Finishing drywall outside...??? - Contractor Talk - Professional Construction and Remodeling Forum

ryno2714 · 07-30-2009, 11:46 PM

I have a customer who hired a previous contractor to build a screened in porch. This contractor hung Green Board on the exterior ceiling, and then walked away from the job for whatever reason. The customer would like me to finish and texture the drywall. Is this recommended or even possible for and exterior room open to the elements?? I have never done or even attempted to do drywall outside and my understanding has always been it won't work. I'd REALLY appreciate some other opinions on this. I've tried to explain the reasons why i don't think it's a good idea to the customer but he is insistent that i do it. My policy is not to do anything i don't believe i can confidently stand behind so i told him i'd do some homework on it. Any thoughts??

CrpntrFrk · 07-31-2009, 12:28 AM

Uh if by "green board" you mean MR board in my area you are not allowed to put moisture resistant rock on the ceiling. Now if it were brown board then it would be ok. But my policy is if you don't like what you see then you either re-do it or don't do it. Unless they are ok with no warranty.

ryno2714 · 07-31-2009, 12:53 AM

Yah... moisture resistant. The whole thing is a real cluster****. I've never seen anything like it. I'm not sure why the previous contractor chose to hang drywall outside..?? I'd usually just walk away from it but this is a very good customer of mine that i've done alot of work for on the interior of his home and he's asked me to fix what this other guy left behind. Trying to find a good, cost effective solution. Tried to talk him in to T-111, he thinks it looks cheap. Tried soffit, "too expensive". I'm running out of options other than just take it all back down and paint it!

CrpntrFrk · 07-31-2009, 01:04 AM

Well in my area hanging drywall (brown rock, soffit board) is common practice. Of course it is not as humid here as it is maybe were you are located. UH.... where is that again... dont seem to... nope... don't see it. Put your location on file and some guys in your area might have some better answers than me. But if it was me in my area i would tell the HO that it does not meet code.

ryno2714 · 07-31-2009, 01:06 AM

Sorry about that.. i'll get that put in there. I'm in Indiana. Very humid here.

Softy · 07-31-2009, 02:13 AM

Drywall? If you close off the ceiling, don't you need to vent it out?

Big Shoe · 07-31-2009, 04:49 AM

Should be exterior board.maybe that's what it is. Look at the print on the board and tell us what it says. Crpntrfrk is right , greenboard is not recomended for ceiling use. Otherwise it is done for a few builders arond here. Just tape and finish but use top of the line primer and paint or the owners in about 10 or 15yrs will hire me to fix all the tape falling off.

Staging · 07-31-2009, 06:47 AM

here in Florida you see the track home builders do it all the time. I will give it maybe a couple of months till the tape and texture starts peeling and cracking. I use densglass and stucco over it.

Jay Hood · 07-31-2009, 07:13 AM

Cement fiber board, i.e. Hardi board??

drywallnflorida · 07-31-2009, 07:25 AM

Greenboard is not allowed on the ceiling here in Florida, for the customers who don't want to spend the money and do it right with either stucco or vinyal sofit we use exterior sofit board taped and finished with quick set and tell the home owner to make sure to use high quality primers and paints.

rjconstructs · 07-31-2009, 07:27 AM

I've been dealing with the tape and mud falling off a garage interior. With the door getting left open most of the time, regular mud doesn't seem to work. I'm trying hot mud. So far, the results are positive.
rj

thom · 07-31-2009, 07:30 AM

Here in Albuquerque we use sheetrock (just the regular stuff) on porch ceilings all the time. Tape it, finish it, texture it, prime it, then paint it. Of course it is very dry here but it works just fine.

A W Smith · 07-31-2009, 07:46 AM

maybe use durabond? dries like plastic bondo. I doubt very much the tape will fall off. You wont be able to sand it. sponge the edges before it goes off completely.

Quote:

SHEETROCK® DURABOND® setting-type joint compounds are chemically-setting powder compounds that permit same-day joint finishing and next-day decoration of drywall interiors and exterior soffits. They provide a hard, plaster-like surface when dry and are virtually unaffected by humidity.

paulie · 07-31-2009, 09:02 AM

My response is quote to pull it down and put up something you trust and feel comfortable with.

You don't know how it was installed, (glued and screwed?). You may succeed in finishing it OK but will it fall down the line?

Don't inherit someone else's problem's.

Question: If this is a good customer why did he hire someone else?

ryno2714 · 07-31-2009, 10:10 PM

This job was done several years ago by the former contractor... just never got finished. I've been doing odds and ends stuff for him for about a year now. Finished out his basement over the winter. Now i'm starting to fix some of his outdoor issues.

The consensus seems to be that it's not a good idea... which is pretty much what i thought to begin with... so after going over some of the information i've gathered here with him i finally convinced him to explore other options. Thanks for all the good advice!

A+ Texture · 07-31-2009, 10:40 PM

Do the job. Give no warranty. Plain n simple.