Construction order? -- ceiling and divider wall

[jwvess00]

Hi there!

I bought a house last fall with a 36x50 pole barn, concrete floor, metal roof and siding. The previous owner divided the shop into three rooms. That doesn't fit what I want to do, so this weekend I'm removing all of that and starting with an empty building.

There is no ceiling in the shop right now (the previous owner never installed one). It has trusses 5 feet on center. The ceiling height is 9'. I'll be adding stringers between the trusses to support the drywall.

I intend to drywall the ceiling. I also intend to install a single divider wall to divide the space into approximately a 30x36 space for cars/mechanical stuff, and a 20x36 space for a wood shop. I will also be studding between the posts for a wall covering (OSB probably), and will be epoxy-coating the floor. There's some wiring to do, lights to install, and insulating the walls and ceiling.

I'm going to wait until the weather is warmed up more before I do the floor. I think I want to wait until I do the floor before putting up the divider wall because I think it will be easier to coat one big room rather than two smaller ones, and it will mean the floor is coated under the wall plate, too, though I don't know if that matters at all.

I'd like to get going on getting the ceiling in, if I can, since I could then install the lights. Otherwise all the work would have to wait until the floor's coated.

Does it make sense to wait on installing the ceiling until after I have the divider wall up, or does that matter? Without the ceiling in I could build the wall and raise it in place as one piece, but I know the floor isn't level (the previous owner built it, and poured a slope in it to a drain in the floor that I wish weren't there) so building it in place (with each stud cut to length and then installed vs. building the wall and raising it in place as an assembly) isn't necessarily a great burden. I think.

What order would you all recommend I do things to keep the project moving along as much as possible? I've done just about all of the types of work that will need to be done, but this is the first project I've had where I've had to do all of this combined and I'm not sure what order makes the most sense.

Here's an interior shot of the building for reference -- demo starts this weekend

Thanks!

 

[Zeke]

I'd work from the top down just as you seem to be doing. It will be easier to sheet the entire ceiling than to cut in 2 more edges. Just be sure to locate your nailers for your partition wall.

 

[mygarageone]

Just be sure to have some blocking at the joists where you plan on having the wall.

 

[Angelfire]

I'm in a similar position although my floor doesn't slope. I intend on doing the wall first. Reason being a) I plan to do different floor coverings for my two spaces b) it allows me to drop power from the joists easily c) I intend on other utilities in the wall as well such as compressed air, Ethernet, coax etc and it'll be easier for me to run all that before the ceiling is rocked.

 

[nolimits76]

I agree about you needing stringers to make hanging the ceiling drywall possible; however, have you considered the additional weight load the strings + the drywall will put on the existing trusses? It might be worth paying a couple hundred bucks to have a structural engineer review and approve what you are trying to do.

In regards to sequence, think how a house is built. Foundation, studs, wiring, plumbing, drywall, trim, paint, final electrical & plumbing plates and finally flooring. I'd replicate this process in your garage. You should find it to make sense and flow well.

I know you mentioned doing the floor in one big swoop, but I think your areas are big enough you might appreciate the smaller them being divided. The only thing I personally wouldn't like is waiting to do the floors till the end you will have a bare spot under the intermediate wall plates. It's probably not a big deal, but if you (or the future owner) ever takes down the wall, you will want it to match.

 

[volvo]

..
jwvess00
...Welcome to the Garage Journal. Nice looking shop. Whats planned for behind the glass doors, future office/man cave?
Looking forward to seeing more pics as your shop improvements continue. Good Luck.

 

[Falcon67]

Having done this recently, you can do it two ways - one, put up the ceiling and then add in the partition. Or, you can add stringers between the joists and then add the partition under the stringers which leave nailing for your ceiling.

You will not be building and raising the wall in one piece. You will put in the top plate, use a plumb line(s) to set your floor plate and then you will cut and fit each stud, toe nailing in place. If the floor and ceiling are not perfectly level and equidistant, you will just be fighting any pre-fabbed wall you try to stand up. This isn't a big deal and will make your life much easier. The floor plate can be stuck down with a little construction glue.

 

[RiceD]

Having done this recently, you can do it two ways - one, put up the ceiling and then add in the partition. Or, you can add stringers between the joists and then add the partition under the stringers which leave nailing for your ceiling.

You will not be building and raising the wall in one piece. You will put in the top plate, use a plumb line(s) to set your floor plate and then you will cut and fit each stud, toe nailing in place. If the floor and ceiling are not perfectly level and equidistant, you will just be fighting any pre-fabbed wall you try to stand up. This isn't a big deal and will make your life much easier. The floor plate can be stuck down with a little construction glue.

Good advice!

 

[Kevin54]

It's perfectly fine to put your wall in before drywall. They do it on houses daily. On my garage and the house garage, I had the ceilings done before the walls. That way, if I ever wanted to rearrange a wall at a later time, the drywall would only need minor patching on the ceiling to fill a few holes instead of patching in a long 4" wide strip.

 

[sammerdog]

...however, have you considered the additional weight load the strings + the drywall will put on the existing trusses? It might be worth paying a couple hundred bucks to have a structural engineer review and approve what you are trying to do...

Agreed, especially with 5' on center trusses.

36 x 50 = 1800 sq ft.

A 4x8 sheet of 5/8 drywall (32 sq ft) weighs approx 70 pounds.

1800 sq ft divided by 32 sq ft per drywall sheet = 56.25 sheets.

56.25 sheets x 70 pounds = 3,940 pounds hanging from your ceiling.

Two tons hanging from your ceiling is when the humidity is low. A few damp days and the drywall will absorb some heavy moisture.

I'm jealous of your great sized garage Sir, especially with no walls in the way. Would hate for it to have issues.

 

[wnstwolf]

Wow all the optimists here today. I have to see the glass half empty on this one. Put up your walls and then rock the room you want to use right away. I seem to end up doing projects like yours by myself. That’s a lot of ceiling to rock (Get a lift). If you break it into your rooms it might not be so daunting? Just my .02. On the other hand if you’re going to have a “rock the barn” party get as much of that ceiling done with help on site. As others mentioned be sure to have plenty of nailers in place where you will nail your top plate of your partition wall to.

 

[jwvess00]

Hi there!

Thanks for all of the advice. I appreciate it.

The shop plans are to split it into two rooms. One about 18-20ish x 36 (depending on exactly where the wall ends up between the window and one of the garage doors). That's my wood shop. The rest of the space, 30ishx36, is for the cars/motorcycle wrenching / metalwork / paint stuff.

I should start a build thread. So far I've got just about all of the existing walls out and hope to finish that job this weekend.

The French doors in the shop were there when I bought the place. Since they both open, I will probably try to reuse them so I have a big opening between the wood shop and the auto shop. Glass doors and a wood shop don't necessarily mix, but given I already own it, it's not going to cost me anything to use them, and worst-case if the glass dies, is I rebuild them either as solid doors or at least with something like Lexan that would take a bit more of a beating.

wnstwolf I am not yet sure how I'll do the ceiling. I may hire it out if I can find a Really Good Deal on it. When Dad had his 32x40 shop built a couple of years ago, he found a local drywaller that installed drywall for 10 cents per square foot for labor, and was cheaper on materials than Dad could get it (no surprise there). They did a great job. Unfortunately I live about 100 miles from my parents, so I'm not going to be using the same contractors.

Dad has a drywall lift so if I do it myself I can borrow that. If I don't hire it out, I will very likely do this by myself.