Age and type of house
Lath and plaster is bulging on an Edwardian ceiling. Has the survey pulled the laths down?
No. The survey has not pulled the laths down. Lath and plaster is bulging on an Edwardian ceiling, so the coat is coming away from the timber laths, or the laths are losing their hold, and the visit recorded that bulge from below. It did not strip the ceiling, did not test each lath, and did not decide how much of the coat is still keyed. A bulge can be a hollow patch or a wider area close to dropping. The survey notes the distortion. It has not opened the ceiling to prove the extent.
Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Written for buyers in England and Wales unless this answer says otherwise. No named surveyor has signed this page. It is general guidance, not a report on your house, and not legal advice.
What is the fuller explanation?
Lath and plaster keys the wet coat through gaps in thin timber strips. When the key breaks, the plaster can hang off the laths and show as a bulge or a drumming patch from the room. Tapping, if it was done, is still not the same as taking the laths down and seeing the failure from above or from behind. This visit did not do that. Joists above the bulge were not exposed either. Age explains the method. It does not measure the loose area.
If rooms will be lived under that ceiling, ask a plastering or structural contractor to open a small area and report the extent, as work beyond this survey. Tell a lender the ceiling bulges and the laths were not pulled down, so the scale is unknown. Do not describe the whole floor as about to fall, and do not describe the ceiling as firm. The survey stopped at the bulge it could see from below.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Were the laths pulled down, or was the bulge only seen from below?
- Has the extent of lost key been measured?
- Were the joists above the bulge exposed?
What are the typical next steps?
- Treat the extent of the bulge as unopened.
- Ask a contractor to open a small area if extent matters.
- Do not tell a lender the ceiling is firm or about to fall.
Costs vary with the building and with who you instruct. Where this page does not cite a published figure, ask the surveyor, a relevant specialist, or your solicitor for a written quote. Do not treat a forum average as the price.
Also asked about this
Does hairline crazing elsewhere on the ceiling match this bulge?
Not necessarily. Crazing can be in the paint or the skim, while a bulge is the coat leaving the laths. The survey has not pulled laths down in either place and has not equated the two. Describe the bulge as the thing that was seen. Do not spread one distortion across every old ceiling in the house.
Can furniture under the bulge be left out of the report?
The survey reports the ceiling, not a plan for the furniture. It has not pulled the laths down and has not said the plaster will drop on a date. Where you put a bed is your judgment once you have the limit. The finding stays the bulge, seen from below, with the laths unopened.