Garage ceiling - what to use?

[Richard Sterry]

I have a detached double garage, with an uninsulated roof decked with chipboard (which is slowly disintegrating with age and damp) and covered in ye olde 'tar and felt'.

All being well, it will soon be reroofed with insulation on top, (mostly to keep it cooler in summer rather than warmer in winter), thus converting it into a so-called 'hot roof'. Once this is done, it will (I believe) no longer be necessary for me to leave the roof timbers (about 2" wide x 9" deep joists) and the underside of the decking, exposed for ventilation purposes. I could therefore fit some sort of ceiling, not for aesthetic reasons, but so that it will not accumulate mucky cobwebs and dust, which rain down on my prized vehicles and tools, and most important of all it will help make the most of the interior lighting, (ie the ceiling will be white). I have already painted the walls white and it made a huge difference to the lighting, converting a dark and dirty space into a much lighter one that is far more pleasant and practical to work in. My aim is to make it lighter and nicer still.

My question is, bearing in mind that its purpose is not so much to look nice like a ceiling inside the house, but to fulfil a practical need, what would be the most suitable (and cheap) DIY material to use? I don't really want to be messing about with plasterboard, (unless you can persuade me otherwise), so I was wondering about white-finished hardboard (to save me having to paint). In time, I am sure that it will sag and buckle a little, but as long as it is not to too extreme a degree I could live with that.

In practice, I will probably leave a gap of several inches on either side, ie at the ends of the joists, rather than continue the ceiling right to the side walls. This is because (a) there is no positive source of heat in the garage so perhaps a little ventilation wouldn't go amiss, and (b) there are quite a few alarm and power cables fixed along at the ends of the joists, and it would save having to disrupt them.

There is a photo at

to give you an idea of what I am talking about. You can also see some of the aforementioned cables.

Any thoughts?

Many thanks in advance, as they say.

[Mary Fisher]

That's a garage???

But ... it's tidy!

I must show it to Spouse.

Mary

[Andy Hall]

I had a similar kind of scenario in a way, although my garage has a pitched roof. I insulated next to the rafters and then created a storage space by boarding over the tops of the joists with softwood T&G.

From the underside it looks similar to your set up although the joists are not quite as deep.

I kept the space and simply painted the boarding and joists in white. You can then easily see any grot up there, but more to the point the space is not wasted. You have about 250mm of height there which could be used for storage, fitting lights, whatever.

It seems a shame to waste it.

.andy

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[Richard Sterry]

Sorry - that's the most UNtidy bit!! I have my wife's car in there, two motorbikes, three pedal bikes, a workbench, some shelves, and still room to walk around.

*PROUD* :-)

Rick

[Richard Sterry]

Painting the joists and underside of the deck would be a rather long and fiddly job, and it would still absorb a lot more of the light than a flat ceiling. I can't do that with the present deck, as the chipboard is turning busy back into individual little wood chips and is impossible to paint, but yes I could theoretically do it with the new deck. However, the presence of the sectional garage door runners and supports would limit my use of the space between the joists. So, thanks for the suggestion, but on balance I am happy to 'waste' the space - I have plenty of storage space elsewhere. Conversion to a pitch roof would be a sensible, if costly option, but it would create problems with the aesthetics of the property and rob light from some of the house windows - pity!

Rick

[James Hart]

You've got a car in a garage??? What kind of strange person are you?

[EricP]

Beggars belief doesn't it?

Do you think we ought to inform the authorities?

[Richard Sterry]

No, listen. *MY* car stays outside. The deal with SWMBO is that if *HER* car can go in the garage, then *I'm* allowed to have motorbikes. Seems like a fair trade to me! OK, I turf her car out if I want to saw up floorboards or something that takes up a bit of space - she lets me, as long as I put it back again afterwards.

Rick

[Mary Fisher]

Rrrasssppppppppp!!!

Mary

[Mary Fisher]

There must be some appropriate Regs ...

Mary

[PoP]

My car has been in the garage virtually every night since we bought it, about 4 years now.

But I've just had to put up a new 8x6 shed in the garden because I've run out of space in the garage.

PoP

[Andy Hall]

You lead that poor man a rotten life. :-)

.andy

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[Andy Hall]

Ooh dear.

You're under the thumb aren't you :-)

.andy

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[Richard Sterry]

{Adopts slightly different posture}

Um, of course it's tidy - it's the ceiling. You should see the floor! ;-)

Rick

[Steven Briggs]

In message , Richard Sterry writes

Don't be tempted to use hardboard, it will sag _a lot_ in garage conditions (i.e. a bit damp).

12mm CDX (sheathing) ply would be a good choice. Full WBP ply if you can afford it.

[Mary Fisher]

I decided not to be so hard on him. He's been helping a son build a brick garage all week and now it's raining and I couldn't be so cruel ... I do have a heart ...

Mary

[Mary Fisher]

Well show us a picture of that to make us less guilty ...

Mary

[S Viemeister]

It's quite unnatural, isn't it?

Sheila

[Andy Hall]

It's like I said to SWMBO once. "The garage is tidy, apart from the stuff on the floor".

.andy

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[Richard Sterry]

Of course I can afford it - I'm absolutely loaded. On the other hand, I am a skinflint of the highest order!

Seriously, ta for the advice - genuinely appeciated.

Rick