Ceiling in old basement - what to do?

[Dynamobonka]

Hello - hold on: let me present our beautiful basement ceiling! It's a genuine DIY from around the 60s we believe. From what we've heard, the previous owner just started digging straight outward through a wall from what was then a smaller basement area. So you could say that the drainage there has been a challenge. The surface is approximately 3.5 x 7 meters.

Now, however, we are considering what to do about the ceiling in this cave to make it perhaps look somewhat nicer. We believe they more or less just threw up some mortar. In some places, it's marginally smoother. But then they got tired.

It should be possible to attach something to the beams, but the hitch is that the ceiling height at the beams is 190 cm, and at the mortar approximately 200 cm. And we'd like to keep as much ceiling height as possible since we have an idea of possibly fitting a small home gym here in the future. I've contemplated whether it's possible to sand the ceiling, but no one has really picked up on the idea.

I mainly wanted to put the question out there as there might be solutions I haven't thought of. I'm a first-time homeowner and a bit of a novice. And there is a lot of knowledge and good ideas here.

 

[Dynamobonka]

Hi - hold on: let me present our beautiful basement ceiling! We believe it is a real DIY project from around the '60s. From what we've heard, the previous owner just started digging straight outward through a wall from what was then a smaller section of the basement. So you could say the drainage there has been a challenge. The area is about 3.5 x 7 meters.

Now we're considering what to do with the ceiling in this cave, to make it look a bit nicer. We think they basically just threw some mortar up there. In some places, it's marginally smoother. But then they got tired.

It should be possible to attach something to the beams, but the trick is that the ceiling height at the beams is 190 cm, and at the mortar about 200 cm. And we'd like to keep as much ceiling height as possible, as we have an idea of potentially setting up a small home gym here in the future. I've wondered if it's possible to sand the ceiling, but no one has really gone for the idea.

I really just wanted to ask the question since there might be solutions I haven't thought of. I'm a first-time homeowner and a bit of a novice. And there's a lot of knowledge and good ideas here.

Hi - I understand if this was a difficult question, but if anyone has ideas for what could be done with this concrete ceiling, it would be appreciated.

Is it possible to sand it? Is it possible to use skim coat, or is there something plaster-like that can be applied? We wouldn't mind it being wavy, but as it is now, there are holes, sharp bits, etc., in the ceiling.

 

[Oldboy]

See two options:
1) Gently tap away sharp stalactites, then patch with mortar and a small trowel. Finally, paint white. (Disclaimer: I take no responsibility if the whole ceiling collapses during tapping...)
Perhaps the stalactites can be cut with an angle grinder.
There's only one way to find out what works best - try both methods and compare.
2) Knock and crowbar down the entire ceiling (mortar) and redo completely.

A problem is if you don't know what it looks like under (above!) the mortar. I assume it's the house itself above, so probably some form of trossbotten. Or is the house on a concrete slab?

 

[Dynamobonka]

I have now had craftsmen here who have looked at it, they suggest the following:

- Refinishing the ceiling between beams.
- Scraping putty after slope (slightly rougher feel in the ceiling than full putty). Repair of a few holes in the wall.
- Sanding after putty work.
- Painting the ceiling (2 x coats).

It would cost 28,000 kr after rot for work, materials not included. It feels like a lot for a ceiling in a storage room in a basement.

How difficult is it to refinish this ceiling myself, and how would one go about it? The surface is approximately 6.5x3.5 meters in total. With some beams in between. It definitely doesn't need to be perfect but I would like to even out the ceiling a bit, and then paint. I have no experience with similar work since I've never refinished anything before. But I have the patience to try.

Very grateful for guidance

 

[Oldboy]

I'm not an expert in plastering, but I've done some plastering on a few walls in a utility room...
I suggest you buy a bag of pre-mixed plaster and try it. It's a quick and inexpensive way to get a feel for what's required. Maybe you'll conclude that it's worth paying to get the job done, or you'll discover that it's something you actually can/want to do yourself. There's probably lots of guiding material if you Google it, including here on BH, but certainly also on YouTube.

 

[Dynamobonka]

Not an expert on plastering, but have kind of plastered some walls in an utility space...
I suggest you buy a bag of ready-mixed plaster and try it out. It's a quick and cheap way to get a feel for what's required. Maybe you'll conclude it's worth paying to get the job done, or you'll discover that it's something you can/want to do yourself. There is likely a lot of guiding material if you Google, including here at BH, but surely also on YouTube.

Thanks a lot for the feedback! And sounds smart. Didn't know ready-mixed was available. Had some builders here today for another matter but heard what they thought. They said that it absolutely works with gypsum plaster, but even an experienced painter would need to spend quite a bit of time to get it right.

An alternative that has come up is primer + paint with some texture. We don't necessarily need it straight but would like to remove the holes.

We also got the theory that it probably isn't mortar that someone threw up in the ceiling, but that the ceiling is the underside of a slab cast above.