[beatnavy]

On my old house I have three different porch ceilings that were done years ago with sheetrock/drywall, and now they really need to be redone as the paint is chipping and the seam tape has come out in most places. I've got a small one upstairs (~15 x 9), the main one on front of house (~40 x 10), and a carport (maybe 30 x 10). I was first going to tackle the smaller one first myself using an Azek or Azek type tongue and groove material that's pretty thin. Still trying to decide on how to refinish the other two.

I don't know what's under that drywall, but my initial thought was just to put the Azek on top of the drywall (e.g., leave the sheet rock in place.) My neighbor, whose opinion I value highly, said "No! You'll get mold on the drywall. Take it down and put plywood in its place." We DO live in a very humid area, but there's no sign of mold currently. I could see covering it up would reduce airflow and possible contribute to that.

I don't mind taking the drywall out and putting the plywood in if that's the best way to do it, but I wanted to get other opinions on whether that's necessary. This ceiling does connect to the attic above living space.

Thoughts?