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Discussion Forum

tongue and groove wood ceilings

stephen53 | Posted in General Discussion on April 27, 2009 03:35am

I’m in Florida, and a client wants a tongue and groove yellow pine wood ceiling for his porch(460sq’), nailed over the existing wallboard/plaster ceiling. I’m concerned that moisture will build up between the wood and the plasterboard. What do you think? A friend suggested screwing furring strips to the ceiling first, and nailing the wood over that.
thanks for your time, stephen

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Replies

  1. FastEddie | Apr 27, 2009 05:34am | #1

    Where is the moisture going to come from?  I assume the new ceiling boards will have a finish, which will serve as a moisture barrier.

    "Put your creed in your deed."   Emerson

    "When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it."  T. Roosevelt

  2. User avater
    JDRHI | Apr 27, 2009 05:41am | #2

    I would consider removing the existing plaster. That or furring strips.

    Moisture or not, fastening via the tongues through the plaster and into the joists will NOT be fun.

    J. D. Reynolds

    Home Improvements

     

     

     


  3. ubotawat | Apr 27, 2009 05:42am | #3

    The furring strips are the way to go, they will create an air space to allow any moisture to escape. I presume you are talking about humid airborne moisture. Be sure to seal the backside of the pine before you install it.

    1. brownbagg | Apr 27, 2009 05:45am | #4

      here in Mobile, we have 100% humity alway all year round, we really dont have much swelling with wood, I think because its always wet, the wood saturated

  4. User avater
    mmoogie | Apr 27, 2009 06:07am | #5

    It's only 460 sf. Just tear out the existing ceiling and be done with it. You'll get a flatter better job.

    Steve

  5. User avater
    Dinosaur | Apr 27, 2009 06:59am | #6

    For all the reasons mentioned so far, fur it. 1x3 for a piddlin' 460SF will cost almost nothing and go up in about a half hour.

    If you don't have a nail gun, screw the furring in place with an impactor or screw-gun. Use Piffin screws, of course. ;-)

    Dinosaur

    How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not brought
    low by this? For thine evil pales before that which
    foolish men call Justice....

  6. Piffin | Apr 27, 2009 12:23pm | #7

    definitely furr it down first, but use structural screws, not piffin screws.

     

     

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    1. User avater
      Dinosaur | Apr 28, 2009 04:21am | #14

      use structural screws, not piffin screws

      Heh, heh, heh. >¨<

      Dinosaur

      How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not broughtlow by this? For thine evil pales before that whichfoolish men call Justice....

      1. Piffin | Apr 28, 2009 04:30am | #15

        You twisted thread...!;) 

         

        Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!

        1. User avater
          Dinosaur | Apr 28, 2009 04:40am | #16

          Gotcha!

          Dinosaur

          How now, Mighty Sauron, that thou art not broughtlow by this? For thine evil pales before that whichfoolish men call Justice....

  7. Pelipeth | Apr 27, 2009 01:04pm | #8

    As previously stated get furring strips up there. You might consider using Azek unless it's going to be stained. Sheet goods, bead board look 4x8. 1/2x6x18 bead board one side, T&G the other side. If they want it white everyone wins, will be there forever, power wash to keep clean.

    1. User avater
      mmoogie | Apr 27, 2009 01:22pm | #9

      Am I the only one who hates covering #### up? Get rid of the detritus, fer cryin'out loud. Layering stuff up like this gives remodeling an bad name.edit to say I can't believe we still can't say cr@p here.

      Edited 4/27/2009 6:23 am by mmoogie

      1. Piffin | Apr 27, 2009 02:03pm | #10

        Yes and no - can make an arguement for leaving the fire resistant barrier on this one and going over it.But I know what you say. I'll try to get a photo from in the atic space of one I just started - house has been added on to at least 8 times, so multiple plies of roof/ceiling junk.And last weeks paper had a story of a house fire that started with a Fryolator on the back porch. They forgot to turn it off and were eating while flames crawled up the siding, into the soffit vents and then found the 'attic' which had been remodeled a couple times into living space. They only learned about it when the FD showed up with sirens and hoses and axes. Fire chief stated that it was a hard one to put out, because they had to hack away so many layers of old ceilings to get to all the flames and hot spots.. 

         

        Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!

        1. User avater
          PeteDraganic | May 04, 2009 05:28pm | #34

          Tell your fire chief that all houses will eventually stop burning on their own and not to worry about it.

          <!----><!----><!----> 

          I refuse to accept that there are limitations to what we can accomplish.        Pete Draganic

           

          Take life as a test and shoot for a better score each day.          Matt Garcia

      2. DanH | Apr 29, 2009 03:05am | #19

        I don't see much harm in covering up the plaster in this case, but it does bring to mind the ceiling in the drafting room of the Main Speed building on the U of L campus.Seems they had a plaster/lath ceiling, put furring strips up and then acoustical tile. Then, some time later, they came along and hung a suspended ceiling, complete with lots of fluorescent light fixtures. (And they may have had another layer in there -- a little fuzzy after 37 years.)Was walking through the building one day and heard a sound like someone had pushed a filing cabinet down the staircase. Ran up the stairs in the direction of the sound to find a bunch of students cowering under their drafting desks, with most of the ceiling laying on top of the desks. Amazingly, no one was hurt.Mostly the furring strips had pulled loose, though in one corner the entire plaster ceiling came down.Workmen were seen a few days later knocking holes in the ceiling of the similar room on the other end of the building and wiring the furring strips to the joists above.
        The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. -John Kenneth Galbraith

    2. FastEddie | Apr 27, 2009 02:53pm | #11

      Using sheets of beaded plywood will look really tacky. 

