I'm replacing a ceiling. There is only me and my wife to
lift and screw the sheets of plasterboard into place.
Can anyone recommend the best way for one person to lift
and hold the sheets (8 feet x 4 feet) in place while the
other person screws them to the joists?

The sheets are a bit heavy for one person to hold for any
length of time. Also I don't want them to buckle or break.

Is there a website somewhere with pictures of how lift and
hold them in place? Any suggestions or tips welcome.
--
David in Normandy

"David in Normandy" wrote in message
...
I'm replacing a ceiling. There is only me and my wife to
lift and screw the sheets of plasterboard into place.
Can anyone recommend the best way for one person to lift
and hold the sheets (8 feet x 4 feet) in place while the
other person screws them to the joists?

The sheets are a bit heavy for one person to hold for any
length of time. Also I don't want them to buckle or break.

Is there a website somewhere with pictures of how lift and
hold them in place? Any suggestions or tips welcome.

You want 2 of these:
http://www.toolstation.com/images/li...bbig/39004.jpg

http://www.toolstation.com/search.ht...rchstr=support

Lidl / Aldi do them quite regularly for only £3 or £4
Failing that 2 bits of wood that are slightly bigger than floor to ceiling
height and just jam the plasterboard in.

"David in Normandy" wrote in message
...
I'm replacing a ceiling. There is only me and my wife to
lift and screw the sheets of plasterboard into place.
Can anyone recommend the best way for one person to lift
and hold the sheets (8 feet x 4 feet) in place while the
other person screws them to the joists?

The sheets are a bit heavy for one person to hold for any
length of time. Also I don't want them to buckle or break.

Is there a website somewhere with pictures of how lift and
hold them in place? Any suggestions or tips welcome.
--
David in Normandy

I use one of these

http://www.screwfix.com/prods/14003/...on-Support-Rod

"David in Normandy" wrote in message
...
I'm replacing a ceiling. There is only me and my wife to
lift and screw the sheets of plasterboard into place.
Can anyone recommend the best way for one person to lift
and hold the sheets (8 feet x 4 feet) in place while the
other person screws them to the joists?

The sheets are a bit heavy for one person to hold for any
length of time. Also I don't want them to buckle or break.

Is there a website somewhere with pictures of how lift and
hold them in place? Any suggestions or tips welcome.
--
David in Normandy

The easiest way is to cut a couple of lengths of 2x1 or 2x2 timber and fix a
t-piece about a foot or so long across one end of each and use them as
dead-men to support the board once you've got it in place, it takes a bit of
getting used to but makes the job much easier if you are not used to
handling plasterboard in full sheets.
You can get small boards from B&Q or homebase which are easier to handle but
there is a cost premium in this method.

On 1 Feb, 15:26, David in Normandy wrote:
I'm replacing a ceiling. There is only me and my wife to
lift and screw the sheets of plasterboard into place.
Can anyone recommend the best way for one person to lift
and hold the sheets (8 feet x 4 feet) in place while the
other person screws them to the joists?

The sheets are a bit heavy for one person to hold for any
length of time. Also I don't want them to buckle or break.

Is there a website somewhere with pictures of how lift and
hold them in place? Any suggestions or tips welcome.
--
David in Normandy

I noticed Aldi had some props for plasterboard for about £6.

"David in Normandy" wrote in message
...
I'm replacing a ceiling. There is only me and my wife to
lift and screw the sheets of plasterboard into place.
Can anyone recommend the best way for one person to lift
and hold the sheets (8 feet x 4 feet) in place while the
other person screws them to the joists?

The sheets are a bit heavy for one person to hold for any
length of time. Also I don't want them to buckle or break.

Is there a website somewhere with pictures of how lift and
hold them in place? Any suggestions or tips welcome.
--
David in Normandy

Starting at one corner of ceiling see what joist the plasterboard ends at
from wall you are working from then...
Get some thick rope(washing line will do) nail this to the inside of the
joist were the plasterboard will position halfway across the joist.
Slide plasterboard onto rope and push up the other end and nail/screw into
postion and do its center and then the rope end.
Reapeat until you come to the stage where you will have to use two people to
keep the end run of plasterboards against the ceiling.

"Steven Campbell" wrote in message
...

"David in Normandy" wrote in message
...
I'm replacing a ceiling. There is only me and my wife to
lift and screw the sheets of plasterboard into place.
Can anyone recommend the best way for one person to lift
and hold the sheets (8 feet x 4 feet) in place while the
other person screws them to the joists?

The sheets are a bit heavy for one person to hold for any
length of time. Also I don't want them to buckle or break.

Is there a website somewhere with pictures of how lift and
hold them in place? Any suggestions or tips welcome.

You want 2 of these:
http://www.toolstation.com/images/li...bbig/39004.jpg

http://www.toolstation.com/search.ht...rchstr=support

Lidl / Aldi do them quite regularly for only £3 or £4
Failing that 2 bits of wood that are slightly bigger than floor to ceiling
height and just jam the plasterboard in.




I don't thin the Aldi ones extended more than 7' ?

