Can I install a ceiling?

[stryped]

My detached garage with metal siding has 2x4 trusses spaced 4 feet on center. Can I install a ceiling or will this be too much weight and cause sagging/or other problems?

[fftt]

Depends on:

1) whether the trusses were designed to take a ceiling load 2) what type of ceiing you have in mind

very difficult to tell from here w/o more info

fyi

cheers Bob

[RicodJour]

4' on center? What's on top of the trusses that's spanning 4'? With that spacing - a likely cost saving measure - it's unlikely there's a lot of leeway in the load handling capabilities of the roof framing. You'd have to frame a ceiling before you could cover it, and with 4' between trusses that wouldn't be easy to do with a light structure. The lightest ceiling I could think of would be the plastic corrugated roofing stuff, and that would still sag a bunch with 4' spacing. R

[Twayne]

A hanging ceiling is very light and could likely be used. Don't know about adding lights to it though. Check with your local code office. No one here can tell you for sure.

[stryped]

th

This is a 30 x30 garage with a metal roof. I think it is a 3 or 4 12 pitch. My ideas was to add 2x4's every 4 feet between trusses and use

7/16 osb for a ceiling. If everyone here thinks it might sag or is a bad idea, I thought abotu using 4x8 insulated panels? I wonder how that would look?

[Twayne]

But your local code enforcement will have the final say on whatever is acceptable. I'm going to guess that you're in an area where you don't get snow because that method could never meet roof snow-load requirements up here. So if you are in an area that gets snow, I think you're in trouble before you even start. If you don't have the design specs for it, you might need an engineering assessment just to pass code as it is. Don't take chances because they could make you tear it down. And like I said, the local code office will have final say on everything.

[dpb]

stryped wrote: ...

Read (and heed) Bob's (aka fft) answer -- it depends _entirely_ on the truss design and we can't tell from here.

Chances are you're ok, but you need to go research the truss or get an expert opinion. Call a local truss company; they have the poop given the dimensions and construction details...

--

[RicodJour]

With

Without information on what the bottom chords of those trusses were designed to carry, it's stupid to guess. The suggestion of a suspended acoustic ceiling is about the only thing I would not have any qualms about, and that would depend on how many light fixtures you were going to install in it.

If you can determine who built the metal building, you'd probably be able to find out the load information on the trusses.

R

[Joe]

Buy some more metal siding in lengths to span the garage perpendicular to the trusses. it will likely meet code where you are, it's light weight, it can carry a full 6" insulation batt or more if you need to heat the place and it doesn't burn. With a helper you could do the whole building in an hour. No problems with sagging, termites, or other annoyances. Choose a nice pattern and it won't look bad at all. If the siding available seems too gauche for your taste, most farm building makers will have real ceiling panels you can buy. Maybe a bit pricier, but prettier.

Joe

[Zephyr]

Light weight??? that tin weighs a ton, ever tried to lift a sheet yourself? they use forklifts to move the stuff.

how about popping up some foam board.. thats light weight, and you could still insulate above it too.

[DD_BobK]

OP-

How old is the building? Do oyu know the designer / builder / truss engineer / truss mfr?

For a reasonable cost the truss engineer (if you can identitfy him) should be able to give a quick design of what you'd need to add to the truss to handle your ceiling load. For him it will be a snap.

I was thinking about using tile (fake shakes) on an 80 year old house & paid a roofing enigneer $300 to come out, check out the roof & give me a strength upgrade design.

I "might" (personally) consider "winging it" but I'd for sure have one on my associates (CE/SE) lay eyes on it first

also....Metal roofing is not all that lightweight 20 gage steel would be ~equal to 7/16 OSB. Drywall even heavier.....a light but still non-zero load would be ceiling tiles / that Homesote(?) crap

I think you'll be in the 1 to 2 psf (pounds per sq ft) range.......for the entire roof system, probably not a deal killer but getting the trusses to handle the loads locally might be a problem.

Get your trusses looked at, modify them as needed & install your ceiling

cheers Bob

All- Note screen name / handle change....I don't know how I switched from BobK207 to fftt....I'm justt a dumb Google Group user. But I tried to follow Duane's example but my initials were taken :(

so now a more meaningful hybrid

[DD_BobK]

foam board fire issue?

[dpb]

DD_BobK wrote: ...

You'd be hard pressed to find 20 ga exterior siding; 26 is far more common inexpensive. Didn't look up actual mil thickness difference but it's certainly quite a lot lighter.

That said, the question of what the lower chords are designed to carry still remains and will until OP finds out unless he does just want to wing it and see what happens...(not highly recommended, btw :) ).

[Joe]

[IGot2P]

You should remember that not everyone has to meet any code of that type. Not everyone lives the same place that you do, go see the rest of the world sometime.

[aemeijers]

Even if code and inspection is not an issue, code is a good place for non-engineers to start, to know if something will probably work and be safe.

-- aem sends...

[DD_BobK]

Thanks Duane...

I just pulled the a number out of the air to do the weight calc.....

20 gage (.038?) was the only "thin" gage I could recall.

I have no experience with metal siding & only minimal with metal roofing.....I thought 20 gage was pretty thin

but it looks like roofing and siding are even thinner than I had imagined. Plus (doh!) I was thinking steel....aluminum would be even lighter

So maybe a ceiling made of siding makes sense?

cheers Bob

[Stormin Mormon]

Yes, you can!