Want to hang a bike rack....
Whats best way to find out where the beams are underneath the artexed ceiling. Apart from the obvious of guessing by seeing how hollow it sounds when i hit it with a broom handle and then drilling a hole.
Are the beams likely to run across the garage or up/down?
BTW- theres a bedroom above the garage if that makes any difference....
Use a metal detector to try and find rows of nails.
Which way do the bedroom floorboards run? The joists will be at right angles to these - and you can tell where they are from the rows of nails. With a bit of careful measuring you can then work out where the joists are relative to the garage ceiling.
Either a stud detector - can work well if the PB is not foil backed. Or a strong magnet (to find the fixings), or a metal detector.
Yup!
Floorboards? If so the joists run perpendicular to them. (even with sheet flooring its usually 8x2' and the 8' length will be across the beams)
Just tap it with your knuckles, run back and forth over it and you'll work it out. Spacing is usually 16", sometimes 2'.
NT
Have they skimmed the garage ceiling ? Very posh!
On mine you can see the lines of nails/pins holding the plasterboard to the beams.
And, for what it's worth, they run across the width of the garage.
More likely to be across the width, but can't guarantee it.
If knocking doesn't work, and presumably you haven't got a stud detector or you wouldn't be asking the question, the esiest was would be just to drill test holes with your smallest drill to locate the beam - after all it's a *garage* ceiling, not your living room; and it's got Artex on which will conceal the holes (which could be completely hidden by bunging a bit of filler in).
David
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