Hello everybody.
This is Doris. The upstairs of my condo gets way too much roof heat. Don’t want to mess with the condo association. Therefore, can anyone direct me to where I can purchase great looking ceiling tiles that also have a huge R-factor?
Thanks
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Replies
Greetings Doris, As a first time poster Welcome to Breaktime.
This post, in response to your question, will bump the thread through the 'recent discussion' listing again.
There should be someone along shortly to help you with advice.
Cheers
'Nemo me impune lacesset'
No one will provoke me with impunity
You might try thermo-tile.com.
-T
Hi Doris,
I really don't think you are gonna find any ceiling tile with a huge "R" factor. Most are only rated at 1 to 3....which is relatively nothing at all.
To eliminate excessive roof heat from penetrating into your upstairs rooms, you need to have this heat ventilated out. If your condo has access to an attic, an electric powered attic vent fan is the ticket. They are thermostatically controlled, very reliable and cost around $100. You will need an experienced handyman or electrician to do the installation work for you...this will probably set you back an additional $75 to $100. Placing fiberglass batt insulation in your attic area...or having blown-in insulation installed will give you much added benefits.
If you do not have attic access and/or an electrical feed that can be properly tied into...then simply having a few simple roof vents installed in key areas will also do the trick. Any roofer can do this for you....these vents are approx $20 each, plus whatever the roofer will charge for his services.
Should you not want to go the "construction work" route, you can have a window "box" fan installed in a nearby upstairs window that blows outward...thus venting out the hot air...but also venting out your air-conditioned air as well, if you have central air. If you already have a suspended ceiling in place...you could also keep the existing tile, but simply have fiberglass batt insualtion laid above it...the fiberglass would have a much higher rating than any tile could give you.
My first choice would be the powered vent...coupled with proper attic insulation....after that, the choice is yours.
Good luck.
Davo
Welome to BT.
I don't know if they are still made, but there use to a cloth faced fiberglass tile that was about 1 1/2 - 2" thick. We have a few boxes of them still left at work. I'll get the information off the box Tuesday when I go back to work.
The F/G is very dense but does not stop air movement. Which brings me to the question (s).
Where are you, that a building does not need insulation and an air barrier at the attic/ceiling interface?
Is this some kind of converted commercial building that is centrally heated and cooled and the system left in place after the conversion to condos?
The reason I ask, is that you may not be the only owner with the problem, and this could be a code issue if the attic space is common to more than one condo.
The eventual solution to your problem is stopping the air moevment through the ceiling and then insulation. F/G insulated tiles nor any drop in tile is going to stop the air exchange. There are some by Armstrong that have a reflectice foil back that serves as a radiant barrier and is good at stopping air movement through the tile itself, but you still have the edges laying on the grid that are not sealed.
Let us know more, and I am sure someone here will offer a good solution.
Dave