Cheap ceiling for a pole barn.

[JOHNMAN]

I'm looking for ideas to put up a cheap ceiling in my pole barn.

Here is what I have:

A pole barn 64' x 40' with trusses on 8'-0" centers. There is virtually no bridging between the lower chord of the trusses, but I have been considering adding some.

The building is divided into two areas. A 24' x 40' room already has a ceiling (OSB) and is insulated with cellulose blown-in insulation.

I want to put a cheap ceiling in the other area and insulate it with something cost effective. The 24' x 40' room stays warm with a single baseboard heater. The larger room looses heat rapidly.

The building is wrapped with the thin white squished wrap common to pole barns, but I don't think it offers much.

I was thinking something like a thin metal like standing seam with either blown in insulation or foam board for insulation.

Any ideas on what could be used that would not sag over the 8' spans, or that would take a minimum of supports between the trusses?

Thanks for your ideas.

 

[Nutty 5.0]

Not sure if its what your looking for, but you can see what I did for my ceiling with foam board in my garage with the link in the sig below.

 

[Daniel Dudley]

I'm not sure anything would be cheaper than OSB and blown in. Metal would need sleepers at least every 24 to 30 inches, although I would think you would need sleepers for OSB as well.

I would put up 2x4 sleepers, 16 footers alternating the joints on the trusses at 24'' on center. Then I would decide my material after shopping around.

Unless you have a source for foam board, it is not cheap. Shopping around on the telephone saved me over ten dollars a rafter for some roof framing a few years ago, and almost 20.00 a sheet for siding. It isn't always obvious who will have the lowest price on anything, so you have to call around.

 

[aar0s]

Ive seen guys use what we call "energy shield" as a ceiling. Its a 1/2 foam board with reflective foil on both sides. you could put some boards between the trusses and go that route.

 

[Tman]

Tin is about the cheapest durable thing you can do. Shop for blems, overstock etc. A pal did this in his and ended up with 3 colors but it was cheap.

 

[pjm1]

I just finished the ceiling and insulation on my 40x70 pole barn 10' centers on trusses. What I did was install metal on the underside of the trusses off of the cord braces which were on 5' centers. Then blew in 210 bags of cellulose on top of it. worked great. The walls received 2-5" of closed cell spray foam, made the building solid and has been very warm now. double barrel wood stove will keep it an easy 75 (too hot) when it is in the teens outside.

 

[hetkind]

Actually, I have been working on the same project for my 34x70 polebarn, the 34x40 side with walls needs a ceiling to help keep the heat in. With the eve vents and the ridge vents, all the heat goes up and out. The price for tin came out to about $1,100, 2x4 sleepers with OSB with be less than half of that. So I am planning on 2x4 on 24" centers, 10' between the rafters, the OSB with 6" fiberglass unfaced insulation batts. This allows me to work at my own speed with a free hour here and there without having to use a vacation day. Plus the OSB has more sound deadening than tin would.

Since the eve height is 20', I found some used scaffolding on craigs list and ordered some really nice wheels for it from Scaffold Mart. It will also allow me to insulate and OSB the walls above the 8' mark. Eventually, the building will be tight enough for the pot belly stove to get it to 65' degrees, so I can spend my winters evenings doing body work on my restoration projects.

Once the interior finish is up, then all the vintage signs, posters, artwork can finally go up on the walls.

Howard

 

[Poppa Bud]

I plan on using 1" foam 4x8 sheets on mine, it has a reflective (silver) surface. My trusses are 4' oc, I don't plan on putting in any furring strips to support it.

My eave height is 14', I don't think a lot of insulation would do me any good.

 

[JOHNMAN]

Some good thoughts here. Please keep them up. I haven't decided yet.

I have wanted to bridge between the trusses as I think it would stiffen up the roof.

I'm not used to having trusses so far apart, but so far it hasn't been a problem.

The reason I want to do a ceiling is to keep heat in. I had thought about just insulating between the upper truss section (just under the roof deck), but I decided that it wouldn't be a real good idea and I don't know what I would use for insulation there anyway.

If I do a cost effective ceiling, I will probably use blown in cellulose insulation. That should keep the heat in better than the open trusses.

John

 

[zer01]

Ive seen guys use what we call "energy shield" as a ceiling. Its a 1/2 foam board with reflective foil on both sides. you could put some boards between the trusses and go that route.

+1 Built a pole barn for a friend and he did this with great success. Michigan winters it stays warm with a propane heater. We installed with screws and 2" plastic washers.

