Ceiling fell in- Need contractor in Lakewood ASAP!

Log in / Sign Up

List of Forums + New Post Recipe Box Usergroups Following My Posts Bookmarks

Private Messages Advanced Search Rules New User Guide FAQ Advertise Contact Us

Forum -> Inquiries & Offers

View latest: 24h 48h 72h

DVOM

Tue, Jul 25 2017, 8:31 am

Hi everyone!

So we recently bought a beautiful little farmhouse, really old, really lovely. We had just enough in the budget to paint the living room, dining room and kitchen. Bedrooms, hallways, playroom, were going to wait until I'd saved up enough to paint them. So we had a painter come yesterday to give us an estimate (I thought I'd paint myself, but the move is taking a lot more out of me than I anticipated). He climbed up on a ladder and gently tapped on the ceiling of the living room... and the ceiling fell down on his head!

Turns out this particular ceiling was made out of some sort of hundred year old presswood/cardboard, and is rotted through. It needs to be removed and the ceiling sheet rocked. The painter said his 'guys' could do the job, and will be emailing me with an estimate. The number he quoted me off the top of his head made me tear up (don't worry, I did not cry in front of the big burly painter! Just sniffled a bit...) Aside from that, we're a little anxious about a painter building us a ceiling. I called a few contractors. None of them do such 'little' jobs.

We have a big hole in the ceiling of our living room. Anyone have a name for us of someone who does these type of repairs?

Chayalle

Tue, Jul 25 2017, 8:34 am

Yikes, I had something similar - DH stepped on the wrong spot in the attic when putting away the Pesach dishes, and the ceiling cracked - I called a guy who advertises in the Lakewood weekly, and he did an excellent job. But I can't for the life of me remember his name, though I've seen him there recently.

mommy_r

Tue, Jul 25 2017, 8:37 am

How upsetting!!! You might be better off using a handyman (although they charge by the hour usually so may be more). We've been happy with David Rauer - you can look him up in the phone book.

Rubber Ducky

Tue, Jul 25 2017, 9:01 am

You don't need a contractor. The job sounds specialized and small, and contractors charge a markup. You need a drywall guy or a handyman. Ask around (as you are doing here) and if you feel adventurous, see if you can get a recommendation at your local lumberyard or Home Depot.

imalady

Tue, Jul 25 2017, 10:00 am

Actuallly you probably do need a contractor. If the ceiling is rotted the joists may be also. This may be a large job not just some sheetrock

33055

Tue, Jul 25 2017, 10:51 am

I would also check to see if there is mold.

DVOM

Tue, Jul 25 2017, 11:43 am

imalady wrote:

Actuallly you probably do need a contractor. If the ceiling is rotted the joists may be also. This may be a large job not just some sheetrock

oh gosh, do you think so? This is so scary... I did finally get an all around construction guy to come give us an estimate on Thursday, hopefully he'll be able to give us more information.

MagentaYenta

Tue, Jul 25 2017, 3:31 pm

It will have to be opened before you get a quote for repairs. You do need to find the source of the problem I.e. Was it wet or dry rot,
other parts of th ceiling/floor compromised?

DVOM

Tue, Jul 25 2017, 3:39 pm

MagentaYenta wrote:

It will have to be opened before you get a quote for repairs. You do need to find the source of the problem I.e. Was it wet or dry rot,
other parts of th ceiling/floor compromised?

So floor is concrete, just ripped up old carpet and having new flooring put down. Doesnt look damaged so far as we can tell.

The roof was just replaced three years ago because there was a leak in this room. My husband cut out a section of the ceiling (where the smaller hole was) to take a look. He thinks that this part of the ceiling was water damaged before the roof was replaced. Its an unusual ceiling, criscrossed with very heavy wooden beams/rafters. Hard to tell if other sections of the ceiling were damaged as well. Either way, this ceiling was built with very flimsy material, which is really unusual for our house, which is very old and solidly built. The painter thought that this is a 'drop ceiling,' that the squares of ceiling in between the grid of rafters was added sometime later than the rest of the house and not built very well. Sigh! Hopefully we'll know more tomarrow when the contractor comes to take a look and give an estimate. My husband can fix most things himself (he is gutting the basement as we speak) but he's never replaced a ceiling before... We're just going to have to see how much damage there is and swollow the cost somehow.

MagentaYenta

Tue, Jul 25 2017, 3:51 pm

DVOM wrote:

If yout house has good bones this may just be inconvenient. I think I have a visual on the style of ceiling. It's probably time to upgrade, not convenient, but that is what happens when you love an old home.

Excuse the typos, iPad in use.

Iymnok

Wed, Jul 26 2017, 5:31 am

If it's just a drop ceiling, you can remove it entirely and finish the original with the exposed beams. They could be left as stained wood or painted with some level of contrast.

Page 1 of 1