Sagging sheetrock in garage cieling, need to seal it to insulate.

240sx4u

Guys, I have a garage that is not finished. It was like that when I moved into the house. I am adding heat and insulating the walls/ceiling. The issue here is that due to dampness (I assume) the drywall is sagging a bit at the seams. This leaves gaps, and if I attempt to blow in insulation I will continually have that crap raining down on me.

I am function over form in the garage for sure, its my workspace. I don't want to mud and tape, and with the sagging it would look like crap.

So this begs the question.. how do I deal with the gaps? I have considered sealing all the seams from the top with expanding foam, laying down a plastic barrier. Or using strips of plastic and a staple gun to cover the holes.

My thought is a complete plastic barrier would just make the whole problem with the moisture worse. I used a very high end concrete sealer on the walls and the floor. Two walls are concrete, and underground. The garage doesn't feel all that damp and I leave a small window open on the garage all year when weather permits (IE above 40 degrees). The soffit in the attic is aluminum and vented all the way around the perimeter of garage. I was also going to install a gable vent (The front of the garage is pretty plain looking anyway).

Anyone have any nuggets of wisdom?

Thanks! - Evan

I am tall, and my attic over the garage is not. So the less time up there the better!

concretemasonry

You probably have sheetrock that is too thin for the span between joists. Any additional load will make it worse and no amount of foam will improve the situation. Insulation will make it worse.

Just rip out the sheetrock and put in thicker sheet rock for the span.

If all you care about is form and function, you will have to do something to make it work, especially if you try to insulate.

240sx4u

You very well may be right about that... the drywall that is. Definitely not what I wanted to hear. If thats the case, that project will wait until spring.

I thought it was a moisture problem, I guess I would rather have it be improper drywall. I think its 1/2" and the spaces are pretty darn wide.

Evan

EDIT: well I do have to drywall the walls, so maybe I can salvage some of the stuff off the ceiling. who knows..

Termite

5/8" drywall isn't expensive. Do it right...Remove the ruined rock and hang the appropriate thickness up there. Trash the sagging old stuff.

4just1don

you will spend more time trying to reuse it as buy new,,,UNLESS the screws(IF nailed,,,no way))) are in FULL open view and you have plenty of help. Insulate the walls IF you live in the frigid north OR want to keep it cooler in summer time!!

240sx4u

I suppose I didn't realize how cheap drywall was. Couple hundo to do the attic. Of course that opens the can of worms including insulation etc..

I think I am gonna let that sleeping dog lye until spring when it warms up. I do plan on insulating the entire garage including walls. For that matter, I really need an entry door.

See what I mean? LOL

Thanks guys, your right.

Evan

kgphoto

Don't just use thicker drywall. Put up "Z" channel as furring strips, 16" O.C. and then use the 5/8.