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Ceiling sheetrock repair

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staktup

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So this has been bothering me for a while, but is cutting a cardboard template to cut a sheet of rock the best way to close up these gaps in my garage ceiling?  Other than the heat

loss, mice crawl on the wires up in there. 

 

I wish there was some expanding foam that wasn’t so hard to remove as I’d

like to just blast the voids...

BDB3F3FD-2DBA-4EE5-8790-B2092DB23DC2.jpeg

6BC7D6E5-B61F-4D6F-997E-127531F20CA7.jpeg

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Hi Sam, I’m not a big sheetrock guy but you may have to cut the rock larger in a nice rectangle. The cuts have to be center of the joist bottoms so you can attach it. If code allows I would roll that box up onto the joists face. Above the panel could be done, but stuffing insulation and steel wool up there could work too.

Tis better to remain silent and thought the fool, than to speak and remove all doubt.

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Looks like box cover will be flush on Sheetrock which is accessible, fine.  Easiest way to fit to hole is make a nice clean patch slightly larger than the hole, trace on to sheet rock and cut the hole to fit the patch.  You don’t need to hit the joists with seams but should back it with some plywood or scrap to screw into.   

"I have ... put a lump of ice into an equal quantity of water ...  if a little sea salt be added to the water we shall produce a fluid sensibly colder than the ice was in the beginning, which has appeared a curious and puzzling thing to those unacquainted with the general fact."- Joseph Black

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1 hour ago, cheech said:

You can drop the box, cut a notch in the joists bottom, and reattach the box to get it flush.

Never, ever, ever, notch any joist or rafter or any other carrying beam. Period.

 

Patching the first hole is easy. Kill the circuit to that box, take off the cover and release it from the joist. Do as JimW said with new sheetrock. I'll often screw 6-8" wide x whatever length pieces of 3/8" plywood above the old rock, leaving half exposed so you can screw the new piece to it. Tape and mud. Re-attach the box over the rock.

 

The second picture...

 

Good God what a rats nest of crap! BX, Romex, cloth covered,.. And that orange one, is that actual 3 wire, or a p.o.s. extension cord?  I'm not OCD, but that kinda mess would drive me nuts. Clean all that mess up, then do the plywood and sheetrock trick. 

 

Edited by Ben Lippen
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A 1/2”notch won’t brIng down the house. If anyone has a method for running a 3” toilet line across a floor joist without notching or drilling please share it.

Tis better to remain silent and thought the fool, than to speak and remove all doubt.

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25 mins ago, cheech said:

A 1/2”notch won’t brIng down the house. If anyone has a method for running a 3” toilet line across a floor joist without notching or drilling please share it.

I have some notches in joists just for this reason and inspectors had no issues with it...

3 hours ago, cheech said:

You can drop the box, cut a notch in the joists bottom, and reattach the box to get it flush.

I can just detach the box, rock the opening and reattach, no?

2 hours ago, Ben Lippen said:

Never, ever, ever, notch any joist or rafter or any other carrying beam. Period.

 

Patching the first hole is easy. Kill the circuit to that box, take off the cover and release it from the joist. Do as JimW said with new sheetrock. I'll often screw 6-8" wide x whatever length pieces of 3/8" plywood above the old rock, leaving half exposed so you can screw the new piece to it. Tape and mud. Re-attach the box over the rock.

 

The second picture...

 

Good God what a rats nest of crap! BX, Romex, cloth covered,.. And that orange one, is that actual 3 wire, or a p.o.s. extension cord?  I'm not OCD, but that kinda mess would drive me nuts. Clean all that mess up, then do the plywood and sheetrock trick. 

 

LOL, the orange is not an extension cord.  What do you mean by clean all that up?  Cable tie em altogether?  Thanks for all the responses guys.

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26 mins ago, cheech said:

A 1/2”notch won’t brIng down the house. If anyone has a method for running a 3” toilet line across a floor joist without notching or drilling please share it.

That might be your point of view, but some of us with licenses have to follow the rules. Any holes must be in center of beam/joist/rafter and there are limitations depending on size of said framing. Electricians and especially plumbers can make more work for us when they start drilling... We end up having to add more structure sometimes'

 

Back to OP... I would first put some mouse/rat poison cubes up there and see how long it is before you go a ten days without them being eaten. Then drop the box, pull some staples, and wire tie wires tight where they go through sheetrock. Cut a piece of rock that you can use for repair, larger than existing hole. 90 degree corners. Place up against ceiling and trace. Easier to make the hole fit the patch than the other way around. I would suggest 1x3 strapping as perimeter nailer to screw to, especially with all those wires.... 1 1/4 or 1 1/2 screws to attach as this will minimize screw tips hit wires. Attach box to sheetrock.

 

Second photo repair wont be as clean a finish as you have so many wires over length of opening. Holesaw or spade bits to cut reliefs for wires after marking and attaching wire ties.

 

 

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26 mins ago, cheech said:

A 1/2”notch won’t brIng down the house. If anyone has a method for running a 3” toilet line across a floor joist without notching or drilling please share it.

Yeah, I do.  It's all in black and white in the code.  Code says clearly,  " Holes in joists must be min. 2" from top or bottom, max. size 3".  So you could drill a 3" hole thru a 2 x 8 joist, once. But if you wanted to cross more than one and give it the proper pitch required by plumbing code, you would exceed the framing code. 2 x 10 joists you could cross a few at most.

Code does allow for notching at " Notch max 1/6 depth only on the outer third of joist, no notching in the middle third". Given a now standard 2 x 10 joist, a three inch notch is 1/3 of the joist.  Now sit the tile floor and tub and toilet and on top and then fill them with water. What do ya suppose might happen?

 

I dont know what you do for a living cheech, but I'm the guy that hasta fix alot of these problems because guys just dont care to do things the right way. It's why framers hate plumbers. So many just hack **** up and dont care if they fail because it's the framer that hasta fix it in the end. And in the long run, the framer has to lose the money on the change and labor. The plumber gets paid usually anyway. Yeah, it's a forever sore spot for me.

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30 mins ago, staktup said:

I have some notches in joists just for this reason and inspectors had no issues with it...

I can just detach the box, rock the opening and reattach, no?

LOL, the orange is not an extension cord.  What do you mean by clean all that up?  Cable tie em altogether?  Thanks for all the responses guys.

I was referring to that mess of cable wires and whatever them little white wires are.  There's way more wire there than it seems to be needed. All twisted up like my hair usta be after a day on the boat.  Back when I had hair that long.... lol.

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7 hours ago, staktup said:

So this has been bothering me for a while, but is cutting a cardboard template to cut a sheet of rock the best way to close up these gaps in my garage ceiling?  Other than the heat

loss, mice crawl on the wires up in there. 

 

I wish there was some expanding foam that wasn’t so hard to remove as I’d

like to just blast the voids...

BDB3F3FD-2DBA-4EE5-8790-B2092DB23DC2.jpeg

6BC7D6E5-B61F-4D6F-997E-127531F20CA7.jpeg

cut 2x4 wood same lenght as opening,put the 2x4 in and screw them inside to drywall 1/2 wood stick out.you will have suport for screws.

mesure  opening and cut 1/4" short and screw in with drywall screw's,you can put tape over seam and finish with nud.

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Yes, as I said in my last post, you can indeed notch a joist, to a point/limit. I just believe that it's a bad practice to get into. It's the easy way out, rather than doing some actual work to do things right. Besides that it's actually easier to do it the way I described.

Yes, kill the power to that line/junction box, then  remove the screws (probably) and do the rock. Then reset the box with probably longer screws.

 

Edited by Ben Lippen
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