Browse Forums Owner Builder Forum 1 Jun 11, 2009 1:51 pm Hi all Whats the norm, required. Truss at 900mm centres. Is it standard practice to put the plaster direct to the top cord at 900 centres or go with plater battens? I was told plaster would go onto the timber if 600 centres and in small areas of 900. But for large areas batten are best. But I loose 30mm of ceiling height with the battens is this correct? Thanks to all KW.............. “It's just as unpleasant to get more than you bargain for as to get less” George Bernard Shaw. Re: Plaster to top cord or battens? 2Jun 11, 2009 3:27 pm I think you mean bottom chord of the truss. The normal is batten down then plaster to the batten rather than direct to the bottom chord. You don't lose your ceiling height as your walls are eg 2700 high but the external walls have a ribbon plate which is 35 or 45mm so your pitching height is 2735 come down 25mm for batten + 10mm for plaster and you still have your 2.7 wall height. Re: Plaster to top cord or battens? 3Jun 11, 2009 11:50 pm well said Nomad, if anyone has ever tried to go straight to underside of truss cord, u will no doubt find a lot of "waves" along the ceiling when lites r turned on!!! battens tend to keep ceiling nice & flat... cheers tony Re: Plaster to top cord or battens? 4Jun 14, 2009 11:03 pm Great stuff as always boys, Thanks heaps. Interesting, I know of a few who do plaster direct to the bottom cord. My understanding (limited I may add) is if you have 600mm truss centers you can plaster direct to them & it’s with in code. Is this correct? Thanks as always guys. KW………… “It's just as unpleasant to get more than you bargain for as to get less” George Bernard Shaw. Re: Plaster to top cord or battens? 5Jun 14, 2009 11:41 pm Hi KW. don't know about terminology here - i haven't done "plaster" ceilings, only gyprock, when we put gyprock on ceilings we use a thing call "furling chanel" ( this might be a local W.A. term)- lightweight metal product which lets u get ceiling flat. problem with bottom of trusses is simply irregular sizing & quality of timber (especially pine trusses - can wander all over the shop). in the bad old days i put a few ceilings in beach huts with hardiflex sheeting & used to pack bottoms of rafters flat then tack up - result was a bit ordinary quality but very budget driven. i don't know about codes but furling chanel is all i see used here these days. cheers tony Re: Plaster to top cord or battens? 6Jun 15, 2009 12:49 am Tony thanks mate. I went to the local building supplier and asked for plaster battens. He showed me top hat 25mm blue Zink battens. OK says I that must be them. As it did say plaster battens next to them. Then latter I pulled up at a building site in Melbourne & sore a few plasters working (Asian guys). I kindly asked for some advice and to my surprise got “me no English” I just about ** myself in laughter. I can get by in Chinese but not that well. I asked him to show me the tricks of the trade & he and his team where impresses with my poor Chinese & my eagerness to learn about plastering. He insisted, since I asked, I take a plaster batter or batten, batten, batten as he called it. In Chinese 条板,条板,条板. (for future reference) I now think it is what you called it more like a C section channel & only 20mm not a top hat type. I’ve got 900 centers on the truss, so I think the code calls for battens. Do you happen to know how close they place them 600mm apart I guess or 450mm? My Chinese was not that good. Lol I must say we all had a good laugh and as all 15 of them crambed into the Hi Ace to head home, I could not help wondering how much they charge, may have been worth asking. Im also going to get a building code (English version)as it will be a good investment for me. KW………… “It's just as unpleasant to get more than you bargain for as to get less” George Bernard Shaw. Re: Plaster to top cord or battens? 7Jun 15, 2009 8:13 am hey kw, there are 2 types of metal battens, 1 the top hat style, the other the channel type. Channel type is cheaper, but i think the top hat is easier to use. as for the spacing, if you have multi span stuff in the 10mm (costs more) youd go 600mm centres, but if you use the regular 10mm plaster board you do 450 centres. add up the prices, i found was cheaper to use more battens then go up to the multi span plaster and use less battens. hth mrs martin Re: Plaster to top cord or battens? 9Jun 15, 2009 10:01 am Thanks to all I did not know about the clips, thanks. Ok so there is 2 types. There was more room to screw the top hat to the cord than the c channel. My spec says the span plaster but hey "What are you going to do" if its not. I have seen ceiling with the waves in the plaster, man, it looks so sad and spoils the ceiling. I bet there is something in the code for an allowance to cover it. But it looks dreadful. A builder told me in small rooms they go to the bottom cord but in large rooms they use battens, would that mean some rooms ceiling would be 20mm lower than the others? Whats the price difference detween the two types of plaster span and regular? Is the span much better? Thanks people for your knowledge & help the O.B. thread & it posters are a real asset to this forum. Regards KW........... “It's just as unpleasant to get more than you bargain for as to get less” George Bernard Shaw. Re: Plaster to top cord or battens? 10Jun 15, 2009 10:35 am Hi King willy batons are better than no batons. Bat tons with clips are better than batons or there own. Two issues in ceiling. One issue may be ceiling is not level. Second issue is that trusses are designed with a camber in them. Batons with clips will give the best result but cost more to use. Batons on there own seem to tapper off any changes in levels, to make it a bit better also if they are run at 450 there is less room for plaster to sagg. Re: Plaster to top cord or battens? 11Jun 15, 2009 11:04 am As Borg said trusses are designed with camber, they are designed so the bottom chord the camber will drop 50% when the loads are applied and 50% more over the next 12 months. So If plastered direct to the bottom chord the trusses might still need to drop another 1-10mm which means the ceiling goes with it. This wont matter much over small span trusses but anything 10m or over can be a problem. Plaster will span 600mm direct to the bottom chord but you need a special type of plaster for that application (13mm or unispan I think. The only time I think direct to the bottom chord is appropriate is if your matching in to an existing dwelling and have height issues matching the ceiling height. As Borg said 450mm can reduce possible waves in your ceiling that might occur at a larger spacing. Re: Plaster to top cord or battens? 12Jun 15, 2009 11:20 am Thanks guys all makes good sence to me. Must be only the ceap, cheap , cheap builders going direct to the bottom cord hey. You guys have been a great help, thanks. Re that Building code, I think I will get a copy, Ive got an idea its available from the building commishion is that correct, at a cost of course. May I ask how you guys know so much, are you pro builders or well informed O.B. Regards KW........... “It's just as unpleasant to get more than you bargain for as to get less” George Bernard Shaw. Re: Plaster to top cord or battens? 13Jun 15, 2009 10:50 pm Hi KW, if u look at my thread "our last o/b & sill lots fun.." & look at the 4th pic UP from bottom of page u will see where i've used furling chanel on the FLAT part of that staggered ceiling where the pinks batts r sitting on top of them just above the bay window. the gyprock sheets run longway across those chanels so u see we've got them at prity close formation - (my home & very overbuilt - thats how i like it.!) no KW i'm not a builder, i married a builders daughter many, many years ago & o/bed 5 homes over last 40 years & done a few other commercial projects over the years - i just love construction generally & am a "older" farmer. keep o/bing KW its a great way to build up ur assetts & enjoy while ur at it! cheers tony Hi, Have used the Dulux 1 step, oil base on my walls(white set), out of can it’s already a more thinner product than a final coat paint Also in water base Water or… 3 5038 yeah i couldnt picture it issue either, but i could clearly picture what they were doing wrong haha 2 5300 |