My dad lives in Florida and his patio and front porch were done
with drywall. The tape lets go, though the drywall does not sag.
I pulled the tape and left the drywall. Retaped with mesh tape
and setting type drywall mud. 8 years with no signs of a problem.

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Keep the whole world singing . . . .
DanG (remove the sevens)




"Newser" wrote in message
...
I bought a house with a large drywalled ceiling on an outdoor
lanai. While it doesn't get wet, the drywall tape separates and
it's clear from the patching that this has happened frequently in
the past. So I'm exploring some alternative ceilings and someone
suggested putting up lath and stucco. I have questions about
that:

1. Is this at all a good idea, or are there some strong reasons
not to do it? (I haven't investigated cost, but will deal with
that as a separate issue once I know what's viable.)

2. The joists in the ceiling are 24" o.c.. This would be the
only holding point for the wire lath since the drywall won't
support weight. So, would the lath+stucco sag?

3. If sagging would be a problem, I would think it could be
solved by adding a plywood 'underlayment' (? overlayment ?). Do
you think that would be satisfactory and, if so, what thickness
plywood?

4. I would think doing ceilings would be highly unusual for
most stucco contractors. So what questions should I ask them to
help figure out whether they'd really be able to handle this?

Thanks in advance for any help or pointers.