Hi everyone,

Just joined the forum, and hoping for some much needed advice. I've moved back into a flat which i've co-owned with brothers/sister for about 10 years. For the time being I have the place to myself and embarking on some much needed repairs and redecorating, so there will probably be plenty of advice i'll be coming back here for. I'm a total amateur in this field, but hoping to do what I can of the work myself, so would appreciated any feedback to be as 'layman-like' as possible. Many thanks!

First thing to address is how to deal with a ceiling in one of the rooms. I have stripped off an awful polystyrene insulation papering that was covering the ceiling, probably for 15 or so years, maybe longer. It was attached, I'm assuming, with some kind of wallpaper paste/glue. It came off pretty easily, but has revealed a pretty patchy surface underneath. Please have a look at the pictures to get a good idea. There is damp/mould which is dry - don't think there are damp issues, and had the roof redone a few years back. There is glue/paste residue from the papering. There are numerous small cracks to fill. There are also plenty of areas where some of the paint has flaked off from the plaster. In places it flakes off easily, but in others it's quite secure.

I'd very much appreciate some direction on how best to approach this to achieve a smooth ceiling to repaint. Do I need to strip all back to the plaster? And if so, how to do this? Or can I treat and somehow work over what is there to get a good surface? What would you do?

Any help would be fantastic. Thanks in advance...

Is getting it overboarded and skimmed out of the question? Or even just bonded and skimmed?
If decorating is the only option i would be looking at getting as much loose stuff off as possible and giving it a uniform coat of alkaline resisting primer. When dry fill it a few times with easyfill and line it.

From what I can see the ceiling is totally f*cked and needs skimming.

Or you could just stainblock and line it.

Yor best bet would be to overboard, (Plasterboard over), skim then decorate...

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"thescruff is correct"

Sadly the guys above are correct, a little more expense is needed. Overboarding and/or plastering is what is required, that ceiling is too far gone in my opinion.

Thanks for the replies all - agreed, it's in a pretty sorry state, and very helpful (if a little worrying) to get some second opinions...

A bit more info though: The ceiling coves into the walls, and for the most part the coved sections and walls are in really good condition bar the odd crack. The ceiling is where the damage is. I'm inclined to think that taking the plaster off the ceiling completely, then putting boards (or plastering) onto the concrete ceiling (which seems fine also), then skimming and joining up with the existing plasterwork on the coves and walls. For some reason I prefer the idea of getting rid of the damage and redoing it than covering over, but maybe i'm wrong... FYI also, the building is a purpose built block of flats, brick and concrete, around 80/90 years old, so it does shift and crack a bit. But also I think if i do this right then I can make the best of what it is and it'll look great.

Thanks again!

It does look like beyond help from looking at the photos but give it a good wash with sugar soap before you condemn it completely. Once all the old mould is gone you'll have a better idea.

It won't be a pleasant job and wear a mask and overalls as you may release spores.