Hey all,
We bought this 1927 Arts and Crafts home in Feb 2020. On the 4th of July, 2020 one of the bedroom ceilings collapsed... or at least an entire 2 sheets of this old fiberboard-backed plaster.
This stuff appears to be added during the 1950's, the downstairs is original lathe and plaster. I'm guessing they were short on funds and didn't replace the roof on time (1927 to 1950's is the lifespan of an average asphalt shingle roof). In fact since the neighbor's house was built in the 1950's I'm suspicious they had to sell that lot. Point is, they didn't have a lot of funds, so it was done shoddily.
The one that collapsed was hung up using 3/4" nails, through 1/4" fiberboard. So it only ever sunk those nails 1/2". I noticed one other bedroom had already been replaced within the past 10 years, it probably also failed leading up to it's replacement. The bathroom ceiling has had drywall installed over the old plaster.
So, that leaves the hallway and one bedroom left... both have large cracks appearing in the plaster down the seams of the sheets of fiberboard. Both have gaps forming between the fiberboard and the joists... up to ~1/4" of separation.
I've removed a great deal of old insulation which was adding too much weight to the ceiling... lots of old vermiculite crap (I've been wearing a 3M filtered full-face mask). There was a large pile built up from where they'd cleared over the bathroom which had been set upon the ceiling over the hall and remaining bedroom.
So, now that I've got the old insulation out I'm thinking about what to do next. I could demo the ceiling and install new... obviously. That is a valid option, but not one I'd take lightly... It was an insane amount of work to rebuild the ceiling in the one bedroom... I cannot imagine doing that all over again... only above a stairwell.
One idea I thought up recently is running a bead of locktite construction adhesive along the joists where it's been separating and then using a postjack to push up the fiberboard back onto the joists, let it sit overnight to set.
My only hesitation with that is I know how much of a hair-trigger this ceiling is on... demoing the remainder of the other ceiling there were sections that I just needed to set my hand upon it and it came down. And I'm unsure how easily the nails might reseat themselves into the joists, or if they'll simply push through the plaster, leaving me with large holes, potentially causing a fracture
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