I'm leveling the whole ceiling)
>>> across the joints so when mounting the drywall you can screw into the
>>> joists and in between the joists ( to help the seams stay more rigid).
>>> What is the best (proper) way to place the strips and drywall compared
>>> to the joists
>>> TIA
>>
>> The proper way is to take down the plaster and lathe and then attach the
>> drywall to the ceiling joists directly.
>>
>>
> If I take it all down, which way would you run the strips if needed?
> One of the joists is 24" across, the rest is about 16" centers.
>
>
I forgot to ask, which way would run the sheets? Not all my joists are 16"
centers, one is 24"