I've got Vermiculite insulation above the drywall on the ceiling in several of my rooms. There is no way I'm removing that crap myself and I certainly can't pay to have it removed so here's the question... Could I get away with hanging 1/4" sheet rock over the existing sheet rock if I used some type of adhesive in addition to lots of long drywall screws???

 

As long as you use plenty of adhesive it might be ok. Generally 1/2" is used along with adhesive. The problem with a thinner drywall is any areas that aren't glued or screwed might sag over time.

 

Yeah I've read that 1/2" is ideal but I'm concerned about so much added weight to the ceilings in this house. I'm probably going to have to do this in every room on the 1st floor. The house was built in 1947 and has had a few problems with 'settling'. The last thing I want to do is add several hundred pounds of weight to every ceiling and start pulling the 2nd floor joists down. I figured using 1/4" would be a little better in this regard. My home inspector said "They don't build them like they used to..... thank god." I should have walked away from the house right then. LOL

 

First off, when you say you have vermiculite do you mean that you have generic vermiculite or Zonolite brand vermiculite, manufactured by WR Grace?
If you do not know which you have you would do well to get it tested to see if it contains any traces of asbestos which would dictate how it would be handled should you or someone else decides to remove it.

Zonolite brand insulation was mined in an area of Montana and most but not all was contaminated with asbestos but vermiculite insulation mined in different areas was not contaminated.

The accepted method of dealing with any vermiculite insulation is to assume it is contaminated but as I said, you can be sure if you get it tested.
And, unless you have it leaking into your living space and your attic is fairly well sealed to your living space the official recommendation is to leave it alone because it ain't hurting nothing if undisturbed.

Question;
This insulation is above the ceiling in the attic space so why are you wanting to add another layer of drywall to the inside space?

And why do you say; Is it not installed across the whole attic, meaning it would be above all your rooms?



As a side-note, we have it in our home and are going to remove it ourselves using generally accepted methods.