Hello there...
We have a home that was built in the late 1950's. There is an addition on the back of the house that was put on in the 1970's and it's about 25' x 25' square. The ceilings are regular flat ceilings. However, they are what looks like the mineral-fiber tongue and groove style planks, approximately 6" x 48".

Our home had some pretty bad roof damage before we bought it and it caused some bubbling on the ceiling in a few areas. There is also a wood burning stove that has a vent pipe/flew that goes through the ceiling. This also has a lot of old water damage around the hole, so bad that there are a few holes in the ceiling planks.

My husband really wants to just patch the holes and paint the ceiling and be done with it. We don't plan on staying in the house forever, but I feel like this is the cruddy shortcut way. I really want to replace the ceiling, but as everything goes with this house, it will be MUCH harder than it should be.

My concern is that if we tear out the ceiling, is there most likely insulation right on the other side of the ceiling planks? I know from being in the attic that there is insulation up there, but I can't safely get to that area of the house to see if what's under it is the planks or boards or what. I'm sure their are joists or 2x4's or something that the planks are attached to, but I just don't know. And I know that once we start tearing it apart, there's no going back.

Does anyone out there have suggestions? Should we just try to repair the few areas that are damaged and paint the ceiling? Or should we do the whole thing? I'm guessing it will cost us at least $600-$1200 depending on how fancy we go with the new planks.

Thanks.

 

You may be dealing with an asbestos based ceiling composition, not sure. I would coat the entire ceiling with a good sealing primer and paint it. Like you said, removing it would, in all probability, expose the insulation above, and if it is loose insulation gravity will take over. Planking the ceiling may be cost prohibitive if you don't plan on staying there for a long time.
You're in Kansas, right? My wife was a Gulick, and her family was from Neodesha.

 

I would add that the primer needs to be solvent based. Latex primer/sealers do a poor job of sealing water stains.

How big are the holes?

 

There is an area near the stove pipe that is probably 6" x 8" but the holes are only a maximum of 1" x 1" I would approximate. The one area is just so bad looking I wasn't sure if we could "get away" with filling it with some of that Great Stuf foam or what.

My other concern with that, is being near the stove pipe and heat, I don't want to cause a fire hazard.

More thoughts on the holes and heat?
Thanks!

 

Chandler, I actually don't think that it's asbestos. I noticed in our attic that there were a few leftover planks and it looks like what I would call particle board or fiber board or something of the sort.

Do you have any thoughts on the holes?

And, yeah, I'm in good ol' Kansas And I think you and I had this conversation a couple of years ago. You're such a pro! I have posted several times since 2006 when we bought our house and seems you're always there looking out for me. But I don't think I'm related to your wife, which is odd, because there aren't a lot of Gulick's from what I have known.

Thanks again for your help. Let me know what you think about the holes. I'm beginning to think patching and painting will be the best option for us at this point.

 

The 6"x8" area will need some sort of replacement, maybe cut out from rafter to rafter and then use your leftover plank to fill in. I wonder if your planks are masonite. Masonite was fairly popular in the 70's and 80's. It holds up well as long as it never gets wet. Moisture will make it swell and then over time crumble

I wouldn't think filling the small holes would be a fire hazard - how close are they to the stove pipe? What insulates the stove pipe from the rest of the ceiling and framing?