Metal ceiling....

[cletus66]

I haven't been on here for a while, but we finally have some updates. Winter is coming, and my pole barn is cold as heck. Here are a few before, during, and after pictures of our steps to remedy the situation.

The funny looking tray ceiling is the future home of a lift. The ceiling is 10 feet, but that spot is 13. We intend to blow in insulation and finish insulating the walls to seal the place up. Before we installed the ceiling, we put all of the electrical connections in the proper boxes, and we also used grommets where the wires for the lights go through the metal.

Ellen and I busted our butts to knock this out, and of course, the job was fueled with plenty of these:

 

[JC23]

Looks good! I always did like that idea. It's fast, easy and did I mention FAST?

 

[couchmechanic]

That really has a nice finished look to it! What is it called?

 

[JC23]

Do you find there's more noise in there? How bout echoes?

 

[stingry]

Looks nice, BUT!! If what I'm seeing is correct, I'm afraid that you have weakened the roof structure considerably where you cut the bottom chords of the trusses to make the coffered area of the ceiling. I see no strengthening of the two trusses on either side of the coffered area. These trusses now bear the entire load of the cut trusses.

Steve

 

[cletus66]

Looks nice, BUT!! If what I'm seeing is correct, I'm afraid that you have weakened the roof structure considerably where you cut the bottom chords of the trusses to make the coffered area of the ceiling. I see no strengthening of the two trusses on either side of the coffered area. These trusses now bear the entire load of the cut trusses.

Steve

If you look at this picture, you can see one of the reinforcing 2 x 6's that are glued, screwed and through bolted above the tray ceiling. It isn't going anywhere. I was worried, but we maintained the strength of triangulation, and it never budged when we cut the bottom piece off. Thanks for looking.

 

[Falcon67]

Wow, drank the beer and smashed the cans into ceiling panels! That's cool!

Looks real good, interesting idea. No finish work, just cut and mount. Hummm.

 

[Rich H.]

The foil faced osb is really first class....good stuff to help hold the heat back better than the norm in a sunny climate.

The metal ceiling REALLY looks great...I considered it briefly but decided I probably shouldn't....it would have saved a ton of labor though and I'd be done by now if I had!

Question: is the attic ventilated?
Might be something to check it out before insulating.

Looking really great

 

[Rickenbackerman]

If you look at this picture, you can see one of the reinforcing 2 x 6's that are glued, screwed and through bolted above the tray ceiling. It isn't going anywhere. I was worried, but we maintained the strength of triangulation, and it never budged when we cut the bottom piece off. Thanks for looking.

Looks like an area of concern to me, too. It may not have moved when you cut the chords, but those two center trusses have definitely been compromised. You'd better keep an eye on it when the snow starts falling!

BTW, where did you get the metal? I want to do the same.

 

[cletus66]

The metal is Master Rib special ordered from Lowes. It is the same stuff that is on the outside of the building. They will cut each piece to the length you want. If you take the time to measure, it will save a lot of time.

 

[stick004]

I like it. I want to do the same. As mentioned above but you haven't answered it yet, how's the noise level? does it echo really badly when your using grinders or hammering out body work?

 

[cletus66]

I like it. I want to do the same. As mentioned above but you haven't answered it yet, how's the noise level? does it echo really badly when your using grinders or hammering out body work?

We finished just before my vacation ended, and we haven't done any ********* beatin' and bangin' on anything yet. I did turn on my compressor which is in the back corner, and didn't notice any big difference. I haven't noticed any echo during conversations either. We have so much **** in there, it probably muffles any of that stuff.

 

[Charles (in GA)]

Too late now. but I would have faced those cut trusses with OSB or plywood to add strength.

Charles

 

[Knuckle Buster]

I like the metal overhead inside. If I build a bigger shop one day, I plan on using metal inside also. I'm tired of all the dust and sawdust too that the wood bee's cause to rain down on my projects.

 

[Bib Overalls]

I am in the middle of a similar project and take encouragement from your outstanding results. Hoping the white metal will reflect light better and brighten up the space below. Does your experience validate my theory?

 

[TrooperJoe73]

Looks great!

 

[Red Leader]

Great job on that ceiling

I was originally looking into a corrugated steel ceiling until:

1. got concerned about the noise (gonna run a woodworking shop)
2. All the used stuff cost more than the new stuff ('repurposed' is the red hot new buzzword around here)
3. I got a drop ceiling system on the cheap, and my garage is a cheap build

 

[cletus66]

I am in the middle of a similar project and take encouragement from your outstanding results. Hoping the white metal will reflect light better and brighten up the space below. Does your experience validate my theory?

Absolutely, it made a huge difference in lighting. You don't want to look up too much.

 

[V-10 Killer]

Nice job, looks very clean.
I wondered about echoes too. But it's amazing how well echoes are cut down once you start filling a room with stuff. All those random angles to bounce off and absorb noise really makes a difference. I remember when I built my garage and had just finished the drywall. With nothing in there and all the doors closed, it echoed so bad I thought I'd never be able to go out there without earplugs lol.

If the strength of the trusses becomes a concern, you can always try to slide a few extra 2x8's up there through the soffit and lag bolt them to the top section of the truss on both ends to improve it.

 

[cletus66]

Nice job, looks very clean.
I wondered about echoes too. But it's amazing how well echoes are cut down once you start filling a room with stuff. All those random angles to bounce off and absorb noise really makes a difference. I remember when I built my garage and had just finished the drywall. With nothing in there and all the doors closed, it echoed so bad I thought I'd never be able to go out there without earplugs lol.

If the strength of the trusses becomes a concern, you can always try to slide a few extra 2x8's up there through the soffit and lag bolt them to the top section of the truss on both ends to improve it.

We did that before we cut it. We bolted and glued 16 ft 2 x 6's at the top of the tray on the 2 trusses we cut. You can see one of them with a bolt in it in one of the pics. You have to look closely, but the new lumber is a lighter color.

 

[cletus66]

We finally finished the drywall and paint. It really looks a lot better.

Here is a pic of the corner when the place was built:

This is the same corner after the ceiling and with drywall, paint, and some "artwork" :

Around the workbench:

And after:

For some reason I haven't figured out, the work bench area looks a little more cluttered now.

All of this has made a huge difference in keeping the place warm.

 

[hanly2]

I love the ceiling. I need to check prices on that metal. I have bags of screws laying around from the walls. Did you insulate on top of the metal? How about behind the drywall?

 

[hoho98925]

I wouldn't normally say something,but it needs to be said. Trusses are an engineered roof system. They are designed to carry the loads in both the top and bottom chords. On my current build I asked the engineer at the truss company about building 2 trusses with part of the bottom chord removed. It was a no go. Could not engineer a truss to have part of the bottom chord removed without having 2 additional girder trusses installed on either side and stick framing between them. Take this advice however you like, go find a structural engineer and have him design a fix for your roof. If you don't you are staring down the barrel of a possible catastrophic roof failure, sometime in the life of your structure. Good luck.

 

[Justanoldguy]

After 2 1/2 years I figure it hasn't fallen in yet.
Triangulation is pretty strong.