Asked on Feb 10, 2016

How to retrofit a garage ceiling to hide plumbing pipes and wires

Debbie
by Debbie
When I moved into my house, the garage was finished and insulated. However, my house and many others in the neighborhood have just that insulation showing. The builders did not try to cover the plumbing pipes or electrical wires. This is a real eyesore. Does anyone have any ideas about retrofitting a cover up?
  5 answers
  • L L on Feb 10, 2016
    You mentioned the garage is finished, Can I assume you'r referring to the basement, attic or another storage room. If you'r referring to walls use drywall/sheet rock. A ceiling has other options, acoustical drop ceiling or sheet rock. Doing either takes some forethought for any future utilities that may not have been installed. In short due your homework via the internet (like youtube) and contractors.
  • Debbie Debbie on Feb 10, 2016
    It is the garage where I park my car. the walls are cement block and one wall is sheet rock. It is not the basement. I have exposed plumbing, insulation, and wiring that is an eyesore, no way to move all that. My only option I think is to cut piece by piece to cover the insulation but what with
    • See 1 previous
    • Debbie Debbie on Jun 09, 2016
      I lost my feed to honestly after switching to a kindle so just now seeing this answer thank you so much I might just give that a try
  • Sheetrock should be hung on the joists & taped to not only help in case of fire but limit carbon monoxide - then you can fix the insulation Beyond that we need a pic to know what the issues are
    • See 1 previous
    • @C_ann_g Most people park there cars in the garage & they start them in there - that can release it. Also some have a water heater or furnace in there - also a potential source. The biggest source of pollutants that enter the house are from the garage (and we are not talking about just the door opening - which should be a fire rated self closing door also) especially in cases like this With that said - anytime you renovate something you need to bring that up to code - drywall with taped seams has been code since at least the 2000 IRC as I recall
  • Hope Williams Hope Williams on Feb 11, 2016
    Hi Debbie. As stated by SLS, I would be most concerned by CO2 emissions entering your home first and foremost. Second, I would suggest getting an electrician to perhaps give some idea as to how to put, if possible, all your wired into a pipe going to your electrical box. In Georgia, it's mandatory code as we had the same issues in both our mountain homes. Thirdly, if everything is above your joist/trusses, you can either drywall or use plywood of some kind to finish out your garage. We used 1/4 ply with lattice strips, 2X12's, to cover the joints. Then painted it out. Afterwards, we went up and finished with blown in insulation. You can if course, wrap your pipes, etc. all of this is assuming you want to finish out your garage or not.
  • Debbie Debbie on Feb 12, 2016
    Thank you Tyna. The first guy to respond thought I was talking about a basement, even though I said garage. Maybe in some parts of the country they are considered one in the same. I will check out insulation boards.