I am needing advice and you guys are some of the smartest on the web. As you know I have a 30x30 building with 10 foot ceilings. The trusses are 4 feet apart so I am not sure I can put a drywall ceiling. I plan on drywalling the walls.
My thoughts are this, either a suspended ceiling with the 2x4 tile or I thought of using the soffit material like that is used on the roof of my porch. (The kind without vent holes). When I figured up the cost for both they were very similar. (Not cheap).
We have suspended ceilings at work and when new they look good but whenever there is a roof leak or something they get ugly looking stains on the tiles and the tiles are not cheap. Also, I am a little worried about the humidity messing with those tiles over time. Also, when I read the literature, it said to plan on 20 hours of labor to do a suspended ceiling for a 9x14 room! Since I have to work myself, I cant image how long it would take to do a 30x30.
So, I have gone back and forth on the issue. Do you guys see any problem with soffit material? My thought is to use 1x4=92s nailed on the bottom of the trusses about every 2-4 feet to help minimize sagging. Will the soffit still sag? Will it be possible to keep the rows of soffit straight and how do I go about doing that. (With a chalk line?)
Above whatever type ceiling I use will be clear plastic vapor barrier with unfaced r-30 fiberglass insulation.
One caveat is I can see sometime in the future needing to get in the ceiling to run wire or whatever. Hopefully someday to run a central heat/air unit but that may be a long time from now.
Also, on another note, we have had torrential rains last night. I had drops of water on the center of the floor. I crawled in the ceiling and the best I can tell is it is blowing in from the top =93ridge cap=94 that is on the center of the roof. I assume this is used for ventilalation?
Anyhow I really appreciate your help!