/diy/ - Do It Yourself

[Anonymous No.1184830]

I got a hole in my ceiling.
This was caused by a leaky roof, which has been fixed temporarily (they put a tarp over it).
The problem is that my mom won't fix the roof properly for a few months, so she refuses to get the ceiling fixed for fear of the tarp getting weathered/damaged in which case water would again drip and just ruin the ceiling again.
So I'm wondering if there is some way I can temporarily seal the hole because we have all sorts of critters in the attic (mice, raccoons, etc.) and I don't want them getting in my room, I've already ran into a couple close encounters.

[Anonymous No.1184833]

>>1184830
Staple up some wire mesh like window screen or hardware cloth. Or if you're also worried about losing heat/AC through the gaping hole, nail down some furring strips level with the edges of the hole, then nail down a scrap piece of plywood/particle board/chipboard/sheetrock over them. Don't nail through the nice parts of the ceiling.

[Anonymous No.1184834]

you can cut a piece of drywall and nail it in place. it's pretty cheap and easy.

you should really do something about those animals, though. they'll probably dig through your walls/ceiling and cause more problems. you also don't want them dying up there.

[Anonymous No.1184844]

>>1184833
the window screen animals could chew through
hardware cloth might be the ticket, what kind of stapler do I use?
I'm inclined to use that method because it's simpler and less chance of me fucking things up (i'm not much of a diy guy)
but out of curiousity, how would i nail a furring strip to the edge of the hole that's up against the wall there, there's not a lot of space for nailing.
Do I just nail the ends of the furring strips and not the length?
Also I would essentially be using 4 furring strips to create a square right? Wouldn't this mean I have to nail through nice parts of the ceiling just because of the shape of the hole?

>>1184834
well we don't have a lot of money. that's why it's going to be several months until we get the roof fixed, we don't have the money for it. There is an option to fix the roof in a way that we won't get big critters at least, but from my understanding it's too costly. Mind you the big critters don't live in the attic, they just like to pop in for the occasional visit.

And if I cut a piece of drywall would it have to match the shape of the hole exactly? How would that work

[Anonymous No.1184870]

>>1184844
>And if I cut a piece of drywall would it have to match the shape of the hole exactly? How would that work

If it's just going to be temporary it doesn't need to look pretty; it won't look any worse than the hole you have now if you just nail up a sheet right over the hole.

[Anonymous No.1184873]

>>1184870
i just mean I don't understand where the nails go
I've never worked with drywall before
you're saying i need a piece of drywall that's bigger than the hole, and i just nail in the edges of the piece?

[Anonymous No.1184901]

>>1184830
Report your mom to CPS so you can get a new mom and a roof over your head.

[Anonymous No.1184913]

>>1184844
T50 or equivalent stapler. The furring straps are for vertical spacing, to bring the surface up flush with the drywall. Nail the however won't let them fall down, the bigger fasteners through the bigger board will hold it. Nail into the beams exposed in the pic.

Yes, you'll probably put some little holes in the ceiling next to the big one.

[Anonymous No.1184951]

>>1184830
>we have all sorts of critters in the attic (mice, raccoons, etc.)
This is a problem that must be fixed.

[Anonymous No.1184954]

>>1184844
>they just like to pop in for the occasional visit.
They are shitting and pissing in your attic and you should not be letting them in.

[Anonymous No.1184955]

Why not fix the roof yourself, it ain't that hard.

Heck while yer up there ya might as well critter proof the darn thing

[Anonymous No.1184958]

>>1184955
Heck matchstick construction is easy enough for any gods forsaken to learn and do

A sheet of plywood, some lumber and shingles is all ya need ya wuss

[Anonymous No.1184959]

>>1184873
>Cut the drywall that's on the ceiling into an exact rectangle with edges over studs/anything solid.
>Screw any new edges you've exposed to the studs
>Cut a piece of drywall that's the same rectangle.
>Screw your new piece to the studs you exposed.

Now you wait for the roof to be fixed. If you get no leaks until then, you can just plaster over the crack between. If you do get a leak, remove your new piece and replace it.

[Anonymous No.1184968]

this'll pretty much solve it. Wear glasses to protect yourself from ricochet.

[Anonymous No.1184970]

>>1184968

[Anonymous No.1184973]

>>1184951
>>1184954

there is a lot of problems that must be fixed with this house
i'm surprised it's still standing, you guys are only witnessing the tip of the iceberg

>>1184955
>>1184958
coz i'm a confirmed wuss
also because they are going to completely tear apart and rebuild the entire roof apparently

>>1184959
ok gotcha
studs are the beams right?

[Anonymous No.1184975]

>>1184968
>>1184970
ya i think i'm gonna go with covering the hole
still thanks mate

[Anonymous No.1184977]

>>1184873
nails are for faggots we have a new invention called 'screws' now.
the big long bits of wood in the hole are called joists. get a long ruler and mark in pencil on the ceiling where the joists are behind the ceiling that is still there (pro-tip: joists are straight lines)
offer up (pro-tip: that is a 'trade term' it just means pick up the bit you are about to attach and hold it where you plan to put it) the new piece and then screw it through the old plasterboard into the joists (pro-tip: use the pencil marks you made earlier to tell where the joists are)
if the new piece is larger than the hole and sitting proud (pro-tip: sitting proud means its not flush (pro-tip: flush means the surfaces are level where they meet)) then don't screw too tightly if the screw doesn't go through the old plasterboard e.g. in the middle because it will pull the board kind of bendy and bowed in the middle and make gaps at the edge.

caution: pasterboard is fucking heavy. it is possible to hold an 8x4 (pro-tip: in first world countries this is measured as 2440x1220mm) sheet above your head and screw it in at the same time but it is not pleasant at fucking all and i would suggest you do not even try it because it fucking sucks. you can use a friend or just some bits of wood jimmied in at angles to hold it up while you fix it in properly.

