[Wes Tausend]

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I agree with Steve in that it is unlikely you could seal so tightly as to require an air-to-air exchanger with heat recovery. I have only seen a couple of these in some super insulated homes that could fully heat in below zero with about 20k btu. Any cold air leakage in such a home is critical.

Good point about the floors over dirt crawl space. I forgot to mention them. These are really some of the worst offenders for humidity and mildew even over "dry" soil.

I know you aren't so likely to use the info I added, but someone else reading this might find something useful if you will pardon the distraction.

One other related procedure was an easy false ceiling that I sometimes used that might make wiring easier.

During insurance cases where the ceiling fell partially down or sagged from springtime thawed moisture, I normally would entirely remove the damaged ceiling and replace it with new insulation and drywall. It was more expensive than an economy fix but it was then like-new and proper. Insurance paid the bill, what the hey.

In some cases, especially where the homeowner was paying out-of-pocket for a badly damaged ceiling, I found that I could simply screw some 2"x2" furring strips crossways across the ceiling joists and add a new drywall ceiling slightly lower than the original. The furring strips don't even have to touch end-to-end. With gaps, there is now room to run new wiring in any direction in between them which allows one to relocate any light, fan fixture or speaker wire also. Did more than one just to move lights or cover ugly texture.

Should the new surface become redamaged, it is an easy fix to replace that since the insulation stays. The same furring principle works really great in basements by allowing cross clearance for already-present small plumbing supply lines and wiring without drilling joists.

To simplify not disturbing the original wall finish, I found that it was not necessary to even tape the edges where the new ceiling butted to to the wall. The ceiling board can be easily snugged up to the wall where no crack is visable after merely paint. Any slight fitment gap can be left under the middle which will be covered with drywall tape. Apparently it doesn't move around and there still remains a fire-seal above anyway.

I could do a ceiling like this, including paint, working by myself in less than an 8 hour day. Very economical, great for a semi-temporary fix. Most people don't even notice the slightly lowered ceiling unless it is pointed out to them and I guess it's no worse than being asked to add 2" of plaster to straighten some really crooked framing. But, like I said, the best fix is to start over.


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