Expert: Ted Barnhill (Principal, Design45 LLC) - 12/11/2007

Question
I live in Pittsburgh, PA and I own a circa-1920 home. The first floor of the house has acoustic tile ceiling. This is not the type where you can push on the tile to access underneath. It is fixed and I'd say about 2 inches from the actual ceiling. My original plan was to remove it, and then based on the condition of the real ceiling, patch and paint it or put up drywall if the ceiling is in bad shape.

I have been doing some reading online and am now afraid it may contain asbestos, given its vintage. I do not plan on living in this home forever. Would simply installing drywall on top of the tile be an acceptable alternative? Should I leave it how it is? Should I rip it out altogether? I can send a photo of it as well.

Answer
Lauren,

You are correct that some older ceiling tiles, along with many other building products, contain asbestos.  Unfortunately there is no way for you to determine if this is the case without laboratory testing.  As you probably know, the asbestos isn't harmful until it is disturbed and becomes airborne.

There is no problem with installing drywall over your ceiling tiles if you can be confident that you are securely attaching the drywall to the joists in your ceiling.  Often the ceiling tile is nailed directly to the joists, in which case you can easily determine the joist locations and use 2" screws to hang your drywall.  However, you believe (presumably by measuring ceiling height from room to room) that your ceiling is furred down 2"; if this is the case, your furring strips may be attached to the studs, or may have been run perpendicular to make way for wiring, etc.  

I recommend that you carefully remove a tile or two to assess your structure.  Remember to seal off your work area with plastic sheeting, wear a good respirator and spray any suspect loose fibers with water to prevent them going airborne.

Good luck, and feel free to follow up with more questions as you proceed.