Recently, one customer of ours came home from work and found her kitchen looking like this! In the Chattanooga area during the 1970’s many homes were built with ceiling heat (which simple physics tells us is a bad idea–what with heat rising and all, but that is for another time). They NAILED 1/2″ drywall to the ceiling, ran heating wires over it and then put a 1/2″ – 3/4″ thick layer of plaster over it. This made for a very thick and very heavy ceiling hanging from NAILS! Somewhere around the 40 year mark the ceiling begin to fall. Some slowly crack and sag down, others will look fine one minute and come crashing down the next.

Sometimes it is possible to put a new layer of drywall up and SCREW it in with long screws and “capture” the old in place and hold it. Other times the ceiling must come down and completely replaced. The latter way is a mess, the other is a total cleaning nightmare!

The most important thing to do, no matter your situation or choice of “wait and see” or preventative maintenance, is to disable the ceiling heat! Not only is this an energy hog (you have cold floors, hot ceilings, and toasty warm attics that attract all of the local animals), but these systems are fire hazards and some insurance companies will deny you coverage if they know you have it in working order.

Whatever stage you may find yourself at with these ceiling systems, Highpoint can help you! We will even work with your insurance company if you find yourself in the messier category!