Spackling chipboard ceiling?

[snowjim]

Hello,

I have a ceiling in the basement made of large chipboards like this:





Since it is a wooden house, I suspect that everything moves, so to fill this in I need a flexible filler that can handle small movements. Today, I have a universal filler that, after drying, is still a bit rubbery and this should work.

I have tried to fill a hole but the first round still results in a depression, probably because it's too deep in the grooves, so the question is now how to fill this? Is there perhaps some type of strips that need to be used for it to turn out well?

 

[Stefan1972]

are you sure it's chipboard? It almost looks like tretex boards with masonite on top? Chipboards should be harder than to break like that. But in any case, it's probably difficult to plaster as it is. Flexible filler as you mean I've probably never seen. If it moves, it will likely crack regardless of the filler, I think. Personally, I would have probably plastered the entire ceiling and then filled it.

 

[snowjim]

You're probably right, it's tretex panels.

Well, I first thought of installing drywall, but it became a bigger job that I don't feel like doing right now. I have to take down the tretex panels and then the insulation will likely come down too, then it has to be reslatted and then drywall on top of that. I'm doubtful whether the seams between the drywall panels will also shift.

The filler I'm using says it can handle minor movements and it feels rubbery when it dries. But otherwise, can't latex caulk fix it?

 

[På grön kvist]

You probably won't get it right unless you plaster the ceiling. Tretex is a difficult material to spackle and paint if you want it really smooth and nice. I plastered over my tretex boards in the bedroom. Plaster right on and then double plaster screw.

 

[Stefan1972]

yes it feels unnecessary to tear down the old roof or why do you mean you are going to do it?

 

[snowjim]

The problem is that the tiles seem to be quite uneven, which will likely make it difficult to get the drywall even.

So, to do this correctly, I need to take down the tretex boards, and the insulation will likely come down as well. I'll then have to nail up furring strips and, as I do that, add new insulation. After that, it's just a matter of putting up the drywall, spackling, and finally painting. However, I can imagine that the ceiling might crack at the joints since it's a wooden house that moves.

Since this feels like too much work right now, I thought if I fill in those ugly cracks, we can live with it for a while longer. Sure, it won't be very straight, but hiding the cracks should make it much better.

 

[Stefan1972]

Gypsum is quite forgiving, so if you just place the joints in the middle of the old boards as best you can, it will probably be better than it is now.
But concretely, you really don't need to get upset about the gaps at all. You can just ignore them in the same way you ignore it when you grout everything. It's just a mindset thing anyway.
If you have an older house, you probably have to live with it moving and cracking here and there. It's part of the package.

 

[Stefan N]

Either use joint compound to blend the seam so it shows, or just leave it as is; you will never get a smooth and nice ceiling with these boards. Gypsum is the only thing that can make it look nice.

 

[Peter2400]

I tidied up a similar ceiling by machine sanding over all the seams to make them smooth, then I glued paper strips with wet room glue over all the seams and then spackled twice.
With the "right" lighting, it looks really good, no sidelight on the ceiling.
It was about 5 years ago but no cracks yet.