The Thailand expat forum for Travel, Lifestyle and Fun.

kingwilly

fat bastard.

30x30 would be fine for me.

Loy Toy

Geez willy how wide are your shoulders?

Just over 12 inches by 12 inches! My missus would struggle to get through that and she is only 48 kgs.

citizen33

I have a trap door access to the attic which is based on a wooden frame secured to adjacent internal brick walls. I'm assuming that your ceiling, like mine, is made with plaster board (gypsum) sheets secured to an aluminium frame and skimmed over. In my case the aluminium strips are secured at each end to the brick walls and also supported by vertical wires fixed to the roof beams. My take on this is that it isn't a good idea to cut any of the aluminium strips without a good idea of how you are going to join adjacent strips, cut ends etc to get a strong frame around the cut-out trap. I don't think putting some 'L' shaped aluminium mouldings around the hole with glue is really the way to go. Perhaps something could be sorted out by pop-riveting in some additional cross members between the existing strips and trying to enlarge the hole in such a way that the new edges align with existing strips on two sides. My own preference though would be to try to put in some additional wooden or steel beams to support a strong frame for the cut-out.

jizzybloke

yep, i'd like this too!

dirtydog

This will help you with ceiling repairs etc.

Butterfly

sounds quite complicated, too professional and well done, definitely not Thai style

a few useful tips though that I will definitely use, nice video, thanks

DrAndy

if you get a proper builder rather than a village worker, you may be suprised at their skills

Butterfly

good point but

1) they are difficult to find
2) they don't come for small jobs

Thanks

DrAndy

fair enough

so, now you know how to do it, hire a local bloke and supervise him closely!

Butterfly

try that before, took as much time and effort as doing it myself, might as well do it myself

I don't mind doing it, I learn something new and it can be fun. I just don't want to destroy everything, that's my main concern. Last week, I fixed a small leak in my roof. It took my neighbour 3 monkeys over 2 week-end to fix that same small leak (cracked in our common wall). They are fucking hopeless.

DrAndy

OK so, to make it larger you only have to change two sides, and lengthen the other two

as was said, make sure there are no wires or pipes

leave the side nearest the wall as is, just make it longer. Cut you hole to the size you want. If you are using a premade hole and door, that is what you have to work to, if not, any size around 50x30cm would be Ok, 50x40cm better

you now have your hole. Any supports that you have cut (don't worry, the other supports will take the weight for the short term) should be bridged so that the weight around the hole is then on the adjacent supports. You can do this with bits of aluminium, as suggested, or even wood. Using the latter, you can put them in place using Construction adhesive ("It is not nails", "Just like nails", "Sticks like shit" etc). Small screws or clamps can be used until the adhesive sets (24/48 hrs)

now you have a supported hole. You can make a trapdoor to fit, but remember that with that type of ceiling you cannot use a leaning ladder to access the space (as was pointed out) as the panels are not robust enough.

__________________
keep 'em coming

Butterfly

I finally found the spot. I can't widen the existing one, too many wire and shit and there is a water pipe.

I am a fat bastard, I hope I can make it to 60x40 or 60x30,

should the longer side be near the wall ? that might be my only option.

DrAndy

if that is your only option, it should be!

I suppose in theory, the less supporting beams you cut, the better

try to only cut one main support, if possible

Butterfly

^ will probably need to cut 2 or 3, anyway I think I have an idea of what to do, should be interesting

Next project: fix another leak in the big roof,

melvbot

Can you take a few photos of how youre doing it please? This may come in handy for someone else.

Butterfly

^ I might, especially for the section around the edge to make the trap close, this is by far the most complex part. Will probably need to take pics for the roof leak once I climbed the service trap as I have no idea how to fix that one. Could be a tile that moved, or something else. That one is going to be a big project. New thread.

Butterfly

Ok, things are not going too well

first, drawing a large rectangle on a ceiling is harder than I expected, my neck hurts, and it looks kind of straight but drawing a right angle upside down is quite challenging

second, I have a Jigsaw, some Chinese one from Tesco, it looks ok so I hope it will perform well. But how do you cut through the ceiling with those ? I first tried to cut the ceiling with a cutter, but that didn't make it, ceiling too strong (5cm plaster), and the Jigsaw won't cut through for the first cut. What should I do ?

skidley

Drill a series of holes at the start of each cut line to insert the blade. When you get to the end of the cut line stop just short of meeting the next series of start holes. Only need to leave a couple of millimeters. These will keep the cut out tacked in place at the corners instead of coming down on your head. When you have done all four cuts place one hand in the center of the cut out and with the palm of your other hand give each corner a good knock and the corners will break away easily.

There is no way the ceiling is 5 cm (50 millimeters) thick, maximun would be 1.2 cm.

Also when working upside down try not to stand on your head it can cause you to fall though your arse.

Marmite the Dog

Just bash out the hole with a hammer.

Mid

drill a hole

to start the jigsaw

BUT given you were unaware of that , your best bet would be to give the job to someone who knows what they are doing