Church Hall Ceiling - advice please

[John]

The upstairs hall has three beams across it with the space between higher than the bottom of the beams. Between the beams is what appears to be plasterboard under a flat roof which, as far as I can tell, appears to use compressed straw boards (or similar) for insulation. We are planning to redecorate and since it is often quite cold, I wondered about "hanging" a new flat ceiling at the bottom of the beam level by using wood and plasterboard. Will this help to keep the room warmer, is it practical, any thoughts or guidance?

[dom]

This probably counts as notifiable work, and will need to comply with building regs for public buildings (which will be tougher than domestic requirements on things like fire safety).

Get an experienced individual to advise you. Studwork and plasterboard will add a considerable load to the beams.

[Owain]

A commercial suspended grid ceiling might be more practical, and easier to put lights and speakers into.

Owain

[Malcolm Race]

Think in terms of a commercial suspended ceiling. In a school where I work the crumbling high (about 5 metres) lath and plaster ceilings have been removed and a suspended ceiling put at 'normal' height. This has fibreglass mat on top of it. This work was, however, done at least 10 years ago so regs will have changed since then

Malcolm