In our old basement, we have about a 5cm thick layer of plaster as a ceiling mixed with straw and some wire holding everything together. Above this are overlapping boards that serve as the subfloor for the upper floor.
My question...
Why on earth would you spend time and energy slathering up a 5cm thick plaster/straw layer on a ceiling?
It must weigh a ton and be a heck of a job?
Is it a form of insulation? Protection?
I want to tear down the stuff and put up paneling instead. Is it risk-free?
The house was built and expanded between the 1920s and 1950s.
Grateful for an answer to this mystery.
/ Henke
My question...
Why on earth would you spend time and energy slathering up a 5cm thick plaster/straw layer on a ceiling?
It must weigh a ton and be a heck of a job?
Is it a form of insulation? Protection?
I want to tear down the stuff and put up paneling instead. Is it risk-free?
The house was built and expanded between the 1920s and 1950s.
Grateful for an answer to this mystery.
/ Henke
I had the same thing in my house. As I understood, it worked as a fire retardant.
Equivalent in the wall: https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kloasongvägg
Equivalent in the wall: https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kloasongvägg
It serves a function as fire retardant, but also purely aesthetic. At that time, people didn’t have plasterboards to put up. I guess it might have been a status to have a smooth ceiling, so they plastered it with lime mortar!
It's likely a reed mat that's there, with interwoven wire holding the reeds together. They put it up as an "adhesion layer" so the plaster would stay on the boards. The reed mat is then nailed to the boards with longer roofing nails, and then plastered with lime mortar on the mat and smoothed out!
But if you're going to tear it down, be prepared for one of the nastiest experiences you've ever had. It dusts and smokes incredibly, and there's much more of it on the floor than when it was on the ceiling... Many buckets to carry out, indeed!
http://www.byggnadsvard.se/byggnadskultur/material/gör-det-själv-revetering-för-amatörer
It's likely a reed mat that's there, with interwoven wire holding the reeds together. They put it up as an "adhesion layer" so the plaster would stay on the boards. The reed mat is then nailed to the boards with longer roofing nails, and then plastered with lime mortar on the mat and smoothed out!
But if you're going to tear it down, be prepared for one of the nastiest experiences you've ever had. It dusts and smokes incredibly, and there's much more of it on the floor than when it was on the ceiling... Many buckets to carry out, indeed!
http://www.byggnadsvard.se/byggnadskultur/material/gör-det-själv-revetering-för-amatörer
There were no plasterboards in the past and labor was cheap.......
The technique with plaster on reed matting is called "revetering" and seemed to be common in the first half of the 20th century.
I have taken down three such ceilings in my apartment from 1936, and just as stated above, it dusts something terrible and there is much more on the floor than one would expect was on the ceiling.
After many tests, I concluded that the best technique was to use the flat part of a wide pry bar to gently lift the plaster off the ceiling. Someone claimed that it would be possible to use a shovel, but at least in my ceilings, the reed matting was nailed to the ceiling with a million small nails.
The technique with plaster on reed matting is called "revetering" and seemed to be common in the first half of the 20th century.
I have taken down three such ceilings in my apartment from 1936, and just as stated above, it dusts something terrible and there is much more on the floor than one would expect was on the ceiling.
After many tests, I concluded that the best technique was to use the flat part of a wide pry bar to gently lift the plaster off the ceiling. Someone claimed that it would be possible to use a shovel, but at least in my ceilings, the reed matting was nailed to the ceiling with a million small nails.