Ceiling repairs
Ceiling Repairs in Bath
Cracked, water-damaged, sagging or collapsed ceilings put right — patched, overboarded or rebuilt and plastered ready to decorate.
The problem
Damaged Ceilings in Bath Properties
- A brown or yellow stain spreading after a leak upstairs
- Cracks running along the ceiling line or across the middle of the room
- A section that sounds hollow or has started to bow downwards
- Old lath and plaster coming loose in patches
- Holes and rough edges left behind after electrics, a loft hatch or a removed wall
- A ceiling that has partly come down and needs making safe and rebuilt
Ceilings tend to get ignored until something obvious happens. A lot of the work we do around Bath follows a bathroom leak, a radiator that let go, or an older lath and plaster ceiling that has simply run out of life.
The options
Patch, Overboard or Replace
Not every damaged ceiling needs taking down, and not every one can be filled. What we recommend depends on how much of it has actually failed.
Patch repair
For a single damaged area in an otherwise sound ceiling — a leak stain, a hole left by electrics, a corner knocked out during other work. Quickest and cheapest, though a patch can occasionally read differently under strong side light.
Overboard and skim
New plasterboard fixed through into the joists over a ceiling that is tired and cracked but still firmly up there. It gives you one flat surface across the whole room without the mess of a strip-out.
Full replacement
Where the ceiling has come down, is hanging away from the joists or the timbers behind have been soaked, it comes out completely, gets reboarded and skimmed. More disruptive, but the only honest answer for a ceiling that has failed.
If the damage came from a leak, the leak has to be fixed and the area dried before we plaster. If that means a plumber or roofer first, we'll say so.
How we work
How We Repair a Ceiling
Same team from the first look to the final coat, with the room protected throughout.
- 01
Find out why
We look at the cause first — a leak, movement, age or an old repair — because plastering over the symptom is wasted money.
- 02
Agree the scope
Patch, overboard or replace. We tell you honestly which one your ceiling needs and what each would involve.
- 03
Cut out and rebuild
Failed sections come out, new board goes up on the joists, joints are taped and the ceiling is brought back level.
- 04
Skim and finish
Finish plaster worked flat across the repair, the room swept out and the waste taken away.
Why homeowners use DSB
Straight Advice on What the Ceiling Actually Needs
A damaged ceiling is easy to oversell. We'll tell you when a patch will do, and equally when patching is throwing money at something that needs replacing.
Rooms are cleared back and sheeted, the debris is bagged and taken away, and you deal with the same tradesmen throughout.
Questions
Ceiling repair questions
My ceiling has a brown stain after a leak. Can you just skim it?+
Only once the leak is fixed and the ceiling has dried out. Plastering over a wet ceiling traps the moisture and the stain comes back through. If the board or lath behind has gone soft, that section is cut out first.
Do you repair lath and plaster ceilings?+
Yes. Older Bath properties often have lath and plaster, and where the plaster has come away from the laths in patches it can sometimes be reattached and made good rather than stripped out completely.
Is a cracked ceiling serious?+
Usually not — most cracks are movement or old repairs opening up. A ceiling that is bowing, sounds hollow over a wide area or is dropping away from the joists is different, and needs looking at properly rather than filling.
Can you patch just one area?+
Yes, and often that's the sensible option. The honest caveat is that a patch in an old ceiling can show slightly under certain light, so sometimes skimming the whole ceiling gives the better result for not much more.
How soon can you look at a collapsed ceiling?+
Send photos through the quote form and we'll come back to you quickly. Make the room safe and keep people out from underneath in the meantime.
Related services
- Artex ceiling covering in Bath
Textured ceilings overboarded or skimmed flat.
- Plaster repairs in Bath
Cracked and blown wall plaster, and making good after leaks.
- Plastering services in Bath
Full-room replastering, skimming and renovation work.
Request a quote
Get a Ceiling Repair Quote in Bath
Send a couple of photos of the ceiling and your postcode through the quote form and we'll tell you what's likely going on and what it takes to put right.
Prefer to talk it through? Call 07437 217926.
Or send photos with the quote form