"David in Normandy" wrote in message
...
I'm replacing a ceiling. There is only me and my wife to
lift and screw the sheets of plasterboard into place.
Can anyone recommend the best way for one person to lift
and hold the sheets (8 feet x 4 feet) in place while the
other person screws them to the joists?

The sheets are a bit heavy for one person to hold for any
length of time. Also I don't want them to buckle or break.

Is there a website somewhere with pictures of how lift and
hold them in place? Any suggestions or tips welcome.
--
David in Normandy


Go the timber yard and buy two pieces of 2x2, one piece should be cieling
height the other could be the width of a plasterboard.

Screw them both together to form a T and use it to prop one end up while you
screw the other end,the wife can make sure the T bracket doesn't move.
Saves buying props and the wood might come in handy sometime?

On Fri, 1 Feb 2008 16:26:21 +0100 David in Normandy wrote :
I'm replacing a ceiling. There is only me and my wife to
lift and screw the sheets of plasterboard into place.
Can anyone recommend the best way for one person to lift
and hold the sheets (8 feet x 4 feet) in place while the
other person screws them to the joists?

The sheets are a bit heavy for one person to hold for any
length of time. Also I don't want them to buckle or break.

Is there a website somewhere with pictures of how lift and
hold them in place? Any suggestions or tips welcome.

When I had to do this many years back, I made a couple of wooden
"fingers" which I clamped to the joists at the appropriate place
(i.e. a plasterboard width from the current edge) then it was just a
case of lifting the sheet tucking the far edge in under the fingers
pushing the rest of the board up next to the already fixed sheet and
fixing it.

It's much easier to use 1800x900 sheets.


--
Tony Bryer SDA UK 'Software to build on' http://www.sda.co.uk

Try your local hire centre. They should hire your a jack like thing
that raises and holds the plasterboard under the joists.
Like this
http://www.axminster.co.uk/product.a...file=1&jump=24


John

"George" wrote in message

I don't thin the Aldi ones extended more than 7' ?



fully extended they're 290cm and cost £4.95 and proper metal as well...just
bought one. ;-)

"George" wrote in message
...

"Steven Campbell" wrote in message
...

"David in Normandy" wrote in message
...
I'm replacing a ceiling. There is only me and my wife to
lift and screw the sheets of plasterboard into place.
Can anyone recommend the best way for one person to lift
and hold the sheets (8 feet x 4 feet) in place while the
other person screws them to the joists?

The sheets are a bit heavy for one person to hold for any
length of time. Also I don't want them to buckle or break.

Is there a website somewhere with pictures of how lift and
hold them in place? Any suggestions or tips welcome.

You want 2 of these:
http://www.toolstation.com/images/li...bbig/39004.jpg

http://www.toolstation.com/search.ht...rchstr=support

Lidl / Aldi do them quite regularly for only £3 or £4
Failing that 2 bits of wood that are slightly bigger than floor to
ceiling
height and just jam the plasterboard in.




I don't thin the Aldi ones extended more than 7' ?

My Aldi ones bought last year have plenty of height in them.
Fully collapsed they are 4 feet. You then pull out the inner sleeve which
adds another 4 feet then you can use the trigger to slide the inner rod up
even further, another 3 feet I reckon.

So probably about 11 feet all in. I've done a few bathrooms with them.

Steven.

"George" wrote in message
...

"George" wrote in message

I don't thin the Aldi ones extended more than 7' ?



fully extended they're 290cm and cost £4.95 and proper metal as
well...just
bought one. ;-)

Yes they are deceiving. Probably best to buy 2!!

I've also used them as a large clamp to clamp worktop edgings on while
gluing.

"Steven Campbell" wrote in message
...

"George" wrote in message
...

"George" wrote in message

I don't thin the Aldi ones extended more than 7' ?



fully extended they're 290cm and cost £4.95 and proper metal as
well...just
bought one. ;-)

Yes they are deceiving. Probably best to buy 2!!

I've also used them as a large clamp to clamp worktop edgings on while
gluing.




I forgot all about them till you said Aldi props. ;-)

9.5' they are extendable to.

On Fri, 1 Feb 2008 16:26:21 +0100, David in Normandy
wrote:

I'm replacing a ceiling. There is only me and my wife to
lift and screw the sheets of plasterboard into place.
Can anyone recommend the best way for one person to lift
and hold the sheets (8 feet x 4 feet) in place while the
other person screws them to the joists?

The sheets are a bit heavy for one person to hold for any
length of time. Also I don't want them to buckle or break.

Is there a website somewhere with pictures of how lift and
hold them in place? Any suggestions or tips welcome.

The extendible props available have been mentioned.

An old method that works well is a piece of rope and two nails. The
idea is to put the rope across, forming a cradle, in a position to
support one end of the board allowing the other end to be handled.

We have found that the most useful gadget is the head of the person
doing the screwing and a broom with a large head held by the person on
the ground.

