I love the look of your ceiling. I would run wood filler between each join then varnish the timber.

That hadn’t occurred to me! Will look into it. Thanks.

Hi there, that is a nice idea but with timber expanding and detracting due to temperature the filler could crack, an alternative cost affective way is to plaster between the beams or if you want you could batteren and cover the beams too. this would be very quick and cost affective way to fix the issue you have and would lighten up the room.

Me again, or you could seal up the gaps with a flexible sealant like gap filler and paint the boards.

Thanks, Laurie. Probably a dumb question, but I’m an amateur, is there something that could be spread over the entire ceiling, not just the gaps then painted over? Also, looking at labour time etc, would plastering be quicker than filling gaps.

Do you get moisture through the board lining? if so you need to look at fixing the roof from above but if you just have dust coming through than adding plasterboard between the beams would be a fast result and the labour wouldn't be expensive as the time it takes is quick and if you pay for someone to fill gaps and paint well this would take time. Ask a plaster to give you a fix quote and a the same for a painter. Again if you have any water coming through you would need to fix that first. as mentioned in the comment above I agree you can add insulation between but if you are after a quick low cost fix just plastering between the beams would be good for you.

Thank you oklouise and Laurie. I have some options to explore.

Appreciate your advice,

Carol.

Your ceiling has great character and contributes a lot to the style of the space. It would be a pity to hide the timber under a practical (but boring) sheet of plasterboard. I would look at a "board and batten approach" which was commonly used in American farm buildings. The gap between each board was covered with a narrow batten that conceals the gap in a matching timber. This technique would be easier than a plasterboard sheets between the beams, and overcome the problem of the joint between the plasterboard and the rough sawn beams.

Best of luck,

Dr Retro

Wow, Dr. Retro! Thanks for speaking up. That looks VERY interesting and may be the solution. I was not familiar with that process.

Just to add yes this would add charm as Dr Retro suggest but as the batteren is simply nailed over the gap this will not stop dust from coming through completely. In my experience we have pulled this out of many jobs before due to dust coming through. it looks great but to help best fix the main issue you have I don't believe this is your answer to stopping the dust.

definitely keep the timber ceiling, it is the best feature of your cottage. Do as the good doctor suggests and batten over the gaps. I wouldn't varnish it either; just keep it as natural as possible. The dark beams offset it nicely :)

Okay, I have definitely decided to keep the timber ceiling and will look into having the roof removed to fix it from above and go for the batten solution should that prove prohibitive. I certainly like to do things “the right way”, but sometimes have to do it “the right way for the budget”. This little project is only one of dozens on the list for this old house! Thank you all for your ideas, much appreciated!

if you take the roof off u can install a roof blanket as well.