Metal vs drywall ceiling in garage

[PCO6]

Did the aluminum soffit easily join the together? Is is made to join together side by side?

The panels work like tongue and groove wood flooring or wall paneling. The aluminum panels feel a little flimsy as you lift them into place but it's surprising easy to fit the leading edge of one panel into the "groove" of the panel that you installed ahead of it. I bought mine at Home Depot in the roofing, eve trough, down spout, etc. section. If you take a look you can more easily see what I mean. You can also buy white #6 x 3/8" Robertson "soffit screws" in the same section. I installed the screws by piercing them through the aluminum with a screw driver. It is not necessary to drill holes and that really speeds up the process.

 

[RonRock]

The reasons I went with metal vs. drywall was:
1) It was approx. $1000 less expensive based on the quotes I received from the drywall guys. I don't do drywall and the metal I could do myself.
2) Weight, Drywall is at least 3-4 times heavier than steel.
3) Pole Barns are not like stick built buildings and they move around some and the drywall guys could not guarantee me the joints would not crack.

Some very valid points.

 

[PCO6]

No of fence to any one who has done the metal ceiling, but when I see materials other than drywall up there it makes me think someone was avoiding doing it the most attractive way. ...

Several people have said they prefer the look of steel over drywall. I'm one of them.

 

[Justanoldguy]

No of fence to any one who has done the metal ceiling, but when I see materials other than drywall up there it makes me think someone was avoiding doing it the most attractive way.

I sure hope you are not seriously saying the only way to do it properly is drywall ..
So what do you suggest in the "only"way to cover in the outside of a house?

 

[KnurledNut]

To the OP, make sure the floor trusses were spec'd for dead load of floor AND ceiling material.

If you know for a fact that you will never heat the upstairs, insulate with the kraft facing down toward the heated basement.

Another option (that many people aren't aware of) is a reverse roll panel. The color is flipped when they cold roll your panels. So they install upside down. The ribs go against framing and your fasteners are concealed in those recesses. Much cleaner and the ceilings ive installed this way turned out great.

If you go with steel, ask if they have a liner panel. It'll probably be 28ga. And cheaper. Plenty sufficient for a ceiling covering and lighter.

 

[passinthru]

[QUOTE
The panels work like tongue and groove wood flooring or wall paneling. The aluminum panels feel a little flimsy as you lift them into place but it's surprising easy to fit the leading edge of one panel into the "groove" of the panel that you installed ahead of it. I bought mine at Home Depot in the roofing, eve trough, down spout, etc. section. If you take a look you can more easily see what I mean. You can also buy white #6 x 3/8" Robertson "soffit screws" in the same section. I installed the screws by piercing them through the aluminum with a screw driver. It is not necessary to drill holes and that really speeds up the process

Does anyone know if these would be strong enough to use with 10" of blown in insulation?
Inside dimension 30x48 with gambrel style trusses on 2' ctr. but I went back and added another floor truss in between, so ceiling is on 1' ctr.
Thanks

 

[V-10 Killer]

I did drywall in mine but had seriously considered steel. I was worried about the noise reflection from the steel. One thing I noticed when I got the drywall done, with nothing in the garage but flat walls/floor, there was a lot of echo noise. The more you fill it, and add different surfaces to reflect or adsorb the noise, the better it gets. My buddy did steel in his pole barn and said the same thing. So I wouldn't worry too much about the noise level, just go with what you like

 

[OccupantRJ]

If you go with steel, ask if they have a liner panel. It'll probably be 28ga. And cheaper. Plenty sufficient for a ceiling covering and lighter.

In my area, the metal is available in both 26 and 29 gauge. The discount building center stocks 29 gauge at 2.39 a linear foot. That works out to 80 cents a square foot, since it is 3 feet coverage in width. Here there are 2 shades of white available. The link below is the company that supplies Lowes stores in my area.

http://www.unioncorrugating.com/all_products.html#metal

 

[Krausmotorsports]

Bringing up a older thread but I actually hung drywall and didn't mud yet but the wife fell through and pulled a 4x12 sheet on top of my mint 04 cobra with 15k original miles. I was upset but more worried about her. She was okay just a few scrapes. I'm definitely doing metal panels for sure. But now my question is should I remove the drywall and install the panels or hang another sheet of drywall and still hang the panels over the dryeall? This will also have blown in insulation after finished. Thanks guys!

