On Jul 21, 9:49*pm, "Joseph O'Brien" wrote:
Hi, folks. I could use some advice about finishing my laundry room.

First, I live in a really old house, which was renovated in the late
90s. The did a terrible job on the utility room. There are a number of
issues that I'm resolving this summer, but the one that I fear the
most is fixing the ceiling.

Here's what they did. First, it looks like they tore down the old
plaster ceiling, but left the lath and all the crap that comes with
it. Then, they hung air ducts all over the place. finally, they put up
a drywall ceiling *around* the ducts. The ceiling is still above the
ducts, but the area above them is exposed lath. The problem with this
is that 120 years worth of dust and crap constantly sifts through when
the people upstairs walk around. So, our laundry room is always dusty.

I was wondering if anyone had any clever ideas about how to remedy
this situation. I would prefer NOT to remove any duct work. I thought
about using partial sheets of drywall to slide above the ducts, but it
would be almost impossible to screw them into anything that might
support the weight. I also thought about installing a drop ceiling or
enclosing the ducts in drywall, but access to the joists is limited.

Short of hanging a tarp, any thoughts?

Thanks!
Joseph

Whatever you do, the dust will continue to land even on a suspended
ceiling. I'd get up in the attic and lay/staple some Tyvek above the
open ducts to help stop the dust there first (dont use plastic).
Obviously there was no wiggle room between the duct tops and the old
ceiling otherwise they would have jammed the drywall above the ducts
in the first place. Can you loosen up the duct strapping and pull the
ducts down 1/2 inch to put another layer of drywall across the whole
room? You can usually slide duct connections out a little then re-
screw them without a problem, the drywall guys probably just said
"it's not my job man to drop the ducts", so they did it half assed..