The Ceiling of My House

The ceiling above the Sitting Room comprises of 8mm 

thick fibrose gypsum board and supported by sawn wood

75mm x 100mm and 50mm x 50mm sizes. Attacks by 

insects were noticed five years ago, when powdery 

remains fell on the floor from the ceiling. A few years ago,

sign of deterioration was seen on gypsum board too. 

Last month, the ceiling was taken down, examined and 

replaced with aluminium supports and new gypsum 

ceiling. 

While the 75mmx100mm timber remained intact, most of 

the 50mmx50mm timber members were eaten by the 

white ants. Some timber even turned black!

If the insects had eaten the 75mmx100mm timber, the ceiling

would have collapsed. The choice of the timber was left to 

the contractor during the construction and I did not pay 

attention to the type of wood used, thinking that this was 

minor part of the building. So the consequence is, after 

fifteen years, I have to gradually replace all the ceiling. It is

now costing RM100 per square foot, while in the past, it was

less than half.

The lesson here is, every item of the building, 

whether major or minor, (which may be 

thousand of them in a building) has to be

supervised and checked in order to get a better

quality. It will definitely last longer although you

may slow down the works and create hostilities 

from Sub-Contractors!