Hi,

I am looking at putting in a false ceiling to cover up the current vermiculite ceiling.( wall are brick, and external flat roof 250mm high than internal vermiculite ceiling)

the plan:

- buy pine(75mm or 90mm - any thoughts) and bolt to wall all the way around all ways
- put in stud's between the 450mm apart
- get the elco to come in and make all the wires for the lights longer
- then plasterboard the new ceiling and paint

So a few questions -
the place is early 80's and there is some insulation in the current roof - is it worth putting some in between the current ceiling and the new one?

are there better ways to get rid of the vermiculite ceiling ( I tried scrapping it off - to painfull)

any thought?

What size is the room, and how much ceiling height are you prepared to lose?

Is the vermiculite sprayed onto concrete? (It usually is although from the information supplied indicates otherwise.)

Cheers Rod

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just to throw a couple of other questions into the mix to add to Rod's

is the reg's room height these days 2400 and if so are you saying the ceiling height is 2500 at the moment without the battens and new ceiling?

if in a flat is the vermiculite ceiling part of the fire ranking for the residence?

am sure Rod will be able to respond to these as i'm not sure but thought it useful to raise at the moment

Thanks Joister they are very important points.

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Thanks for the reply's

more info:

Size of the Room: I want to do the whole unit (132sqm) the main living area is 13x4 then each of the bed rooms are around 4x4

The unit is on the top floor and from what I can see (putting a hole in the current roof) it looks like vermiculite sprayed on to chicken wire( not sure what the correct term is) which is screwed on to 10mm plaster board which is then atteched to another 10mm plaster board - all the unit below us have the vermiculite on the concrete slab (for the unit above)

hight: currently the vermiculite ceiling is 2600 above the floor - so I am not worried about losing 100mm

side question: with regards to the 2400 rule is that from the floor to roof or floor to cornices?


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if in a flat is the vermiculite ceiling part of the fire ranking for the residence?
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is putting a false ceiling in going to void the fire rating as the vermiculite ceiling is still there?


thanks

Quick answer to part of your questions is if you are the top floor flat the fire rating won't be an issue.

The height issue is ok that gives you options.

The height is taken from the ceiling not the cornice.

Your option of using timber will work although you will need to support the frame in the center. Timber is an expensive option as well.

What I would suggest is using a furring channel fixed with a rondo part number 237 clip. This clip can be srewed directly to the framing members above and are placed at 1200mm centers along each furring channel. To have a nice flat surface to fix the clip to I would scape away the vermiculite where the clip is to be attached so it sits flush to the plasterboard.

Depending on how thick the vermiculite is you may need to use a packer under the clip.

Another method would be to use a top cross rail (Rondo Part number 127) these are spaced at 1200 centers and fixed at 1200mm centers reducing the area of vermiculite needing to be scraped off. Assuming the existing ceiling is reasonably level you could fix a short length of 30 x 75 pine to the existing framing 1200 x 1200 apart and simply screw the top cross rail to the blocks. Use a (Rondo part number 140) furring channel wall track fixed to the wall down each side. The furring channel slips into and is supported by this channel. Therefore the first top cross rail start 1200mm away from the wall. The furring channel just clips to the top cross rail using a (Rondo part number 139) clip.

The second method is a little more expensive material wise but will doo a better job and give the sparky some space to run wires. Both methods would be cheaper, easier and staighter than using timber.


Cheers Rod

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Thanks Rod,

both your options sound very good - I will be doing the second with the Rondo products ( much easyer than timber)

Thanks again
now time to get started

Hi All,

Just want to give an update on our new roof.

We went with the Rondo products - they are so easy to use and then we have put up all the plaster board.

I got some plasters in to finish it off with the 3 step cornice(my wife wanted this one) and now I an just waiting for it to all set before we start painting it.

so just a big thanks to the guys who posted - your advice was spot on - THANKS.

And the unit now just looks 100% better.