John says...
Try your local hire centre. They should hire your a jack like thing
that raises and holds the plasterboard under the joists.
Like this
http://www.axminster.co.uk/product.a...file=1&jump=24


John


Nice piece of kit! Definitely to hire though rather than to
buy.
--
David in Normandy

David in Normandy wrote:
Is there a website somewhere with pictures of how lift and
hold them in place? Any suggestions or tips welcome.

http://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php?title=Dead_man_prop

David

David in Normandy says...
I'm replacing a ceiling. There is only me and my wife to
lift and screw the sheets of plasterboard into place.
Can anyone recommend the best way for one person to lift
and hold the sheets (8 feet x 4 feet) in place while the
other person screws them to the joists?

The sheets are a bit heavy for one person to hold for any
length of time. Also I don't want them to buckle or break.

Is there a website somewhere with pictures of how lift and
hold them in place? Any suggestions or tips welcome.

Thanks for the replies everyone. I like the idea of the
fingers clamped to a joist. As I have access to the top of
the joists too then I'll adapt this slightly and use two
strips of timber, one just slightly thicker than the
plasterboard and G clamp them to the end joist so the
plasterboard can simply be slotted into the gap. I'll make
and use a "dead-man" to hold the other end in place while
screwing the sheet into place.

Excellent! Thanks again folks.
--
David in Normandy

On 1 Feb, 19:48, David in Normandy wrote:
David in Normandy says... I'm replacing a ceiling. There is only me and my wife to
lift and screw the sheets of plasterboard into place.
Can anyone recommend the best way for one person to lift
and hold the sheets (8 feet x 4 feet) in place while the
other person screws them to the joists?

The sheets are a bit heavy for one person to hold for any
length of time. Also I don't want them to buckle or break.

Is there a website somewhere with pictures of how lift and
hold them in place? Any suggestions or tips welcome.

Thanks for the replies everyone. I like the idea of the
fingers clamped to a joist. As I have access to the top of
the joists too then I'll adapt this slightly and use two
strips of timber, one just slightly thicker than the
plasterboard and G clamp them to the end joist so the
plasterboard can simply be slotted into the gap. I'll make
and use a "dead-man" to hold the other end in place while
screwing the sheet into place.

Excellent! Thanks again folks.
--
David in Normandy

Check out the Boardmate at www.boardmate.com or on ebay

Watch the video, it looks good.

dg

Steven Campbell wrote:
"George" wrote in message
...

"Steven Campbell" wrote in message
...

"David in Normandy" wrote in message
...
I'm replacing a ceiling. There is only me and my wife to
lift and screw the sheets of plasterboard into place.
Can anyone recommend the best way for one person to lift
and hold the sheets (8 feet x 4 feet) in place while the
other person screws them to the joists?

The sheets are a bit heavy for one person to hold for any
length of time. Also I don't want them to buckle or break.

Is there a website somewhere with pictures of how lift and
hold them in place? Any suggestions or tips welcome.

You want 2 of these:
http://www.toolstation.com/images/li...bbig/39004.jpg

http://www.toolstation.com/search.ht...rchstr=support

Lidl / Aldi do them quite regularly for only £3 or £4
Failing that 2 bits of wood that are slightly bigger than floor to
ceiling
height and just jam the plasterboard in.




I don't thin the Aldi ones extended more than 7' ?

My Aldi ones bought last year have plenty of height in them.
Fully collapsed they are 4 feet. You then pull out the inner sleeve
which adds another 4 feet then you can use the trigger to slide the
inner rod up even further, another 3 feet I reckon.

Yup, I've got a couple as well, excellent.


--
Dave - The Medway Handyman
www.medwayhandyman.co.uk
01634 717930
07850 597257

Franko wrote:

The easiest way is to cut a couple of lengths of 2x1 or 2x2 timber and fix a
t-piece about a foot or so long across one end of each and use them as
dead-men to support the board once you've got it in place, it takes a bit of
getting used to but makes the job much easier if you are not used to
handling plasterboard in full sheets.

Probably the right intro to post:

http://wiki.diyfaq.org.uk/index.php?title=Dead_man_prop


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On Feb 1, 4:52 pm, Tony Bryer wrote:
On Fri, 1 Feb 2008 16:26:21 +0100 David in Normandy wrote :

I'm replacing a ceiling. There is only me and my wife to
lift and screw the sheets of plasterboard into place.
Can anyone recommend the best way for one person to lift
and hold the sheets (8 feet x 4 feet) in place while the
other person screws them to the joists?

The sheets are a bit heavy for one person to hold for any
length of time. Also I don't want them to buckle or break.

Is there a website somewhere with pictures of how lift and
hold them in place? Any suggestions or tips welcome.

When I had to do this many years back, I made a couple of wooden
"fingers" which I clamped to the joists at the appropriate place
(i.e. a plasterboard width from the current edge) then it was just a
case of lifting the sheet tucking the far edge in under the fingers
pushing the rest of the board up next to the already fixed sheet and
fixing it.

It's much easier to use 1800x900 sheets.

Especially if the joists are set at metric distances. I had to do
something similar once all on my tod.

I used a strip of skirting with two nails into the joists and rested
the board in that cradle then lifted it up and then set it back down
and put the sprag in a position I could reach one handed.

Then lifted it again and shoved the sprag in and then jiggled the
board to make sure it ran square and true. Then took the whole lot
down to put packers in to get around the RSJ.
Then the foreman got two labourers to do it.