Are there any potential problems with painting both sides of sheetrock?
My brother and I bought a fixer-upper A-frame, with a partial 2nd story. Part of the return for the electric furnace uses a gap between the roof and a finished portion of the upstairs hallway. The sheetrock has to be replaced but I was thinking I didn’t want the return air running over the bare sheetrock paper where mold/mildew could be a potential issue. So I has thinking of painting the return-air side of the sheetrock with bathroom paint. The room side would of course be painted later.
The furnace guy said the volume between the sheetrock and the roof is sufficient to support the furnance air flow. So that is not a problem.
Replies
Painting the backside of the DW will do little if anything.
I am more concerned with insulation, roof ventaltion, air sealing, etc with a scheme like that.
Where are you located? More details on the construction of the house?
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A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
I am against using DW for an air chase on general principle. Put in duct while it's open.
Mike Hennessy
Pittsburgh, PA
I don't know that paint will stop the mold/mildew anyway--look at sheetrock in bathrooms that's painted and molds anyway. If you put mildewcide in the paint, may help, but do you want to be breathing that? And if it does mold or mildew, you'll be blowing those spores all through your house and breathing that!
i have concerns about having a cold air return running under a roof. In extreme cold the 2nd level ceiling will act like a radiant floor, but in reverse. Moisture may condense inside the return, then soak the drywall upon return to warmer weather. Mold LOVES drywall and once in, is in for good. Put in proper sheet metal and get a new furnace guy.
toolman65
Thanks,
the place was built circa 1968, and a look shows no apparent damage or mildew from the practice. now there is an addition that covers the side of the house where the return is, providing less opportunity for condensation. But I note from some of the other messages that this practice is no longer common, or allowed.
HVAC is outside my trade, so my understanding of this issue may not be complete, or correct.
Making a joist or rafter bay into a duct is an old practice ... but it's no longer allowed. Even in the 'old days,' the insides were supposed to be sealed, yet seldom were. There are also issues where wires and pipes enter this "duct." At the very minimum, the inside three faces should be sealed with mastic, and the open face covered with a sheet metal 'pan' before the drywall is hung. Simply using a cavity as a duct is not an accepted practice.
now ya tell us....
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Pan the bay.
J. D. Reynolds
Home Improvements