Landlordreferencing.co.uk – Forum

No I don't like removing them and I always screw my boards to the joists rather than use battons. Yes the pink fire rated boards are the ones that I use and these have half hour fire protection and since there is no void  and the board is sealed when skimmed there will not be a problem.

Spot lights are not good for the EPC.

I don't do anything by halves Paul R – as you will soon find out!

Has this site got a naughty step?  If so Paul R needs to go there and think about his behaviour.

Paul I have found older properties much easier to work with.  The joist are at 18" centres and the original lathe and plaster has no joins.  In more modern properties the joist can vary in distance and the boards are often not joined on a joist so that the edges are not supported and movement above makes them crack constantly. People often put this down to shrinkage where in fact it is poor workmanship and a disregard to the ongoing maintenance.

Overboarding by cutting the boards so that they join on a joist and screwing them to all the joist in between gives a solid finish which does not crack and benefits from the thermal insulation of the poly tiles which prevent condensation and mold.

In bathrooms, where there is no boiler, I use Upvc soffit boards to cover poly tiles, they are easy to fit and the finish looks modern and stays clean.  Where I have done this I have NEVER had a mould problem again because the soffit boards are hollow and the surface is warm and they clean with a damp cloth. In student lets I have covered all my tiled walls with soffit boards too – no mould, no grout to clean and they always look modern and clean – student proof. Soffit boards should only be used in bathrooms where there is no boiler because they are a petroleum product.

Paul I own 5 houses on an estate that was built in the 70's and it was only when a radiatior leaked in a bedroom that I realised why the ceilings cracked constantly.  None of the boards are joined on a joist and there are several places where 4 corners meet with no support.  The plasterer who came to sort the ceiling out told me that he sees this all the time because "they worked on a fix price and the carpenters threw the timbers in and the plasterers won't stop to cut the boards"

The outer walls are dabbed and they too canstantly crack.

And dont get me started on 60's build where the brickies cleaned their trowels and hawks into the cavities.  I now have buildings where the brick ties are bridged by mortar and I have damp patches all the time. There is one particular block of flats where we have had the cavities cleaned 4 times and we cannot get the cavities filled for insulation because of these "bridges"

When you are building you are working to a good standard and thinking about the ongoing maintenance but in the 60's and 70's it was all about speed.

Paul Routledge said:

I Don't buy 70s property Mary they all need rebuilding as you say no cavity ties just bricky's snots which breached the void. I buy Victorian or 90's + now.

Did you see the programme on the 70s 9.00 Mondays BBC2 wow it was so nostalgic and took me right back.

So worth watching 

But nice big rooms and windows. I like Victorian too.

My memory of the 70's is when the hemlines dropped and I lost my mini skirts and hot pants, I never wore those awful thick soled shoes and eventually my dainty high heels came back again. Stop looking back Paul you will bump into a tree!