Ask The Trades - Print Page

Ask The Trades
https://www.askthetrades.co.uk/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl DIY Forum >> Building Questions >> Plumber fell through my ceiling.. https://www.askthetrades.co.uk/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?num=1532792307 Message started by InTheSky on Jul 28^th, 2018, 4:38pm

Title: Plumber fell through my ceiling..
Post by InTheSky on Jul 28^th, 2018, 4:38pm

Hi, I hope this is the right place to ask this as I can't find much online to answer my question.
My plumber put his leg through my ceiling while fitting a shower tray and will be fixing this for me.. but he has explained, since the hole is in the little bit of raised ceiling as you go up the stairs, that he will just cover that whole part with a new board on top and then put a bit of trim to hide the join at the edge (explaining this is hard but as you walk down the stairs and look up, the trim will be along the bottom of the wall facing you).
This seems like an easy and cheap way for him, but not how it should be done if done properly. I don't really want a random bit of trim halfway up the stairs :-/

Am I right in thinking that he should rectify this properly, by cutting a board the shape of the hole, fitting it inside and then plaster over this?
The reasoning he gave for using his method is that if he tries to take the rest of that part of the ceiling down, it may pull some of the joining wall down (the big bit that faces you as you walk downstairs) and then he would have to plaster that too.. but as far as I'm concerned, that is his problem, not mine. His negligence caused this hole and repairing it with the method I keep seeing online, this won't happen anyway, because you don't need to take the whole part out, just even out the existing hole.

Based on his attitude for the last 2 weeks he has been working for us, I am not trusting of his methods/opinions anymore.

What are the usual expectations when repairing damage like this, should it be repaired exactly as it was before the damage?

Title: Re: Plumber fell through my ceiling..
Post by thescruff on Jul 28^th, 2018, 11:02pm

Very difficult to hide damage like this unless you skin the total area.

As for putting a foot through the ceiling, it really is quite common, at the same time it's very embarrassing to the Tradesman and can be sure he regrets it, all his profit went down the hole with his foot.

At the end of the day, you don't want to be looking at a patch on the ceiling where the plumber's foot fell through

Title: Re: Plumber fell through my ceiling..
Post by Lectrician on Jul 29^th, 2018, 7:04am

Get a plasterer to repair it and send him the bill. He will likely try to do it himself to save money, but to a lower standard.

Title: Re: Plumber fell through my ceiling..
Post by woodsmith on Jul 29^th, 2018, 10:03am

The best way I've found to repair this type of damage is to clean off any lose and broken plasterboard. Then bond strips of plasterboard to the inner face of the ceiling overlapping the hole by 50 mm. Once this has fully cured bond a new piece of plasterboard into the hole. Then once this has set you can skim over without the need for scrim using a finish plaster then when the plaster has set but not yet dried give it a fine skim of Pollyfilla. This should give you an absolutely invisible repair without the need to cut back more of the ceiling, which is what your plumber is worried about causing more damage. If your plasterer isn't confident that he can make this repair you should agree with him that you should get a plasterer to repair it at his expense.

Title: Re: Plumber fell through my ceiling..
Post by InTheSky on Jul 29^th, 2018, 10:20am

Thank you both.
It's a very small section of ceiling as it's the bit that is slightly raised from the rest of the hallway (would it help my descriptions if I uploaded a photo?), so plastering the whole section is what I would have expected. He did plaster our bathroom ceiling and a wall to an acceptable standard, although I'm not too sure this bit would be as 'easy' as it has to join with the wall above it. I think he may have chosen his method because he knows he's not capable of doing it properly.

I will tell him I am not happy with his proposal and suggest that we get a plasterer instead, unless he feels like he can do what I am expecting (but then if he does it and it's terrible, is it unreasonable of me to then bill him for a plasterer anyway to fix his work!?).

He's a family friend and is doing us a cash job so this makes it slightly more complicated (we will never ever do this again, it's a nightmare, next contractor will be all on the books and culpable).

Title: Re: Plumber fell through my ceiling..
Post by InTheSky on Jul 29^th, 2018, 10:36am

Sorry Woodsmith I missed your reply while typing my own!
I'll advise him of your method and see if he's up to it. He isn't a trained plasterer, just an experienced plumber who has 'picked up some tricks' as he puts it. Has a habit of botching things (for eg nearly botched a shower seal on friday until I found the seal he was looking for lying on the floor exactly where we'd had the rest of the cubicle sitting ::)

Only issue I can foresee with getting the hole the blend, is that the ceiling is not flat. It has that spackled artex. I'm happy for him to make that whole section smooth though.

Title: Re: Plumber fell through my ceiling..
Post by Natedog on Jul 29^th, 2018, 4:26pm

So long as you can match the artex texture (you would need to work out how the texture had been made so you can replicate it) then it can be very good at hiding stuff.

Title: Re: Plumber fell through my ceiling..
Post by londonman on Aug 1^st, 2018, 9:14pm

If it is old Artex then be very wary about asbestos

Title: Re: Plumber fell through my ceiling..
Post by CWatters on Aug 19^th, 2018, 6:49pm

woodsmith wrote on Jul 29^th, 2018, 10:03am:

+1

Those little bits of plasterboard ensure the patch is pretty darn level with the surrounding surface making it easier to plaster.