Barracuda Roof - What is it, how does it work, and how to replace?

[MrJay]

We are pressed for time and we have an existing carpenter who will do a lot. Can you easily install stretch ceilings yourself?
How much did it cost you in materials and time for x sqm?

An inexperienced carpenter should probably avoid installing ceilings they are not experienced or trained in, even if it looks simple. I would probably say no to that if you want all the guarantees, etc.

Preparing probably takes the longest time, setting up the list and stretching the ceiling takes 1 hour in an average-sized room for them. The price depends entirely on the material and the size of the rooms but as mentioned, it is cheaper and much faster than drywall.

 

[useless]

The roof is diffusion-tight, so if it is replaced, one should examine if and how to install some other form of vapor barrier.

 

[Skalman9]

Does not sparse + plaster = sufficiently diffusion barriered?

 

[Plupp 358496]

Doesn't gles + plasterboard = sufficiently vapor-resistant?

It depends on the conditions of your house. Only you can determine if it is sufficient.

If it works well today, one might think that you shouldn't change what works well. That is, if it's completely sealed, you keep it completely sealed. Maybe a vapor brake is best. Or you go without a barrier, i.e., gles and plasterboard.

 

[useless]

Doesn't sparse + gypsum = sufficiently diffusion-barriered?

No. Gypsum boards are not diffusion-tight. As mentioned, you need to check how it looks in your particular house. I wouldn't dare to go entirely without a diffusion barrier or -brake anyway...

 

[PTZic]

Baracuda roof is (I think) a name for a stretched plastic roof, i.e., a plastic film stretched on the ceiling. It was popular in the '60s - '70s.

A disaster from a fire safety standpoint. In the event of a fire, when it gets warm in the room, the film melts, detaches from the ceiling, and "vacuum packs" any people trying to escape the fire. The plastic then burns nicely. A nightmare in terms of fire safety.

The ceiling has no supporting function. There are variants with small holes, resembling speckled car interiors, as found in WW from the '60s - '70s.

I believe these have a ventilation function; if you tear such a one, you need to check that detail.

Woven ceilings are another older form of stretched ceilings; it's a textile fabric (I think it was burlap) stretched on the ceiling. On this, you wallpaper with thin paper and paint on it. These ceilings aren't great in terms of fire safety either; they burn. But they don't come down and hit people in the room.

Came across an old thread when I googled barracuda ceiling. Calling it a "plastic ceiling" is quite a rough misdescription. It was about a stretched rubber sheet, which was elastic when you pressed on it. At that time, there were also Barracuda tents or Barracuda halls. It was about inflated rubber halls used as hockey halls, football halls, and others where a large hall was created just with a large inflated rubber sheet.

 

[Klippspiken]

The Baracudahalls were not rubber tents; they were more like thick tarpaulin, whereas the inner ceilings were like rubber.

 

[PTZic]

Baracudahallarna weren't rubber tents, they were like thick tarpaulin, however, the inner ceilings were like rubber

"Like thick tarpaulin"? Yes, that's what it was. It was fabric coated with rubber, and what made it thick was precisely the rubber. Just as thicker tarpaulins are coated with latex, i.e., rubber. A concrete house is built of concrete, even if it is reinforced with rebar. Here the fabric was the "rebar" meant to hold the rubber together. But they were still rubber tents. https://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saab_Barracuda_AB