Rip out the Old or Not

[Jsf721]

So last night I opened up the ceiling in the garage to see what if any water damge ocured from the leaking bathroom shower above. Shower is fixed (re-tiled / grouted and caulked).



Opening is 26" Long and 12" Wide. I need to open it ip to 16" so i can secure the new patch to the floor joists. Is there a better way?

Also, the insulation is dry (now) I see that along the way someone blew in some foam insulation. Should I just pull it all out and install new insulation?

I need so little it is a shame to buY a whole roll especially since I threw so much away after the storm repairs.

One last question. There are wires running in the cavity. I see some are clearly power but there are also red cables. Any ideas what those are? is this normal? I did not even think about power lines being present in this area and I went at it wqith the dry wall knife. Could have been bad.
Thanks as always for the guideance.

 

[rquackenbush]

When in doubt, rip it out. It's hard to tell in that picture, but it looks like there is already some mold formation. It's sooo much easier to fix this sort of thing when you have it apart. If you just need a piece or two, try talking to an insulation company. They usually have odd bits laying around that they could probably give you for a few bucks.

It's hard to say what the red cable is without seeing it. I'm used to seeing orange line / yellow line for electrical - not sure what red would be off the top of my head.

 

[mayday0017]

I can't see the pictures, but if it doesn't look bad I would mix a little bleech in a pump sprayer and not soak but spray all of it, let it dry for a day or so, then patch it up... Bleech will kill any mold that might be present.

 

[Jsf721]

Thanks for the advice guys.

Looks like a project for this eveing.

When in doubt, rip it out. It's hard to tell in that picture, but it looks like there is already some mold formation. It's sooo much easier to fix this sort of thing when you have it apart. If you just need a piece or two, try talking to an insulation company. They usually have odd bits laying around that they could probably give you for a few bucks.

It's hard to say what the red cable is without seeing it. I'm used to seeing orange line / yellow line for electrical - not sure what red would be off the top of my head.

I can't see the pictures, but if it doesn't look bad I would mix a little bleech in a pump sprayer and not soak but spray all of it, let it dry for a day or so, then patch it up... Bleech will kill any mold that might be present.

 

[microcraft]

yep - rip it out. Find out what else is hiding back there. better safe than sorry. by the way, never mention the word mold if you ever try and sell the place. Sets off all sorts of alarm bells with real estate agents.

mc

 

[readhead]

Red wire should be looped to the smoke detectors. White 14ga wire, yellow 12ga wire, orange 10ga wire.

 

[rsanter]

Rip it out
When insulation gets wet it looses it's 'fluff' and that's what you need for it's R value.
Replace it

Bob

 

[Jsf721]

Thanks guys. I scored a ripped open roll of r13 and a damaged board of sheet rock (mold resistant) at 50% off and picked up the mesh tape, sheet rock compound and some dry wall "knives" all for 42.00 at HD lunch time. The fun starts tonight.

yep - rip it out. Find out what else is hiding back there. better safe than sorry. by the way, never mention the word mold if you ever try and sell the place. Sets off all sorts of alarm bells with real estate agents.

mc

Red wire should be looped to the smoke detectors. White 14ga wire, yellow 12ga wire, orange 10ga wire.

Rip it out
When insulation gets wet it looses it's 'fluff' and that's what you need for it's R value.
Replace it

Bob

 

[NUTTSGT]

Let us know what you find. It'd interesting to know how much damage was done from the leak.

 

[rockchucker]

Rip it out no questions asked! Bleach spray, dry, KillZ Primer ANYTHING looking like mold.

 

[PT Doc]

Spraying bleach is not reommended. A quick search will yield oodles of info.

http://www.normi.org/articles/bleach-mold.php

 

[Jsf721]

The old insulation was compacted by the water and there was some black spots on the hardened foam. I pulled it all out.

Mixed up some after shock designed to clean up mold (had this left over from the hurricane clean up) and let it sit 30 minutes. Wiped all surfaces with a terry towel until clean. Repeated again until all surfaces were clean. Let dry overnight. This morning install new insulation. Attach dry wall patch. Self adhesive mesh tape (needed to hold it with screws). Adhesive *****. Did one coat of joint compound. This is not easily done without making a huge mess! About 2-3 more to go because I need to level a lot of areas. For whatever reason the ceiling is 2 layers of rock so I used fir strips and it did not quite level out perfectly