# Replacing 12" ceiling tile with drywall



## slakker (May 29, 2007)

That stuff is nasty and I took it down in my rec room which was a 12 x 20 space... put up dry wall in its place... it was a bit messy, but all in all, it really was only a 2 day job. I think it's worth it to get a clean start instead of hangning more drywall on drywall....


----------



## Ron6519 (Mar 28, 2007)

I don"t know how a space that size could be spanned with 2x4's. At 11 feet I would expect 2x8's at a minimum. I would want to know how these framing members were installed and braced. It sound like these are trusses. Two feet apart and 2x4's. Are these trusses?
To minimize the added weight you can use 3/8" sheetrock over the furring strips. If you were going directly to the old sheetrock, I would use 1/4", glued and screwed.
Ron


----------



## Cole (Mar 12, 2005)

I am confused as well.

Any pictures?


----------



## housefixin (Sep 9, 2007)

Thanks for all the replies!

The house is a 90 year old bungalow, and the original structure in only 24' X 24' with a load bearing wall off center down the middle. There are 1X4's and 1X6's on top of the 2X4 ceiling joists and insulation is sandwiched between the old drywall and the 1X's, as well as loose insulation above them. So there are no trusses, just rafters.

Even If I did rip the whole ceiling down and start over, I would probably run some sort of stiffeners or furring strips to help distribute the load better and prevent ceiling cracks. Being very short on free time though, I would probably re-install new ceiling tile before tearing into the old drywall and insulation... I would prefer drywall because the tile can look kinda cheesy, but I also don't want to hang drywall on the furring strips and end up with a sagging and cracked ceiling.

What do you guys think? with this kind of set up, and lots of screws in the furring strips and 3/8 or 1/2 drywall, would this hold up??

I'll try to get some pics later.


----------



## Cole (Mar 12, 2005)

I understand now, yes you should be ok going with new drywall on the furring strips that are on the joists. Make sure the furring strips have plenty of good solid screws in them.


----------

