First thing Saturday I took a trip to the builders merchant to get the timber for the recessed plasterboard in the ceiling. I needed basically 18 lengths at 2.7m long to complete the job. I had to cut these to length myself using a hand saw. They had various lengths but I had to select lengths that when cut to 2.7m left a minimum of 1.8m as an off-cut. This ensured that I only paid for the lengths required. It took me about 45 minutes in the end as I had to sort through lots of bundles of timber to find suitable lengths. I also picked up a 2.5 litre bottle of PVA.
I got to work as soon as I got home. Firstly, I drilled holes along the timber lengths - 162 in total! I then prepared the first joist for attaching. To ensure that the timbers were set back at exactly at 25mm (2x12.5mm thick plasterboard) I cut several spacer blocks and clamped them in position onto the side of the joist. This also acted as a rest to support it when being secured. I then glued the length and screwed it in position. Only another 17 to go and it took the rest of day and a couple of hours on Sunday to complete the job.