How to dismantle a GKL suspended ceiling

No renovation lasts forever. Sooner or later, there will be a need not just to update the interior, but to overhaul it. And before that, get rid of the old finish. Our tips site will tell you how to carefully and correctly dismantle a plasterboard suspended ceiling (GKL).

The reasons why you have to dismantle the suspended ceiling made of plasterboard can be different: neighbors flooded and the ceiling swelled, you need to change the insulation under it, the structure just worn out, the service life has ended, the owners want to radically change the interior…

In any case, you will need to carry out this stage of work using the following tools:

1. Stepladders or trestles to work comfortably at height.
2. Putty knife.
3. Construction awl.
4. Screwdriver.
5. Construction knife.
6. Reverse screwdriver to unscrew the screws.
7. Magnet to look for screw caps and other fasteners.

All stages of work must be carried out in the following sequence:

1. Remove the skirting boards. If they are ordinary, lightweight, made of polystyrene, then it will be difficult to keep them – they break easily. However, they are inexpensive, so you shouldn’t worry too much. If the skirting boards were glued, you can peel them off with a spatula. If they were attached with staples, which are much less common, you should use a staple remover or screwdriver.
2. Disconnect the power supply and remove all lighting fixtures that have been installed in the false ceiling, including LED strips. The ends of the wiring are necessarily insulated.
3. Remove the final finishing if the wallpaper on the ceiling, for example, needs to be stripped off. It is more difficult to completely remove paint from drywall, but you need to try, because it interferes with finding the caps of the screws. The plaster layer is first removed with a construction trowel and then with a hard sponge..
4. Remove the serpentine mesh, which reinforced the joints between the drywall sheets.
5. Locate the caps of the screws with a magnet and carefully unscrew them with a screwdriver. At this stage, assistants will be required, because the drywall sheet will need to be held so that it does not fall, does not break.
6. Drywall sheets can now be removed.
7. If there was thermal insulation under them – remove it too, you need to change it.
8. If instead of a suspended ceiling there is something else, it is necessary to completely disassemble all the guides on which the drywall was attached. Otherwise, if you just need to replace the gypsum board, the guides, of course, should not be touched.

Important! If drywall is no longer planned to be used, it can simply be cut and removed in layers along with the finishing. But the screws from the guides still need to be unscrewed.

Dismantling a plasterboard ceiling is no more difficult than removing the old slate from the roof, which the portal has already written about.