 

[Justanoldguy]

Just screw the metal over the drywall.

How could she fall through it?

 

[zkdiesel]

16' metal sheets used in my shop ceiling vapor barrier installed, was a rather pita but worked well. hanging ceiling this worked best, set sheet on manlift rails and sat underneath it, used manlift to pin sheet to ceiling while helper on wall end with ladder helped slip into j channel and align on ribs

 

[harvey29]

how about white plastic roofing material?

 

[brucer]

I would do the entire interior in metal siding.. There is something about a white metal interior that makes it brighter, I think the bends in the metal reflect the light around and make the interior brighter than a regular painted drywall interior.

 

[brucer]

I used aluminum soffit - 16" W x 10' L panels. They are very light and were easy to install by myself. I used 6" insulation batts and a 6mm vapour barrier. To be honest, I didn't even consider drywall. Too much work!

looks nice and clean.. what was cost of the material for the entire ceiling?

 

[Cougar]

Some good info in this thread.
Subscribed.

 

[PCO6]

looks nice and clean.. what was cost of the material for the entire ceiling?

brucer - The cost for the aluminum panels and screws was about $475. Each panel is about 16" x 10' and there was about a foot of waste for each panel. The plywood panel down the middle of the ceiling covers the "waste" ends. My garage is 20'x20' so say about $1.25 / sq. ft. with taxes included. I bought the panels at Home Depot and probably could have found them for a bit less elsewhere. I did not compare the cost of aluminum vs. drywall as I had already decided on the aluminum primarily for ease of insulation and appearance reasons.

There were additional costs for the insulation, vapour barrier and strapping but those would be the same for a drywall ceiling. I forget the cost of the plywood but it wasn't much. The only paint required was for the plywood panel so there's a bit of a saving vs. drywall.

 

[John in OH]

Bringing up a older thread but I actually hung drywall and didn't mud yet but the wife fell through and pulled a 4x12 sheet on top of my mint 04 cobra with 15k original miles. I was upset but more worried about her. She was okay just a few scrapes. I'm definitely doing metal panels for sure. But now my question is should I remove the drywall and install the panels or hang another sheet of drywall and still hang the panels over the dryeall? This will also have blown in insulation after finished. Thanks guys!

I don't see why you would need to remove the drywall that is already installed. Replace the missing sheet and install the steel or soffit material directly onto the drywall. Just make sure you get screws long enough to penetrate the drywall and properly engage the bottom truss chords.

It may require extra care to assure that you hit the cords with the screws since you won't be able to see the actual location of the cords with the drywall hiding them, but the drywall nails/screws should provide a fairly good guide.

You may also need to relocate any ceiling-mounted electrical boxes as you don't want the boxes to lay on the steel ridges. I found it very difficult to pre-cut holes in the steel and get them to properly align with existing boxes so put up the steel first then relocate the boxes.

 

[Jimi]

I have a pole barn and will not be doing drywall on my ceiling for the 3rd reason samert111 listed above. I was not real crazy about the metal ribbed look already, but seeing PCO6's soffit install, I'm sold on that now. That's a real nice clean look. And it should be much easier to deal with not having to avoid the ribs for anything going up or trim ringing around.

 

[Sk1080]

The soffit looks nice, I was planning steel sheets but this has me thinking. I have to span trusses 24" on center. Do you think aluminum or steel soffit would support blown in insulation?

 

[PCO6]

Sk1080 - My guess is that it would - it's pretty strong with the ribs and the tongue and groove seems. I have no doubt that it would if you plan to install strapping and a vapour barrier.

 

[Ross/Kzoo]

A couple of weeks ago a friend told me that if you go to metal supplier and ask them to rib the metal opposite the normal way that they will do that for you. That way the exterior finish is on the inside of the building and the ribs are against the framing to give you a smoother look. I haven't checked that out yet.

 

[drunkenfool]

A couple of weeks ago a friend told me that if you go to metal supplier and ask them to rib the metal opposite the normal way that they will do that for you. That way the exterior finish is on the inside of the building and the ribs are against the framing to give you a smoother look. I haven't checked that out yet.

I do that with ribbed condoms too. I just turn em inside out so I get all the pleasure!

 

[mygarageone]

I also have a metal ceiling , love it. It reflects the light well , low noise issue , and easy to clean if need be.
One of the poster ask about 10" insulation above it ? I installed a vapor Barrior and 15" of blown in and will be putting in another 5 - 6" this spring . It will actual hold a lot of weight.

