Ceiling Emergency

Last night I decided to stow our large cooler in the attic space above the garage. I pulled open the overhead trapdoor, but the edge of the door, which is rickety and shuts crooked, got caught on the edge of the drywall ceiling panel next to it.

The ceiling panels in our garage look like they were put up by morons.  They are chipped and sagging in spots, and I always figured I'd have to do some fix-it work with them some day.  I always put it off, because it was never pressing—until that trap door got caught on that edge.

The corner of the panel finally ripped clear (some of the nails had already been torn loose years ago, probably in the same way).  Half of the panel started to crack down the middle, so a 4 x 4 foot section of it was sagging, and attic insulation was falling into the garage.

I quickly (as quickly as I could, in our crowded garage) grabbed a hammer and nails and climbed up to nail it back in place.  However, it was very heavy, and I discovered that hammering on it was making it shake loose and tear even more quickly.

I could hear other parts of the panel creaking, and I knew that if it all gave way, it would be a heck of a mess to clean up.

I also forgot to mention that it was about 100 degrees in the garage, and even hotter in the attic, and the hot air in the attic was blowing down in my face.

Knowing I had very little time, I dashed into the house and grabbed the bare remains of a roll of duct tape.  I climbed back up the ladder and, hoping I had enough tape to work with, I wrapped a loop of tape around the corner of the drywall and then wrapped the other end around one of the cross-beams in the ceiling.  It worked!  I had temporarily slowed the collapse.

This gave me time to get out the drill and extension cord and screws.  As I assembled the materials I could see the strip of duct tape being stretched out like gray taffy by the heavy, splitting panel. 

I used pine lattice strip scraps as braces (see, this is why I don't like getting rid of wood scraps!) and screwed the ceiling panel back into place.  It's now probably more secure than it was when we first moved into the house.

I was summoned back into the house, coated in sweat and a layer of gritty dust and insulation, to fix dinner for the girls.  I felt heroic, but I think we all know who the real hero is.  Duct tape.