Ceiling Options for Clubhouse

[EddieWalker]

The building is 48' x 28' with roof trusses on 8' centers. We had talked about putting in structure to hang drywall or other material, but I suspect the trusses would not be able to handle the additional weight. The trusses are marked "32lbs. 96 o.c.", and I don't know what the 32lbs. represents.

For reference of your 32lb rating, remember that when building a second story on a house, the flooring is usually rated for 40lbs. At 32 lbs, you don't have any concerns of what materials you decide to use.

Ideally for a metal ceiling, you would want your trusses, or at least your ceiling joists to be every 4 feet apart. Here, McCoys sells 2x6's that are 28 feet long. I might be tempted to install one of those long 2x6's between every truss and then support it with 2x8's on the edge at just over 9 feet apart on top of the bottom cords of the trusses.

This will give you 4 foot spacing to attach your ceiling. I personally like the look of grey corrugated metal attached with screws. It's old school, that's been around forever.

The metal roofing company that I buy my panels from, Muellers, will make and cut them to any length that you want. With a building that's 48 feet long, I'd buy them 24 feet long. You might be OK if you don't add the additional 2x6's between the trusses if you go with 24 foot long metal, but for a few hundred bucks more, I wouldn't risk it.

I just bought Ivy Green metal R panels 16ft 2in long for my porch that I'm building and I paid just under $1.50 a square foot. You should be able to get corrugated metal for less then that.

Home Depot has Attic Cat insulation. They include the rental of the machine when you buy ten sacks of insulation. Bring a trailer and get 3 pallets and blow it it a foot for R30, or two feet thick for R60. There is not better bang for what you spend then blowing in Attic Cat yourself. Foam is king, but you will pay a lot more to get R60 in foam!!!! Then when you are done spraying in the Atticat, you return the sacks of insulation that you didn't use with the machine and you are only charged for the ones you used.

With trusses 8 feet apart, you will need to figure out how you will get around up there once the ceiling is installed to install the insulation. If you install the 2x8s on top of the trusses, you might want to also install a 2x4 on the flat to create a walkway. It's kind of wasted wood, but I don't see how you could insulate if you don't have a way to get around up there.

 

[Welshman]

I have never seen fiberboard roof panels span a distance. Keep in mind humidity from the air soaking in over time and then a saggy ceiling.

Thanks. No, I wasn't thinking of using them for the clubhouse. I have a building at home with trusses on 24" centers.

 

[Welshman]

For reference of your 32lb rating, remember that when building a second story on a house, the flooring is usually rated for 40lbs. At 32 lbs, you don't have any concerns of what materials you decide to use.

Ideally for a metal ceiling, you would want your trusses, or at least your ceiling joists to be every 4 feet apart. Here, McCoys sells 2x6's that are 28 feet long. I might be tempted to install one of those long 2x6's between every truss and then support it with 2x8's on the edge at just over 9 feet apart on top of the bottom cords of the trusses.

This will give you 4 foot spacing to attach your ceiling. I personally like the look of grey corrugated metal attached with screws. It's old school, that's been around forever.

The metal roofing company that I buy my panels from, Muellers, will make and cut them to any length that you want. With a building that's 48 feet long, I'd buy them 24 feet long. You might be OK if you don't add the additional 2x6's between the trusses if you go with 24 foot long metal, but for a few hundred bucks more, I wouldn't risk it.

I just bought Ivy Green metal R panels 16ft 2in long for my porch that I'm building and I paid just under $1.50 a square foot. You should be able to get corrugated metal for less then that.

Home Depot has Attic Cat insulation. They include the rental of the machine when you buy ten sacks of insulation. Bring a trailer and get 3 pallets and blow it it a foot for R30, or two feet thick for R60. There is not better bang for what you spend then blowing in Attic Cat yourself. Foam is king, but you will pay a lot more to get R60 in foam!!!! Then when you are done spraying in the Atticat, you return the sacks of insulation that you didn't use with the machine and you are only charged for the ones you used.

With trusses 8 feet apart, you will need to figure out how you will get around up there once the ceiling is installed to install the insulation. If you install the 2x8s on top of the trusses, you might want to also install a 2x4 on the flat to create a walkway. It's kind of wasted wood, but I don't see how you could insulate if you don't have a way to get around up there.

Thanks, Eddie. So, you're confident that the "32 lbs." is the load rating?

I was at the club this morning taking measurements, and at least two of the trusses are marked "Agricultural Use Only". Anyone know what significance that has?

 

[KennyG]

Ag only means they are for pole barns with extended spacing and not residential. You would not use them with drywall and accessible attic space. For your purposes, it's not important.

 

[newbury]

Here's an idea:

Apparently it's the new "in thing".

I'm thinking of doing my ceiling with what I ripped off the roof

 

[jfh28]

Thanks, Eddie. So, you're confident that the "32 lbs." is the load rating?

