Hello,

A "bubble" appeared on our kitchen ceiling. When I touched it, it
disintegrated in my hands. The bath is directly above and I think a
very slow drip has gradually soaked into the plasterboard and softened
it. I have cut out the offending square and put battens on the joists
and screwed a new square onto that, but it's not quite flush in one
corner and the old board seems to sag in the middle. Should I have
fitted a batten across the joists as well as to the sides? Should I
have supported the edge of the old board?

What is the recommended distance between screws? I have tried to screw
the old board onto the joists but the edge of the board is a bit
crumbly so it's been a bit hit and miss.

Thanks.

Sam wrote:
Hello,

A "bubble" appeared on our kitchen ceiling. When I touched it, it
disintegrated in my hands. The bath is directly above and I think a
very slow drip has gradually soaked into the plasterboard and softened
it.

Have you sorted the drip out?

I have cut out the offending square and put battens on the joists
and screwed a new square onto that, but it's not quite flush in one
corner and the old board seems to sag in the middle. Should I have
fitted a batten across the joists as well as to the sides? Should I
have supported the edge of the old board?

You need to cut out a larger area to include any sags. Cut away any suspect
board to leave a gap half the joist width.


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

The Medway Handyman wrote:
Sam wrote:
Hello,

A "bubble" appeared on our kitchen ceiling. When I touched it, it
disintegrated in my hands. The bath is directly above and I think a
very slow drip has gradually soaked into the plasterboard and softened
it.

Have you sorted the drip out?

I have cut out the offending square and put battens on the joists
and screwed a new square onto that, but it's not quite flush in one
corner and the old board seems to sag in the middle. Should I have
fitted a batten across the joists as well as to the sides? Should I
have supported the edge of the old board?

You need to cut out a larger area to include any sags. Cut away any suspect
board to leave a gap half the joist width.


+ screw bits of batten behind old plasterboard and screw new into them
for all round even support.

On 2 Feb, 00:58, "The Medway Handyman"
wrote:

Have you sorted the drip out?


He'd be a drip not to.

On Sat, 02 Feb 2008 00:58:07 GMT, "The Medway Handyman"
wrote:

Have you sorted the drip out?

That's the strangest thing. The bath is bone dry. I have had it filled
with water and I've checked the trap and waste and there's no leak
there. I've overflowed it but no leak there either. I thought the
overflow was a prime candidate because the pipe just pushes on;
there's nothing to hold it in place.

We changed the bath a couple of months ago. I think perhaps the old
bath leaked for some time; the ceiling has always looked a little
suspect but I've never touched it until now.

When I did touch it, it crumbled but was dry, which makes me think the
leak had stopped but the damage had been done.

You need to cut out a larger area to include any sags. Cut away any suspect
board to leave a gap half the joist width.

I'm a bit puzzled about this: surely you cut it to the full width
between the joists, not halfway?

On Sun, 03 Feb 2008 09:56:09 GMT, Sam wrote:

On Sat, 02 Feb 2008 00:58:07 GMT, "The Medway Handyman"
wrote:

You need to cut out a larger area to include any sags. Cut away any suspect
board to leave a gap half the joist width.

I'm a bit puzzled about this: surely you cut it to the full width
between the joists, not halfway?

+ 1/2 the width of the joist...(each side)?

Geo

Geo wrote:
On Sun, 03 Feb 2008 09:56:09 GMT, Sam wrote:

On Sat, 02 Feb 2008 00:58:07 GMT, "The Medway Handyman"
wrote:

You need to cut out a larger area to include any sags. Cut away
any suspect board to leave a gap half the joist width.

I'm a bit puzzled about this: surely you cut it to the full width
between the joists, not halfway?

+ 1/2 the width of the joist...(each side)?

Sorry, cut the board at the middle of each joist.

l l
l Joist l
l l
l l
l__________l_____________________
l_____________Board_________



Thus leaving room for the new board to be screwed to the joist.

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

The Medway Handyman wrote:
Geo wrote:
On Sun, 03 Feb 2008 09:56:09 GMT, Sam wrote:

On Sat, 02 Feb 2008 00:58:07 GMT, "The Medway Handyman"
wrote:
You need to cut out a larger area to include any sags. Cut away
any suspect board to leave a gap half the joist width.
I'm a bit puzzled about this: surely you cut it to the full width
between the joists, not halfway?
+ 1/2 the width of the joist...(each side)?

Sorry, cut the board at the middle of each joist.

l l
l Joist l
l l
l l
l__________l_____________________
l_____________Board_________



Thus leaving room for the new board to be screwed to the joist.


Often quicker to saw cut flush with the joist and screw a couple of
battens to it.

On Sun, 03 Feb 2008 17:34:23 GMT, "The Medway Handyman"
wrote:

I'm a bit puzzled about this: surely you cut it to the full width
between the joists, not halfway?

+ 1/2 the width of the joist...(each side)?

Sorry, cut the board at the middle of each joist.


Sorry for the late reply. Thanks, I understand now. A bit like cutting
across the middle of a joist when replacing a section of floorboard.
It's strange, I've never done that on the other side of the joist;
when repairing plasterboard I've always fitted battens... not that I
do it that often!