On 29/01/2021 08:37, Derek wrote:
When I moved into my house in 1975 all the ceilings were done with polystyrene type materia.It was about the same width as a roll of wallpaper and must have came in rolls. When you look up at it looks like all the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle and it is very hard to paint if ceiling gets dirty from smoke. Does anyone know the name of this material? I would like to remove it but am afraid to start . Has anyone ever removed this and is it hard to remove. There is also polystyrene? coving round the walls as well.


Was this polystyrene from a previous owner or was your house a new
build? Polystyrene tiles and "On a Roll" were popular in the 70s/80s
often in an attempt to hide cracked ceilings.

It is easy to remove with a scraper but what may be more difficult is
the fixing material. With luck, a polystyrene roll was probably stuck
to the ceiling with a strong wall-paper paste and after scraping off the
polystyrene repeated washing with water and sponge will remove the paste
Tiles are often struck down with a polystyrene tile "cement" which on
some ceiling surfaces can also be scraped off fairly easily - but with a
lot more effort. As others have said the cement may also be water soluble.

While it is a good idea to remove polystyrene from a ceiling as it is a
problem if you have a fire consider also in what condition the ceiling
may be underneath the polystyrene. To get a decent ceiling surface you
may have to get it skimmed or over-boarded and skimmed. If the latter
probably over-board the polystyrene.

Where polystyrene is easy to get off I have used a 4 inch scraper
https://www.screwfix.com/p/heavy-duty-scraper-4/16530

but for more difficult installations a smaller scraper can work better,
especially when after removing the polystyrene the "cement" remains
stuck to the ceiling.

https://www.screwfix.com/p/no-nonsen...iece-set/20018.



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