[Anonymous No.1184981]

>>1184977
wow i learned a lot here, thanks
probably gonna go with the staples and mesh method tho, its just simpler lols

[Anonymous No.1184985]

What country/state you in OP?

[Anonymous No.1184992]

>>1184985
why

[Anonymous No.1184998]

>>1184830
I had a similar thing many years ago... just a hole in my dining room ceiling. caused by leak from bathroom plumbing on the floor above. my temp fix was to cut a piece of playwood, paint it white and screw it over the hole. was actually not a bad temp fix. sure you could obviously see the square piece of plywood but a little bit away it mostly blended in since it was painted white to match the rest of the ceiling. I left it for years until I finally got around to patching it up correctly.
what I would do is cut some ply, paint it white and use screws in the areas within the diameter of the hole where the joists cross the hole. that way you aren't screwing into any of the existing drywall around the hole. tho' even if you did screw through the surrounding drywall its no big deal at all. everything can be patched and smoothed over with drywall compound. and no matter what you will be re-painting the whole ceiling to blend the final fix in.
pic showing the plywood patch as 'see through' so you can see where to put the screws.

[Anonymous No.1185000]

>>1184998
what it will look like...
the animals most likely won't get thru plywood [at least not fast and easily] but if you are worried then you can always stable up the hardware cloth (metal mesh) first then cover with the plywood.

[Anonymous No.1185004]

>>1185000
but overall you need to have the roof fixed so it doesn't leak anymore. and find out where animals are getting into your attic and block up those holes as well. animals in the attic will do a lot of damage and make a big stinky mess over time.
oh yeah, and you can paint the screw heads white also after its all installed just to blend it in a bit more.
use screws so it is easy to unscrew them and remove the patch when you are ready to fix it the proper way. another tip for the temp plywood patch idea is to put a foam gasket around the perimeter of the plywood - it may help 'seal' the patch to the surrounding ceiling. maybe help keep some heat from the attic from leaking into your room. just the cheap sticky tape back 'weather stripping' foam seal you can get in rolls at the hardware store will do it for the temp fix.

[Anonymous No.1185007]

>>1184998
>>1185000
1/2" or 3/8" plywood would do it. or you could go 'crazy' and go with 3/4" plywood but that'd be overkill.

[Anonymous No.1185015]

>>1184998
>>1185000
>>1185004
>>1185007
wow, /diy/ might be the best board on 4chan
this is great stuff
are you sure it's ok that the plywood won't be making contact with the joists tho?
and does it really only take 8 screws?

[Anonymous No.1185022]

>>1184985
He's in the state of poverty.

[Anonymous No.1185029]

>>1185022
Digits confirm.
Roll for state.
>Florida

[Anonymous No.1185035]

>>1185015
no it doesn't need to make contact. its just covering up the hole temporarily. of course the screws need to be long enough to reach the joists. guess that 2 inch screws would be plenty long enough. and don't tighten the crap out of them so much that the ply starts to bend. that much force is not needed. I only used 4 screws - one in each corner (I put them through the surrounding plaster and filled the holes later when I did the final correctly done patch). but my hole was maybe half the size yours looks to be. even so, 1/2 or 3/8 ply shouldn't be *that* heavy; we're not talking a full 4X8 piece of wood here. you need to cut it to be just large enough to cover over the edge of the hole by an inch or so. and your one side will be pressed up against where the wall meets the ceiling.
I'd even go as far as to say the one screw in the middle probably isn't even really needed.

[Anonymous No.1185040]

>>1185035
here's quick diagram I whipped up...

[Anonymous No.1185042]

>>1185022
upboated

>>1185035
again great stuff
thanks for the help dude

[Anonymous No.1185044]

>>1185040
holy shit dude
do you help people with shit like this for a living?
if so why are you doing it in your offtime

[Anonymous No.1185048]

>>1184830
>for a few months
don't wait

roofing in november is not fun

[Anonymous No.1185050]

>>1185044
no, graphic designer for work. I live in a 120+ year old house for the last 20+ years and like to do 'fix up' projects. carpentry, plumbing, electric, painting, furniture done it all on my own house and helped friends with their homes a bit along the way too but has never been my main job.
been using tools and building things/fixing things since I was 7 or so years old. also worked in a hardware store all through high school and summer breaks during college.

[Anonymous No.1185063]

>>1185048
it's not my decision and i won't be the one doing it
will roofers charge extra on account of it not being fun

>>1185050
very cool brother

[Anonymous No.1185074]

>>1184830
drag a full sheet of plywood up into the attic, and lay it over the hole from above. Problem solved. Next thread. You guys are really hopeless sometimes.

[Anonymous No.1185079]

>>1185074
i can't do that because the attic is inaccessable
it never occurred to me how easy it would be if it was though, damn lol

[Anonymous No.1185125]

>>1185074
>>1185079
Actually I just realized it had occurred to me
the reason that won't work is because the joists are clearly in the way
I came up with this idea while staring at the hole in my ceiling with the lights off, so all I could see was a big black hole, no joists
what's ur excuse for comin up with this birdbrained idea

[Anonymous No.1185163]

am i the only one who still sees a hole in OP's photo. the little spot of the light in the roof?

[Anonymous No.1185346]

>>1185163
good catch
that is one of the leaky spots
as i said the roof hasn't been fixed, there's simply a tarp over it. the tarp blocks the rain but not the light.

[Anonymous No.1185572]

>>1185029
If in Florida and you are near Longwood, ill come fix the damn thing