Oh, what a feeling—dancing on the ceiling. It’s a lot easier when the ceiling is on the floor.
Let’s rewind to when our sunroom ceiling still looked like a ceiling. We’d been talking about vaulting the ceiling to make the space feel more open — we’d never vaulted a ceiling before, but this felt like a low-risk place to try it.
From the start we knew there might be structural issues and that we’d probably need a professional for part of the job — the possibility of the roof sagging or worse made that clear. Still, we decided we could handle the demolition portion ourselves. Why pay someone to tear things up when tearing things up is half the fun? I started by cutting power to the whole house (always a smart first step when tearing down a ceiling) and pried off the crown molding.
Behind the molding was exactly what we expected: insulation and wood framing.
The ceiling turned out to be moisture-resistant drywall rather than plywood like the walls, which surprised me. My plan to carefully cut and pry shifted quickly to “let me tug on this and see what happens.”
One panel down, several to go.
We probably should have moved the daybed and table first, but we were too excited to start. The drywall was light, and both pieces of furniture were already on the list for a paint refresh, so we weren’t too protective. Fortunately nothing was damaged — they’re all fine in the final shots.
Removing the drywall was surprisingly easy and unexpectedly entertaining. Someone pass the popcorn.
It took about 15 minutes to strip the sunroom of drywall. That was the easy part. I managed to pull the drywall down around the ceiling fan without removing the fan first — the material was pliable enough to work around the blades. Leaving the fan up felt smart in case the reconstruction took longer than expected, since we could still use it to stay cool.
Next I focused on the insulation, using my newfound tearing-down skills.
The insulation came down fairly easily, though it took a few hours over several days and filled about eight large garbage bags.
With the drywall and insulation removed you can see the rafters and joists above. We love the idea of eventually nailing beadboard to those higher rafters, but the lower joists are the ones in the way of vaulting the ceiling.
Not being an engineer, I quickly admitted I didn’t know the best structural approach. A reader suggested a method they used, but I wasn’t confident it would apply to our situation. While waiting for professional guidance, I cleaned up the exposed joists by prying out leftover drywall nails and removing stray insulation.
If we were going to wait for a pro, at least the exposed wood could look tidy. Removing partially driven nails also reduces the risk of getting scratched when we resume work.
So that’s where we stand: drywall and insulation down, joists cleaned up, and waiting for a contractor to advise on how to proceed. He’s scheduled to come by this morning, and while the waiting is nerve-wracking, it feels like the sensible next step.
In the meantime we crossed a few more items off our to-do list for the sunroom:
- Rip up the old carpeting (done)
- Remove the sliding doors and tracks to open the space (done)
- Convert outlets to outdoor-safe, weatherproof ones (done)
- Add fresh casing and thoroughly caulk to waterproof openings (done)
- Demo the old ceiling to explore lofting (completed)
- Remove old beams, reinforce ceiling stability, and install painted beadboard
- Install hanging ceiling fans and possibly recessed lights or lanterns
- Repaint columns and the sunroom interior with exterior-grade paint
- Tile the floors with a slip-resistant, outdoor-safe material
- Add a rug, furniture, and maybe outdoor curtains
- Eventually build an outdoor fireplace
Until we have a clear plan for the next steps, we’ll shift focus back to some indoor projects. I don’t anticipate any more ceiling demolition for a while, as fun as this round was.