Overboading polystyene tiles Ask your questions and find answers on many subjects relating to plastering and dry lining

[Foxleas]

Hi
The house we have just bought has a number of ceilings with polystene tiles and a builder has just said to us that one of the easiest ways of dealing with them (as removal is very messy) is to simply put plaster boards on top and fix by long screws into the joists, then skim. The ceilings are quite high so no problem in slightly lowering them. Has anyone had any experience of this?
Thanks
Nigel

[rosebery]

Take them down first. You can get them off with a scraper. To remove the "glue" blobs just heat gently with a hot air gun.

You may find that the result is good enough not to need overboarding or if you want a perfect surface just skim (as I guess you'll be skimming the any boarding in any event).

Its not that messy really.

Cheers

[kbrownie]

Foxleas,
It is a messy job but as Rosebury says get scraper to them and remove them. They are no longer allowed, as they give of toxic fumes in a fire situation, boarding over them would reduce the time that fire could effect them but better shut altogether. Heat gun does work on glue but I always found that wallpaper steamer did a job better and caused less damage to plaster on ceiling.
Your ceiling may be fine underneath, but the glue does oftem leave patches that show up after painted so may need to plaster or overboard and plaster/joint finish!
Your builder is suggesting quick, less messy fix but I recommend you remove them.
KB