Fixin' my ceiling !!!

[tscotom]

Greetings, long time no post...

Am thinking of fixing my ceiling boards (1/4 plywood) and am on a budget, and I'm really
not the sawing (straight) type. Am in the Mandaluyong/San Juan area.

I have some questions:

1. Are there any hardwares or lumberyards that sell 1/4 plywood that will cut them into Eg. 4
pieces 24" x 48" ?? A 4'x8' plywood will not fit in my car.

2. Am thinking of putting several 'manholes' in the room so that I can access the roof from the
inside. What is the best & least ugly way to do this ? A hinged ceiling panel ? A loose panel that
is in place by gravity alone ? Using wood screws to be able to 'unscrew' the ceiling panel out ??
I think I need this because the roof above the room is a complex meeting of several other roof portions
of the house and bottomline, they can't seem to plug all the holes/pooling problems specially when there is a typhoon, so if I have (visual) access to the roof (via the manhole), I will be able to spot the actual leaking area and plug it from both sides !!

Ultimately, if too expensive & all else fails my plan B,C, or D is to put a 'tarapal' over the roof and weigh that down with some hollow blocks/weights etc. !!

Hope you have some suggestions for me ?

Cheers :)

[zepol]

I just finished fixing my ceiling, on a budget. My 2 cents

1) it's cheaper to make sure that there are no holes in the roof than to make a ceiling that will survive a leak. Mahal din ang marine plywood, at mahal din siyang i finish.
Sulit na investment ang manhole at ilaw for periodic inspection. One good time to check is right after summer season, since sealant tends to harden and crack with the heat. An experienced karpintero is invaluable for tracing leaks. Sometime's it's the flushing sa sides, I once had a huge leak that was invisible - turned out that the lateral overlap between the gi sheets was too small.

2) it's cheaper to use steel than wood for supports, especially if starting from scratch. When i repaired my ceiling, I had a lot of wood to use (recycled from partitions that i tore down). But in some areas, I reinforced the ceiling by suspending it from the trusses using liso. As for the ceiling boards, I recycled plywood from the old partitions. Pondado na, so bawas labor. Tapos I'm using textured paint for the top coat. The paint's more expensive, but it's ultimately cheaper than applying multiple coats of masilya and paint to make it look smooth. Mas forgiving siya.

3) if you're using hardiflex, you can cut it with a scorer (they have one for hardiflex sa wilcon). Just bring a metal ruler. I bought 8' wood at ace before, and i asked the guys to cut it for me so i could fit in in my car. Maybe they'll do the same for you, though a 2x4 sheet will still be difficult to fit in the car. Maraming mga small hardware stores sa san juan. The one nearest you might deliver a sheet or two, minsan nakasakay lang sa pedicab.