I was at the club this morning taking measurements, and at least two of the trusses are marked "Agricultural Use Only". Anyone know what significance that has?

the stamp "agricultural use only" is a huge piece of missing information.......from a manufacturer in ohio ag trusses are designed with 25psf roof live load.....5psf roof dead load.....and 2 psf ceiling dead load for things hanging from the trusses.......so 25+5+2 = 32 which is what is stamped on yours.......they also explicitly state that the 2psf ceiling dead load in ag trusses is for open or unfinished ceilings.......so it does not look like your trusses are designed for the weight of any insulation, ceiling material or additional purlins to support it. Your building department and local codes would have determined if the 25psf roof live load was adequate for where your building is located so I can't comment on if that is a correct value for the location of your building....you should check with your local building authorities about that...here's the link.... Pole Barn Trusses | Pole Barns Direct

keep in mind that a roof truss is designed to perform as a weight bearing entity....meaning that if you overload it and it fails your ceiling is not only going to fall down but the entire roof will collapse......everything comes down. Again before doing anything further I advise you to get a structural engineer involved.

to clear up a piece of misinformation I saw in this thread......only sleeping areas on the second floor of residences typically are designed for 30psf live load and 10 psf dead load for a total load of 40 psf......this is for FLOOR design ONLY.......and has absolutely no bearing on the OP's question of ROOF truss design.....roof loads and floor loads are two completely different animals especially when it comes to truss design and are not inter-changeable.......Jack

 

[Welshman]

the stamp "agricultural use only" is a huge piece of missing information.......from a manufacturer in ohio ag trusses are designed with 25psf roof live load.....5psf roof dead load.....and 2 psf ceiling dead load for things hanging from the trusses.......so 25+5+2 = 32 which is what is stamped on yours.......they also explicitly state that the 2psf ceiling dead load in ag trusses is for open or unfinished ceilings.......so it does not look like your trusses are designed for the weight of any insulation, ceiling material or additional purlins to support it. Your building department and local codes would have determined if the 25psf roof live load was adequate for where your building is located so I can't comment on if that is a correct value for the location of your building....you should check with your local building authorities about that...here's the link.... Pole Barn Trusses | Pole Barns Direct

keep in mind that a roof truss is designed to perform as a weight bearing entity....meaning that if you overload it and it fails your ceiling is not only going to fall down but the entire roof will collapse......everything comes down. Again before doing anything further I advise you to get a structural engineer involved.

to clear up a piece of misinformation I saw in this thread......only sleeping areas on the second floor of residences typically are designed for 30psf live load and 10 psf dead load for a total load of 40 psf......this is for FLOOR design ONLY.......and has absolutely no bearing on the OP's question of ROOF truss design.....roof loads and floor loads are two completely different animals especially when it comes to truss design and are not inter-changeable.......Jack

Thank you for that, Jack. It looks like I'm back to square one.

 

[Redlands Okie]

Install your ceiling tile grid idea. Just run the tie wire up to the top of the rafters instead of fastening to the bottom cord / ceiling joist. As long as your in the weight limit of the roof load it would seem to be good to go since the weight is being carried at the top of the rafter as intended.

 

[KennyG]

Personally, I think this is being way overanalyzed. People put metal liner panel on ceilings of "ag" buildings all the time and I've never heard of a problem. There may be a conservative limit of 2 lbs/sq foot on the lower chord load, but I did a quick calc and you can probably put on 2x4 stringers at 4 foot spacing, 29 gauge metal and almost a foot of blown in cellulose with a 2 lbs/sq foot loading.

I would have to think carefully about drywall or plywood ceilings in this situation but for metal, I'd just go ahead and install it.

 

[Welshman]

Personally, I think this is being way overanalyzed. People put metal liner panel on ceilings of "ag" buildings all the time and I've never heard of a problem. There may be a conservative limit of 2 lbs/sq foot on the lower chord load, but I did a quick calc and you can probably put on 2x4 stringers at 4 foot spacing, 29 gauge metal and almost a foot of blown in cellulose with a 2 lbs/sq foot loading.

I would have to think carefully about drywall or plywood ceilings in this situation but for metal, I'd just go ahead and install it.

If I was doing this at home, I'd be tempted to try it, but I don't want my legacy to be the guy that caused the club to collapse.

I found the original drawings for the building. Unfortunately, the only reference to the trusses is "28' truss 8' 0" c/c". Interestingly, I also found the drawings for an outbuilding we put up in 2005, and the spec's are listed for the trusses ( 25, 15, 10) however the third number (10) is listed as "wind load", not ceiling load.

According to the pole barn site listed above, they recommend a 5 psf rating for steel, without mentioning anything about stringers or insulation. It seems as if the drop ceiling (which I've seen listed as anywhere from .66 to 1 psf) is my only option as Redlands Okie mentioned above.