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Plastering & Rendering

Options for overboarding a plaster and lath ceiling

Anonymous user 02/09/2026 - 7.51 AM

Hello - looking for some advise, please, on whether there are any good options for overboarding a ceiling when existing coving only has a small projection above existing ceiling. I have a 1 bed flat with a plaster and lath ceiling in the living room. The ceiling is in pretty good condition (a couple of minor cracks, no sagging). I was hoping to add spotlights - but an electrician said it can be hard to fix the holes afterwards and suggested overboarding with modern plasterboard. I'd be interested in doing this, if it makes the electrical works easier. But there's some quite intricate decorative coving around the room - it sits on the wall below the ceiling and also directly on the ceiling. The coving on the ceiling has a narrow edge which only projects ~4mm above ceiling, so I'm guessing that overboarding may also mean replacing the coving - making it quite a big and expensive job? Interested if anyone has handled similar and if there's a clever option for overboarding without replacing the coving? Thank you

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1 Answer

Wiltshire Traditional Plastering & Restoration

Rating: 4.8 out of 5
Salisbury
Hi, Can you not just cut sections at point of downlighting? Then just make sure existing laths are fixed into joists and plasterboard and patch the sections. Rather than going over the whole ceiling with board and still maintaining the period cornice
Answered2 September 2026
1