      If the insulation is blown-in, then removing the existing sheetrock will create a big mess."Put your creed in your deed."   Emerson

      "When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it."  T. Roosevelt

      1. Pelipeth | Apr 28, 2009 02:38am | #12

        Ain't me, maybe I sent you something wrong

  8. mccarty12 | Apr 28, 2009 04:04am | #13

    I would tear off the plaster so I could insulate the ceiling. The porch would be much more useful during the day.

    1. User avater
      JDRHI | Apr 28, 2009 05:36am | #17

      I would tear off the plaster so I could insulate the ceiling. The porch would be much more useful during the day.

      OK....I'll bite. Splain.

      J. D. Reynolds

      Home Improvements

       

       

       

      1. User avater
        mmoogie | Apr 29, 2009 02:51am | #18

        I'm guessing he's thinking of blocking a little solar heat gain under the roof...

      2. mccarty12 | May 01, 2009 04:03am | #20

        Even here in WI when I do a porch I insulate the roof. The room is much more useful and the cost is not that great. I'd gut it rather than furr it. It would give you a chance to redo the electrical and put in a ceiling fan.

        1. User avater
          JDRHI | May 01, 2009 05:15am | #21

          Even here in WI when I do a porch I insulate the roof.

          What purpose does this serve?

           The room is much more useful....

          How so?

          J. D. Reynolds

          Home Improvements

           

           

           

          1. mccarty12 | May 03, 2009 02:21am | #25

            I guess since he had plaster I thought that it was an enclosed porch. But even if it isn't fiberglass is cheap and maybe people would sit outside on a hot day instead of in an air conditioned house.

          2. User avater
            JDRHI | May 03, 2009 06:30am | #27

            Even were it free, it's a waste of resources to insulate the ceiling of an open porch.

            J. D. Reynolds

            Home Improvements

             

             

             

          3. mccarty12 | May 03, 2009 06:49pm | #28

            Not if it gets you out of an air conditioned house.

          4. User avater
            JDRHI | May 03, 2009 10:00pm | #29

            You'll have to explain what benefit, insulating the ceiling of an exterior structure provides.

            It serves absolutely no purpose.

            J. D. Reynolds

            Home Improvements

             

             

             

          5. DanH | May 03, 2009 10:01pm | #30

            If there were a roof with a high rate of solar absorption (ie, black) then the insulation would reduce heat transfer through the ceiling and keep the porch cooler. How much cooler is debatable.
            The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. -John Kenneth Galbraith

          6. KenHill3 | May 03, 2009 10:33pm | #31

            Insulating would be a good idea also if the 'room' has any chance of being enclosed sometime down the road.

          7. mccarty12 | May 03, 2009 10:38pm | #32

            I did this on my own porch although it was enclosed with lot's of windows. We wanted to utilize as much space as possible with a couple of growing boy's. Our front porch was south facing with no shading. It was hot during the day when the sun hit the roof. When I remodeled it I stuck in some fiberglass and it really worked for me. The porch was noticeably cooler with the insulation inhibiting the solar gain from the roof. I haven't insulated an open porch before and perhaps that is where the confusion is, but do you or anyone else think that given the right circumstances, insulating an open porch could be a viable option?,

          8. User avater
            JDRHI | May 04, 2009 05:47am | #33

            Enclosed, yes. Definite benefit. Open porch, however would not be beneficial at all IMO.

            J. D. Reynolds

            Home Improvements

             

             

             

        2. Piffin | May 01, 2009 12:59pm | #22

          "I insulate the roof. The room is much more useful"What makes it more useful?You call it a "room" so maybe you are considering it an enclosed "porch". In most of the country, a porch is a deck with a roof over it but walls are open to the world, except for sometimes screens. So insulation serves no purpose.In Florida, whnece this thread originates, when an attached room is enclosed conditioned space, it is called a "Florida Room" 

           

          Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!

          1. FastEddie | May 01, 2009 03:04pm | #23

            Do they call it a Florida room in Florida?  That's what it's called in Va. 

            Many years ago we would get a Denver omelet in texas, and I had herard that it was called a western omelet in Colorado."Put your creed in your deed."   Emerson

            "When asked if you can do something, tell'em "Why certainly I can", then get busy and find a way to do it."  T. Roosevelt

          2. Piffin | May 01, 2009 03:10pm | #24

            I can't remember, can you buy bologna in the town of Bologna, Italy? 

             

            Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!

          3. Snort | May 03, 2009 04:10am | #26

            You can get Lebanon bologna in Lebanon, PA., & in about any other south eastern PA town LOLhttp://www.tvwsolar.com

            Now I wish I could give Brother Bill his great thrill

            I would set him in chains at the top of the hill

            Then send out for some pillars and Cecil B. DeMille

            He could die happily ever after"

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