I’m Osman, and lowering a ceiling means building a new structure under the existing one: a frame with plasterboard, which I then plaster smooth. That’s how I hide pipework, an old joist floor or a damaged ceiling, and leave you with a flat, seamless surface. I do this in a living room just as often as in a loft or a new-build home. I run this business myself, as Sterk Stukadoor, Dutch for “strong plasterer”, and I’ve been plastering for close to twenty years. Customers rate my work 4.9 out of 5 across 34 reviews on Werkspot. Send a photo of the room and I’ll quickly see what’s involved.
Why lower a ceiling
You lower a ceiling to hide something you don’t want to see, or to get a flat surface where the existing one no longer holds up. Think of pipework left over from a renovation, an old timber joist floor, a ceiling with too many patched repairs, or a loft that has never had a proper flat ceiling at all. It also suits built-in lighting well: the spotlights sit inside the new structure, so no wiring is on show. Around the edge I can build in a cove, a small step where indirect lighting gets tucked away. In a renovation where a wall comes out or a room gets added, a lowered ceiling ties the whole space together, without a visible line between the old section and the new one. On top of that, a lowered ceiling gives you a clean start: no old structure and no colour difference from earlier repairs, just one flat surface from wall to wall.
Ceiling lowering or fitting a new ceiling
I build the new ceiling with a frame against the existing one, or between the joists, and fix plasterboard onto it. Want insulation included? It goes into the gap between the old and new ceiling before I close the boards. After that I fill the joints and screw holes so no line is left showing, and plaster the whole surface smooth. That last part is the same work as ceiling plastering, except here it starts from a ceiling that wasn’t there before. What you end up with is a flat, seamless surface, ready for paint.
How I lower a ceiling
Lowering a ceiling involves more steps than a straightforward plastering job, so I keep to a fixed order:
- Look at the room. What’s in or behind the ceiling now, what has to stay out of sight, and how much height is there to build something new.
- Build the frame. It goes up at the height you need, with room for pipework, spotlights or a cove where required.
- Fit insulation. Where wanted, it goes into the gap between the old and new ceiling before the boards go on.
- Fit the boards. Plasterboard goes onto the frame, with corner beads at the edges so they stay sharp.
- Fill joints and holes. Tape and filler on every joint and screw head, so there’s no visible line left afterwards.
- Plaster. The whole surface goes smooth and seamless, ready for paint.
- Clean up. Floor, furniture and the rest of the room are left tidy.
Skim lining or a full lowered ceiling
Not every ceiling needs a whole new structure. A new-build ceiling made of concrete slabs often shows v-shaped joints between the panels, thin lines that keep showing through the paint. If that’s the only issue, a thin skim lining is often enough: a fine fleece goes across the whole ceiling, and I plaster over that, without building a full new ceiling on a frame. If more needs to disappear, pipework, an unattractive joist floor or a badly damaged ceiling, I build a fully lowered ceiling with plasterboard on a frame. Which approach fits depends on what’s actually wrong with the existing ceiling and what you’re trying to achieve. I see this often in new-build flats, where the concrete panels sit dead straight but the joints between them still catch your eye once you notice them. I’d rather look at a photo first, or at the room itself.
| Approach | What happens | Suited to |
|---|---|---|
| Skim lining | Fleece over the existing ceiling, then plastered | Small v-joints or hairline cracks, no loss of height |
| Full lowered ceiling | Frame and plasterboard under the existing ceiling, then plastered | Hiding pipework, a damaged ceiling, a different shape or height |
Hiding pipes and services
Got a pipe, a cable duct or a ventilation channel running along your ceiling? Lowering it is usually the tidier fix, rather than leaving a pipe exposed or half-hidden behind a box. Think of a bathroom waste pipe running across the ceiling of the room below, or air-conditioning pipework routed through the house. The new structure goes around the pipe, and once it’s plastered you won’t see a trace of it left. The same goes for built-in lighting: the spots and the wiring sit in the gap between the old and new ceiling, so the finished result is completely flat, with no surface-mounted fittings or visible cables. Want more than one thing hidden away? Think ahead about where the spots, a smoke detector or an extractor need to go. That saves drilling into a freshly plastered ceiling later on.
Ceiling lowering in a loft or a new-build home
A loft often has no flat ceiling to start with: the joists, the rafters or the underside of the roof covering sit exposed, or there’s an old, uneven ceiling that can’t be made smooth any more. I build a new, flat ceiling underneath, so the loft looks just as finished as the rest of the house. A dormer window can also leave the existing ceiling out of line with the new layout: a lowered ceiling bridges that gap into one continuous surface. In a new build or an extension, lowering a ceiling is sometimes needed to hide pipework running through the floor above, or to bring the ceiling height in line with the rest of the house. I take it on as part of the same job as the rest of the finishing work, so the room is ready in one go.
What ceiling lowering costs
What a lowered ceiling costs depends on the surface area, what exactly needs hiding, and whether a skim lining is enough or it becomes a full new structure. A ceiling with a lot of pipework or an awkward shape takes more preparation than a flat surface with nothing in the way. I don’t quote a price without seeing the room, not even a rough figure per square metre, because that rarely matches what’s actually going on behind the existing ceiling. Two rooms of the same size can differ a lot once one turns out to be a straightforward rectangle and the other is full of pipework, a sloped section or a beam in the way. Send a photo and the size of the room, and I’ll quickly let you know what it involves.
Ceiling lowering or ceiling plastering
Not sure what you need? Lowering a ceiling adds a new structure, usually to hide something or to bring the ceiling down and make it flatter. If you just want an existing ceiling made smooth, without changing its height or structure, that’s ceiling plastering, not lowering. If there’s a crack or a stain from a leak, I’ll first check whether plaster repair is enough, before we talk about lowering anything. Both jobs end in the same plaster finish, the difference sits in what happens before that. Still not sure? Send a photo and I’ll tell you what I see and which approach fits.
Where I lower ceilings
I lower and plaster ceilings from Gorinchem across the wider region: from the Alblasserwaard and Vijfheerenlanden to the Utrecht area and West Brabant. Whether it’s a bathroom ceiling or a whole loft floor, the approach stays the same: I look first, then give a price, then deliver a flat, seamless ceiling. For a bigger job, a whole floor or a renovation across several rooms, I bring one or more colleagues along so it’s finished on time. I often combine it with wall plastering in the same room, and once the ceiling is plastered it’s ready for paint. Want me to handle that too, I’ll just plan it in.
Got a ceiling that needs to come down, get flatter, or lose the pipework running across it? Or a loft with no flat ceiling yet? Send a photo of the room through the form or WhatsApp, and I’ll quickly let you know what’s involved.