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Repairing a ceiling of unknown construction

Repairing a ceiling of unknown construction


  #1  
Old 01-29-17, 06:24 PM
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Repairing a ceiling of unknown construction

I have an older home, most likely constructed near the end of the 1950s, which has some ceiling issues. The roof leaked and left damage in a room. I am trying to identify this material so i can begin repairs. Underneath the skinny pieces appears to be sheets or sections of the material. I haven't disturbed this, however, a friend tells me it feels like cardboard or something similar. Another person suggested it might be paper tiles. Your help is greatly needed!

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  #2  
Old 01-29-17, 07:19 PM
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That would not be a builders ceiling. That would be a ceiling installed at a later date.
It looks like some type of 2x2 glued up ceiling tile.
Could be some type of cellulose.

I'd try removing one to see how well it's glued to what may be plaster behind it.
 
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Old 01-29-17, 08:09 PM
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Im afraid I might find asbestos, is there a chance I could?
 
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Old 01-29-17, 08:28 PM
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That is an excellent question. I hadn't thought of that and I cannot answer it.
I don't know if asbestos was ever used in those types of tiles.

Are they 2'x2' in size ?

Hang tight..... the other guys will stop thru and they may know.
 
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Old 01-29-17, 08:33 PM
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Appears to be larger than 2x2, Im not at the home right now to measure.
 
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Old 01-29-17, 08:49 PM
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When I first saw it before reading your post I thought mobile home. Is there an unfinished attic above? If so see what the other side looks like.
 
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Old 01-30-17, 02:33 AM
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I can't answer if there is asbestos involved but asbestos is basically only dangerous in dry breathable form - like when you sand it or otherwise get it airborne. Keeping it damp goes a long ways toward alleviating that concern!

I'd tear out what needs replacing and go from there. If nothing else the texture can be replicated over drywall.
 
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Old 02-18-17, 07:25 PM
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Today I cut a piece of this and was surprised by what I found. I cut a small piece for inspection and found this to be very similar to drop ceiling tile. The panels are nailed to the beams then there is a strip covering those nail holes. The thickness of this is about 1/2". It appears as if they rolled drywall mud all over it. The panels measure 4 feet in width and varies in length since they used 3 pieces to make each section.

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Old 02-18-17, 07:36 PM
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Another creative use for acoustic ceiling tiles.

But what is more important.... what's behind it ?
 
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Old 02-18-17, 07:53 PM
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The attic and insulation. It's not a 2'x4' tile either. There is another name for this, and I totally baffled the guys at Lowes with this one. Sure would like to just put in something that was the same but I gotta know what this is first.
 
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Old 02-18-17, 09:03 PM
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The only thing I can think of is Homasote.It's a sheet goods product that can come like that.
Certainly not what I'd want for a ceiling.
 
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Old 02-19-17, 09:05 AM
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Anyone have an idea of what this could be? This is a house built sometime in the late 1940s or 1950s. I am completely baffled by this material. In another room where damage occurred they replaced everything with sheetrock. I'm just trying to repair the room so I don't have to do the entire thing.
 
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Old 02-19-17, 11:24 AM
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It's probably cellotex, you see it a lot in older mobile homes but I've only seen it a few times in conventional homes.
 
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Old 02-19-17, 06:34 PM
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Oh I thought it was four by four squares was actually 4 by 8. They just used the piece of trim or lattice put the squares in place. But the material had no designating marks or anything to say what it was. It was up there like they had used it instead of sheetrock. So I ended up taking it down and putting sheetrock in its place. I only want it to repair the small section that was damaged so we left the other intact. I just wish I knew what this material was. It's like paper or cardboard or something of that nature
 
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Old 02-20-17, 03:20 AM
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This is a picture of homasote. It is used for pin boards, ceilings (not sure why) and sound barrier situations. It looks as if that is what you have. Now that you know, and you have replaced it, what?

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Old 02-20-17, 09:21 PM
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We replaced the damaged section with drywall. I didn't have time to actually replace the remaining pieces in the room.
 
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Old 02-21-17, 02:41 AM
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Nothing wrong with replacing the cellotex with drywall, it can be textured to make it more resemble the other boards. Since drywall is heavier it does need to be secured a little better than cellotex/homasote.
 
 

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