 

[little d]

Not in a shop but, did the metal ceiling in the stage area in a bar once, 25' by 150', used a sheetrock jack and step ladder, by myself, cutouts for lights and all, less than a days work. As far as finishing around a face plate to the ribs, you can ether attach a box on the finish side and pull your wires through or like I did, use foam (weather stripping) between the finish side of the panels and covers, looked very nice and finished.

As far as sound goes, like I said, this was in the stage area where bands played. I don't know if it was the combo of soft brick and wood floor or what but, everyone complemented on how nice and crisp the sound was, no vibration or echo at all.

 

[Fueler]

16' metal sheets used in my shop ceiling vapor barrier installed, was a rather pita but worked well. hanging ceiling this worked best, set sheet on manlift rails and sat underneath it, used manlift to pin sheet to ceiling while helper on wall end with ladder helped slip into j channel and align on ribs

I am going to rent one of those manlifts for my project. How do you feel about their pluses and minus now that you used it?

 

[Diesel Dan]

I'm going the ribbed steel route.

 

[Highbeam]

I bought a sheetrock lift to do mine and beware, most only go to 11 feet so you need to plan for additional height with maybe an extension or something.

 

[finn]

I bought a sheetrock lift to do mine and beware, most only go to 11 feet so you need to plan for additional height with maybe an extension or something.

I bought my Chinese lift online a couple years ago. The vendor offered an extention good to something like 15 or 16', so I bought that too. Works great for the price.

 

[rburke65]

Metal here with a 13' 4" ceiling. Rented a drywall lift and did it myself. It was a great tool.

 

[jvitez]

finn: would you have a pic you can post? I'd love to see what type of extention could be used. I can only find drywall lifts that max out at 11 ft.

 

[Jeffksf]

Any thoughts about sag? My ceiling joists are 24" OC and would that spacing allow the metal panels to sag?

 

[finn]

finn: would you have a pic you can post? I'd love to see what type of extention could be used. I can only find drywall lifts that max out at 11 ft.

It's in Michigan and I'm in Florida. The extention is essentially a replacement for the lift extension mechanism. Pull the old center pieces out and slip the new, longer one in. It includes a longer cable for the greater travel.

Only downside is that it doesn't collapse as far so you have to lift your drywall, metal, or whatever to shoulder height (I'm short) to place it on the lift.

I even used mine to lift a 75-- btu gas heater to a 12.5' ceiling.

I found mine on the web from some vendor in Lower Michigan, maybe Grand Rapids. It looks like all the other Chinese lifts.

 

[finn]

Any thoughts about sag? My ceiling joists are 24" OC and would that spacing allow the metal panels to sag?

I used strapping across the trusses, but if I ever do this again, I'd omit the strapping.

I needed (or thought I needed) the strapping to keep my insulation up for the years that elapsed before I put the tin up.

 

[jdub63]

Any thoughts about sag? My ceiling joists are 24" OC and would that spacing allow the metal panels to sag?

I think most of the metal roofs are on a 48" OC and take into account snow load. I don't think you would have a sag problem with 24" centers. The panel ribs should be perpendicular to the ceiling joists.

 

[hedhunter9]

I did the white metal ceiling in my pole barn this winter.. I love it..
2foot on center. 12 inch insulation on top of it..
bob

 

[Diesel Dan]

I think most of the metal roofs are on a 48" OC and take into account snow load. I don't think you would have a sag problem with 24" centers. The panel ribs should be perpendicular to the ceiling joists.

Trusses might be 48" OC but the purlins should be 24"OC.
My trusses are 24"OC and that is what the metal is screwed to.

 

[Tundra]

I like this better compared to drywall. Probably the route I'll take.

 

[John in OH]

Any thoughts about sag? My ceiling joists are 24" OC and would that spacing allow the metal panels to sag?

My joists are on 24" centers and there is absolutely no sag (See my earlier post, #3 in this thread for pics). The ribs on the steel panels make them quite rigid length-wise.

I don't know for sure, but I suspect you could easily span 48" with no sag unless you went really crazy with blown-in insulation.

 

[mikec35]

Do you **** the ends or overlap?

 

[classic boost]

diesel dan,
how are your purlins done on your walls (i assume it's a pole building)? do you have any pics during the install on the walls?
i can't decide if i want drywall or steel on my walls. the ceiling will be steel.