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Posted to rec.woodworking
bremen68
 
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Default Insulating a drop ceiling...

Howdy all...Here's the situation. I'm currently working on the plans
for a redo on my daughters room. (She's 15 months old so has no input,
though I'm quite certain she'll make up for this later in life)

The room has a drop ceiling. The gap between the drop ceiling and the
original ceiling is about 8 or so inches. The area on the third floor
above this room is a storage area in the eves of the roof with no
insulation. The attic/third floor was made into a bedroom by former
owners and during the remodeling they made the eve areas storage.
There's insulation between the storage and attic room now, with really
thin insulation on the roof.

What I'm thinking is to glue styrofoam insulation to the original
ceiling to help control the temp in her room. The "discussion" my
father-in law and I are having is if gluing the foam to the original
ceiling would work better than letting it lay on the top of the drop
ceiling. I think letting it just lay on the ceiling isn't really gonna
do that much good because I'm going to have to cut it into strips to
get it between the hanger wire used for the drop ceiling. This is
going to leave enough air gaps that it's pretty much a waste of time
and energy.

Any suggestions would be appreciated...

Thanks.

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Pete C.
 
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Default Insulating a drop ceiling...

bremen68 wrote:

Howdy all...Here's the situation. I'm currently working on the plans
for a redo on my daughters room. (She's 15 months old so has no input,
though I'm quite certain she'll make up for this later in life)

The room has a drop ceiling. The gap between the drop ceiling and the
original ceiling is about 8 or so inches. The area on the third floor
above this room is a storage area in the eves of the roof with no
insulation. The attic/third floor was made into a bedroom by former
owners and during the remodeling they made the eve areas storage.
There's insulation between the storage and attic room now, with really
thin insulation on the roof.

What I'm thinking is to glue styrofoam insulation to the original
ceiling to help control the temp in her room. The "discussion" my
father-in law and I are having is if gluing the foam to the original
ceiling would work better than letting it lay on the top of the drop
ceiling. I think letting it just lay on the ceiling isn't really gonna
do that much good because I'm going to have to cut it into strips to
get it between the hanger wire used for the drop ceiling. This is
going to leave enough air gaps that it's pretty much a waste of time
and energy.

Any suggestions would be appreciated...

Thanks.


You're not supposed to put anything on top of a drop ceiling (including
light fixtures which have to be independently supported). Gluing
insulation to the ceiling would be the proper way to do it if you have
to insulate inside the room.

Why can't you just insulate the joist cavity in the storage area above
the room properly and remove the (generally ugly for a bedroom) drop
ceiling?

Pete C.
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Charley
 
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Default Insulating a drop ceiling...

The normal method used to insulate drop ceilings is with fiberglass bats
layed on top of the ceiling tiles. The best way is to lay them is at right
angles to the ceiling tiles. This can be done as the tiles are put into
place. You can pack them up against each other easily to minimize gaps and
make cuts where needed for the hanger wires. The last row is a bit tricky
but can be done with some juggling. Styrofoam isn't as good of an insulation
in dropped ceilings because it doesn't conform easily to irregular spaces,
thus leaving gaps with no insulation. Styrofoam can also be a significant
hazard if installed around electrical fixtures or heat sources because it
burns easily and gives off very hazardous smoke toxins. I would never put it
in the walls or ceiling of a child's room.

--
Charley


"bremen68" wrote in message
ups.com...
Howdy all...Here's the situation. I'm currently working on the plans
for a redo on my daughters room. (She's 15 months old so has no input,
though I'm quite certain she'll make up for this later in life)

The room has a drop ceiling. The gap between the drop ceiling and the
original ceiling is about 8 or so inches. The area on the third floor
above this room is a storage area in the eves of the roof with no
insulation. The attic/third floor was made into a bedroom by former
owners and during the remodeling they made the eve areas storage.
There's insulation between the storage and attic room now, with really
thin insulation on the roof.

What I'm thinking is to glue styrofoam insulation to the original
ceiling to help control the temp in her room. The "discussion" my
father-in law and I are having is if gluing the foam to the original
ceiling would work better than letting it lay on the top of the drop
ceiling. I think letting it just lay on the ceiling isn't really gonna
do that much good because I'm going to have to cut it into strips to
get it between the hanger wire used for the drop ceiling. This is
going to leave enough air gaps that it's pretty much a waste of time
and energy.

Any suggestions would be appreciated...

Thanks.



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Edwin Pawlowski
 
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Default Insulating a drop ceiling...


"Mike Marlow" wrote in message

I wouldn't use Styrofoam period. Not enough insulation value to offset
the
fire issues. Not enough insulation value period .


It is R4 per inch. There are no fire issues if installed properly. The
material is treated with a fire retardant and will not support combustion on
its own. Foam drop out ceiling tiles are REQUIRED when a dropped ceiling is
installed below a sprinkler system.


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Mike Marlow
 
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Default Insulating a drop ceiling...


"Edwin Pawlowski" wrote in message
om...

"Mike Marlow" wrote in message

I wouldn't use Styrofoam period. Not enough insulation value to offset
the
fire issues. Not enough insulation value period .


It is R4 per inch. There are no fire issues if installed properly. The
material is treated with a fire retardant and will not support combustion

on
its own. Foam drop out ceiling tiles are REQUIRED when a dropped ceiling

is
installed below a sprinkler system.



Well I'm educated then. I didn't realize that Styrofoam could be treated
not to support combustion. Nor did I realize it was R4 per inch. That
leaves most of what I said pretty damned irrelevant. Going back into my
room and sulk a bit now.

--

-Mike-





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Posted to rec.woodworking
Fred Toewe
 
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Default Insulating a drop ceiling...


"Mike Marlow" wrote in message
...

"Edwin Pawlowski" wrote in message
om...

"Mike Marlow" wrote in message

I wouldn't use Styrofoam period. Not enough insulation value to offset
the
fire issues. Not enough insulation value period .


It is R4 per inch. There are no fire issues if installed properly. The
material is treated with a fire retardant and will not support combustion

on
its own. Foam drop out ceiling tiles are REQUIRED when a dropped ceiling

is
installed below a sprinkler system.



Well I'm educated then. I didn't realize that Styrofoam could be treated
not to support combustion. Nor did I realize it was R4 per inch. That
leaves most of what I said pretty damned irrelevant. Going back into my
room and sulk a bit now.

--

-Mike-


Regardless of the insulation value of the Styrofoam, putting 'normal' batts
between the third floor joists does make a lot of sense. It's up out of the
way so that if you do decide to remove the drop ceiling now or later after
your daughter starts to voice her opinions, you won't have to redo the whole
job over again.

I recommend strongly against laying batts on top of the drop ceiling tiles -
that is a royal pain the in the butt, both to do and later on WHEN, not if,
you need to raise a ceiling tile to replace it, to make alterations, etc.
Been there and did not like it.

Cheers


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