Joists on drywall ceiling.

[rammos]

Hi, my first post here after many days of browsing the forum which I find very rewarding.

I have plans to build an interior wall but the ceiling is plastered (I don't know how much it is lowered but I can guess at least 20cm). I'm not very knowledgeable but I know I can't place studs directly on the plaster as it can become loose after a while, but what should I do then?
Should I try to find the studs that the ceiling plaster is attached to and if so, how? Or should I tear down the whole ceiling and check .
I can also add that if I press lightly on the ceiling, it moves a little, so it doesn't feel very stable.

 

[Skier12345]

Do you know why the ceiling is lowered? Do you want that height? Suggest that you tear out the ceiling otherwise, either in the entire room or on one side of your new partition wall.

 

[Mikael_L]

Welcome to the forum!

I can also add that if I press lightly on the ceiling, it moves a bit, meaning it doesn't feel very stable.

Not good or fun to build an inner wall against a ceiling that is not stable, so first, you should investigate the construction a bit more.

If you find that it is reasonably stable, you need to find the studs or battens that the plasterboard is screwed into. Then you can use a stud finder, and either look for the stud or use the metal function to find the screws (or metal studs, if those are used).
Sometimes you can also find the screw with a magnet.

 

[rammos]

I believe the ceiling is lowered due to ventilationon. Ok I will investigate a bit how it is built, can one rent a good stud finder at Tiderman or some other company? From what I've read, the cheaper ones are not worth having.

 

[Jan-L]

Another way is to search over the ceiling with a magnet, you can usually find the drywall screws and then of course...................the studs......hole-in-one magnet works well for this, but even a regular magnet should work.........