 

[JOHNMAN]

+1 Built a pole barn for a friend and he did this with great success. Michigan winters it stays warm with a propane heater. We installed with screws and 2" plastic washers.

What color is that?

 

[mebedave]

I'm in the same boat. I have a 40x80 pole building trusses are on 12' centers. I will finish off half as a heated shop and other half as cold storage. I have a few problems, with a 12' span I'm thinking 2x6's frame in between trusses every 24" and then OSB or used tin. The other problem, the tin sweats! Got a price to spray half the building (ceiling only)with 1" closed cell foam $2800 then I still have to do a blow in insulation over the drop ceiling. That $2800 just is not in the budget!!! So I'm at a stand still until I can come up with a way to control the sweating. I don't have overhangs so venting is a problem. HOW do so many people insulate these metal buildings with out spray foam?

 

[brownbagg]

tin is not cheap no more, a piece 3 ft by 8 ft is $20, compare to osb 4x8 $8 thats almost three piece of plywood for each piece of tin. and with the cold metal you have condesation problems. use osb or cdx and addd extra insulation on top.

 

[NUTTSGT]

I used some 1/2" foil backed foam board. It shows some sag (24"O.C.) after about 6 years. I'd hate to see the sag on wider centers.

 

[JOHNMAN]

What is the minimum thickness of OSB that won't sag over a 24" O/C span ceiling? Would I be able to get away with 1/4" or 3/8"?


I'm thinking of framing between the bottom chord of my roof trusses with 2x4's on 24" centers to provide something to support OSB.

Did I mention that I don't really like OSB? I might think about painting it before installing it so I would only have to touch it up where necessary.

 

[D KRAGER]

What is the minimum thickness of OSB that won't sag over a 24" O/C span ceiling? Would I be able to get away with 1/4" or 3/8"?


I'm thinking of framing between the bottom chord of my roof trusses with 2x4's on 24" centers to provide something to support OSB.

Did I mention that I don't really like OSB? I might think about painting it before installing it so I would only have to touch it up where necessary.

Go with 7/16" OSB, I wouldn't go any thinner... I just got done doing exactly what you are doing. Put 2x4's between the rafters on 24" centers and put up the 7/16" osb.


They make tin that will span the whole 8' between the rafters (has taller ribs), but I'm not sure on the price.

 

[zer01]

What color is that?

It is silver on both sides.

 

[hetkind]

Go with 7/16" OSB, I wouldn't go any thinner... I just got done doing exactly what you are doing. Put 2x4's between the rafters on 24" centers and put up the 7/16" osb.


They make tin that will span the whole 8' between the rafters (has taller ribs), but I'm not sure on the price.

the firm that supplied the tin for my pole barn said they use the same type tin for the ceiling, at over $1,100 for the 34x40 area, with the j molding.

Howard

 

[JOHNMAN]

If I go 7/16" OSB ($6.77) and 2x4's ($2.16) on 24" centers I should be able to do my area for around $665 (no insulation).

 

[boo coo tracks]

Don't know about price but have you considered plastic corregated roofing? You could overlap for strength and it come in various widths & lengths.
Tracks

 

[hetkind]

Don't know about price but have you considered plastic corregated roofing? You could overlap for strength and it come in various widths & lengths.
Tracks

I had a few pieces of the plastic roofing in a brush pile once...man does that stuff burn. Get that going and it will destroy a structure in SECONDS...

Howard

 

[69supercj]

I done this to my shop a few years ago. My trusses are on 10 foot centers I think and what I did was just frame the ceiling in like you would walls but instead of using 2x4's on 16 inch centers I used 2x6's on 24 inch centers. I wanted it to be strong enough for storage and its pretty solid. I put in an attic ladder like you would find in most attached garages but I wish I'd had the room to just put in a set of stairs.

 

[JOHNMAN]

Here is another question:

The roof of the pole barn is a standing seam type metal.

There is a white insulation or vapor barrier below the roof deck.

There are 2x4's spanning between the trusses on 2'-0" centers.

Is it a bad idea to add insulation between the 2x4's? Would I be asking for some sort of condensation problem by doing this?

If it would be ok to insulate the roof, what kind of insulation should I consider? (I'm thinking some sort of foam board between the 2x4's.

This would eliminate my desire for a ceiling, but I don't want to do something that would damage the building long term (or speed up it's end of life).



My main goal is to keep more heat inside the building and reduce my waste oil consumption.





