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.

Reply to
bremen68
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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.

Reply to
Pete C.

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.

Reply to
Charley

I wouldn't use Styrofoam period. Not enough insulation value to offset the fire issues. Not enough insulation value period . It wouldn't be worth the effort involved in putting it up. Why not simply put bats between the

3rd floor joists, as would normally be done? You can get a decent R value that way and everything is tucked up out of the way. Then... you can take that ugly dropped ceiling down in your daughter's room.
Reply to
Mike Marlow

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.

Reply to
Edwin Pawlowski

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.

Reply to
Mike Marlow

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

Reply to
Fred Toewe

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