I need to drill a hole in the wall above the ceiling. The crawl space is too narrow for me to get to the wall from the inside. The ceiling is in an open breezeway and it is made of vinyl sheets kind of like vinyl siding.

How do I remove part of the ceiling?

Thanks

 

Find the location of the last piece installed. Start removing from there until you reach the desired location. Looks like the end of installation was at the opposite end to the right of what is shown in the photo.

 

What exactly is it your trying to do?
Drill a hole in the top plate to run a wire?

 

You could also purchase a vinyl siding tool to help decouple, or unzip the piece right where you need to drill. It will be held in with nails on one edge, but the other will be cupped over the next piece. http://www.walmart.com/ip/19869272?w...427032&veh=sem

 

I would go with the vinyl siding tool like Chandler linked. You'll probably find a seam in every other groove.

 

Yes Joe. I've already drilled the hole in the top plate from the attic inside the house. Now I need to run the cable down the wall, out of the brick, into the crawlspace above the breezeway and into the garage.

 

I agree, get a Malco Sideswiper and unzip the soffit at one of the seams... just like a piece of vinyl siding.

 

Thanks for the replies.

I got the tool but it doesn't work. I guess because it doesn't connect together like siding. It's vinyl but if you look at the picture it doesn't overlap like siding.

Is it more likely beadboard and nailed to the ceiling joists?

 

I've never seen soffit material that wasn't installed in sections, sometimes 2 sections wide. How wide are your panels? Certainly the ceiling isn't in one piece.

 

It most certainly does. The trouble is that you aren't able to get it started, because unlike vinyl siding, the vinyl soffit doesn't have a slot on the end of the panel to get it started. Find a place where the soffit seems to have a little bit of play up and down (if there is any), and get yourself a thin prybar (a glazier's prybar would be perfect) or putty knife and try to drive it into the interlock and make some space for the Sideswiper. You have to shove the sideswiper in as far as you possibly can and then wiggle it in all directions (in, left, right, up down) while pushing it inward to hook the lip of the soffit. Once you hook it, you will want to slide it to an end where it will be easier to unzip it.

They are usually 12" wide... 3 sections of 4".

 

There are also styles 10" wide with 2 sections (double 5).

It looks to me like there is a seam at the second groove to the right of the yellow arrow.

 

Thanks for all the suggestions. I finally got it apart. I discovered if I pulled down instead or horizontaly the pieces separated quite easily.