Thanks for your help.

 

[rodnok1]

Half of the battle with heating is reducing the overall heated area and bringing the heat down to you. I don't think adding insulation would cause too many problems, does your pole barn gave soffit and ridge vents?

 

[JOHNMAN]

Half of the battle with heating is reducing the overall heated area and bringing the heat down to you. I don't think adding insulation would cause too many problems, does your pole barn gave soffit and ridge vents?

The building has no soffit or ridge vents. There really are no soffits on the building to have vents in, just the roof then gutter with no overhang.

Actually, there is no gable end vents either.

 

[newarkprecision]

i did mine with osb and used blow in insulation. Later when I have a few bucks will put metal over that just to make it look real good. But the osb looks good already. I used a insulation called atticat by owenscorning very nice stuff blew in 36" and economical

 

[hetkind]

The building has no soffit or ridge vents. There really are no soffits on the building to have vents in, just the roof then gutter with no overhang.

Actually, there is no gable end vents either.

with no ventilation in the roof, the BEST option in my opinion is rigid foam board right up against the roof. Moisture will collect up there and drip.

Perhaps some vents on the gable ends to go along with the insulation?

Howard

 

[SteveU]

Back in 2000 my pole barn collapsed from snowload. I had it rebuilt & used the metal from the old one screwed to the bottom of the trusses & blowed in about a foot of cellulose insulation above it. Painted it white which made a big difference in how light the shop is. These are about the best pics I have of it.

<a href="http://s277.photobucket.com/albums/kk54/SteveU_/?action=view&current=FamilyPhotos0506562.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk54/SteveU_/FamilyPhotos0506562.jpg" border="0" alt="from inside barn"></a>

<a href="http://s277.photobucket.com/albums/kk54/SteveU_/?action=view&current=FamilyPhotos0506643.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk54/SteveU_/FamilyPhotos0506643.jpg" border="0" alt="3/4&quot; filter/regulator"></a>

 

[JOHNMAN]

Back in 2000 my pole barn collapsed from snowload. I had it rebuilt & used the metal from the old one screwed to the bottom of the trusses & blowed in about a foot of cellulose insulation above it. Painted it white which made a big difference in how light the shop is. These are about the best pics I have of it.

Did you frame in between your trusses or just screw up the siding to the bottoms of the trusses?

 

[SteveU]

Trusses are 4' OC, the metal was just screwed to the bottom of each truss. I don't know how much weight it can support like that but I have been up there while insulating it & I weigh 180 and I felt no give. The original barn was put up in 73 so metal gauge was probably heavier than what they have today but the same thing should work if you aren't planning on using it for storage, if I were doing that I would have done it a bit different. The back half of the barn is open where you can look up thru the trusses & see the roof & on a hot summer day it is a lot more comfortable in the front part & in the winter it is able to be heated so it is doing it's job. I have 6" of fiberglass insulation & 1/2" foam insulation in the walls covered by 3/4" plywood & OSB to the 8' level & 3/8" OSB & plywood over that.

 

[caracer13]

Have you considered sheet rock rather than ply wood? typical ceilings are 24 on center and it would provide far better fire resistance than osb. I am in process of building a 60x60 and going to put heat and a/c in it so my plan is to insulate the wall with either batts or blow in, then ply wood or osb up 8' then the other 8' and ceiling have a sheet rock company do it then blow in the attic. My biggest question is are the trusses rated for the additional weight of the rock and insulation? I see a lot of guys on here doing it and have had no issues so I think it will be ok just looking for a little feed back.

 

[Ggg]

By design pole buildings flex more than a traditional stick built structure. I would think the building movement would crack the seams of mudded drywall. Without mudding the seams you do not have the fire protection.

 

[Alchymist]

Have you considered sheet rock rather than ply wood? typical ceilings are 24 on center and it would provide far better fire resistance than osb. I am in process of building a 60x60 and going to put heat and a/c in it so my plan is to insulate the wall with either batts or blow in, then ply wood or osb up 8' then the other 8' and ceiling have a sheet rock company do it then blow in the attic. My biggest question is are the trusses rated for the additional weight of the rock and insulation? I see a lot of guys on here doing it and have had no issues so I think it will be ok just looking for a little feed back.

Since the OP last response was in 2010, I think he probably has had his ceiling done however he decided a long time ago.

 

[kbs2244]

Check out a suspended ceiling.
You could unroll bats before slipping the panels into place under them