Ceiling Options

[Dan Case LR]

My shop is an attached 2-car garage with sheetrock on the ceiling that drops for the last 9 or ten feet of the garage's depth to accommodate some ductwork and 2nd floor plumbing. A few years back when I remodeled my master bath, I had to cut out some of the sheetrock to access the plumbing. Patching those holes in the garage were never a big priority, but I'm getting tired of looking at them and have decided to get on with it.

While sheetrock is an OK material for this ceiling and I could easily fix the holes, I like the idea of a more removable material since, of course, plumbing prefers to leak where there is sheetrock between it and the living space. I've contemplated a few options, including replacing the sheetrock with painted plywood that can be unscrewed if necessary. A drop-ceiling might be an option, but I don't want to lose any height, which means I'd have to remove the ceiling joists from the dropped portion (they're not structural, so not a big deal--just a little messy). I don't need fancy, just something effective that won't have a negative effect on the resale value of the house.

Has anyone seen a ceiling system I'm not thinking of that might be a viable option here? I'd like to keep it budget-friendly, since it's going to cut into my tool-and-fine hardwoods budget.

Thanks!

D.

[Carl Beckett]

A relative of mine has a high end house in CA. In their living room, the ceiling is basic sanded plywood with a light whitewash type of stain. The plywood even has the little oval cutouts where they replaced some knots. It blends into the rest of the design quite well. Have always remembered this trick - a basic material grade but with a little attention to how its finished works very well.

I think Im going to do something like this for the interior walls of my shop. Maybe T111 with a translucent stain.

[Ole Anderson]

Check your local codes, if you have a living space above the garage you need a fire stop, which usually consists of 5/8" rated sheet rock with taped joints and all penetrations sealed off. That might give the occupants above time to escape a gasoline fueled garage fire. The house across from me went up 10 years ago when the lady of the house parked the car in the garage even though it was mysteriously smoking at the time. Serious garage fires are not that all uncommon, several homes in my sub have had serious garage fires over the years. You might be allowed to install a fire rated steel access panel to serve the plumbing.

[Lee Schierer]

Also if your pipes are leaking because they are freezing, it is due to lack of insulation or air infiltration behind the dry wall. Fix the reason that leaks are happening and then drywall up the ceiling to meet code and protect your family.

[Dan Case LR]

Check your local codes, if you have a living space above the garage you need a fire stop, which usually consists of 5/8" rated sheet rock with taped joints and all penetrations sealed off. That might give the occupants above time to escape a gasoline fueled garage fire. The house across from me went up 10 years ago when the lady of the house parked the car in the garage even though it was mysteriously smoking at the time. Serious garage fires are not that all uncommon, several homes in my sub have had serious garage fires over the years. You might be allowed to install a fire rated steel access panel to serve the plumbing.

Good catch, Ole. I checked our current city codes, and the current requirement is 1/2" type X gypsum board. No requirement for fire stop or sealoff of penetrations. The house is 40 years old, and current code does not mandate compliance with current code, only with code in effect at construction. The gray area is determining exactle when you've crossed the line to making substantial changes, where the new code kicks in.

I did find an excellent zero-clearance tile system that would work for this, and there are fire-rated tiles available. Unfortunately, I doubt that the PVC grid system is 1-hoiur rated. Sheetrock it is.

Thanks!

D.

[Dan Case LR]

Also if your pipes are leaking because they are freezing, it is due to lack of insulation or air infiltration behind the dry wall. Fix the reason that leaks are happening and then drywall up the ceiling to meet code and protect your family.

Lee, you're bringing back memories of my childhood, growing up in Harborcreek. Not to worry, I've forgiven you for that.

One of the nice things about living in Little Rock is that the only way most homes have frozen pipes is if the heat it totally turned off and pipes haven't been drained. I've lived in this house for 16 years and I've never had a frozen pipe--"and that's what I like about the south."

Around here, most houses are either frame-on-slab or built on a crawl space. Many are a combination of slab and crawl space. Here's something that will strike terror in your NWPA heart... this house has hot and cold water pipes in the slab and uninsulated copper in the crawl space. Yes, really!

Even on those rare days when it gets down to single digits, it's usually not that cold long enough to suck the residual heat from the earth and concrete. If it stays that cold for long enough to be a problem, all it takes is the slightest drip of the faucet to keep the water moving enough and prevent freezing.

The water damage you see on that sheetrock ceiling isn't from a leaking pipe. Its origin was deteriorated caulking between the tile floor and tub in the hall bath, and it only happened on those rare occasions when my adult daughter spent the night. She's not good at keeping the water inside the shower. The leak's been fixed. I may tolerate less-than-ideal ceilings, but water dripping on my machines and bench? NEVER!

D.

[Jim Andrew]

Was going to suggest a suspended ceiling, but sounds like you have already ruled that out. I have a salvage suspended ceiling in my shop, my local bank was being remodeled, and asked my loan officer about it, and the next morning I was there with my trailer taking the ceiling out. My shop is an old pole building, and the guys who built it didn't get the trusses spaced evenly, so I was going to have to put nailers under the framing to fasten sr to, and the suspended ceiling was free. I checked to see if the tiles would burn, by putting scraps on my burn pile, they turned black but that was all. Had to put the scraps in the trash.

[Larry Frank]

While I think that sometimes the codes are a little too much. The codes requiring 5/8" sheet rock and seal off are very good and make sense. I do not want any chance of having fumes drift back into the house. In addition to the codes, I have in my garage and shop, alarm temperature sensors that alarm over a certain temperature and rate of rise. I think that one of the most likely spots for a fire to start and spread is in a shop or garage.

Call me ..... over cautious