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Guess it's pretty obvious we're in the middle of tons of work, huh?
The house we're in has very low ceilings in the original part of the home. They said it's probably in the 80 year range - there were no county records when it was built so they don't know the exact age. They think it was originally built as a small hunting cabin. I'm sure the low ceilings were to make it easier to heat in the winter.
It's been added on to many times over the years and the newer sections have anywhere from 9 to 11 foot ceilings. The rooms with the low ceilings however are small rooms. I don't mind the small library that we're using as the master bedroom right now. Don't mind the kitchen or guest bathroom. But the entry / dining / living room - all one long room - is horrible. It's very long and narrow - only about 12 feet wide in the living room and 14 or 15 wide in the dining room - and the ceilings are so low if I stand on my tip toes and really stretch I can barely touch the ceiling. I'm only 5'5", so that tells you how low the ceiling is.
So, I'd like to remove the hideous ceiling tiles they've got up there and raise the ceiling to the roof line and add a couple sky lights since it's so dark in there. The second floor above that is all attic with a floor you can walk around on. The roof beams are above that. If I leave those beams in place and cover them with a wood 'wrap' that's stained to match the hardwood floors and put in dry wall or bead board between them, would it be ok do you think? As long as the beams aren't messed with, it shouldn't really hurt it structurally, should it?
It is all but impossible to create a true "load bearing ceiling" in a normal stick-built house so from a structural point of view tearing it out won't compromise the integrity / strength of structure BUT (and this could be HUGE) from a safety standpoint you may be prohibited from doing what you want.
One of the things that ceilings do is isolate the attic from the living space. From everything to fire-spread rates to keeping critter out of the living space to providing a vital layer of INSULATION to keep heat / cold out of the living space most permitting authorities will not allow you to simply "gut out" the whole ceiling. You could probably put in the skylights with "light shafts" that properly dry-walled, and you might be able to come up with a nice way to open up part of the space, but I would at least talk to an experienced local architect or qualified builders about what really makes sense in your climate...
If the ceiling is supported by the bottom (tension) chord of a truss, you can't remove the truss members without beefing up the upper chord or providing some other means of replacing or supplementing the tension chord of the truss. Anything can be done, but needs to be done intelligently. I'm sure any trained professional can help you accomplish your dreams for this space.
I have a rental house where I am contemplating doing something like this. Remove the sheetrock ceiling and possibly several or all of the bottom truss members, add framing and beams to compensate for the lower truss removal, install skylights and a higher finished ceiling when the modified structure is in place. It would add immensely to the light and quality of space that the room has. But it needs to be done intelligently by someone who understands the structural issues involved.
It is all but impossible to create a true "load bearing ceiling" in a normal stick-built house so from a structural point of view tearing it out won't compromise the integrity / strength of structure BUT (and this could be HUGE) from a safety standpoint you may be prohibited from doing what you want.
One of the things that ceilings do is isolate the attic from the living space. From everything to fire-spread rates to keeping critter out of the living space to providing a vital layer of INSULATION to keep heat / cold out of the living space most permitting authorities will not allow you to simply "gut out" the whole ceiling. You could probably put in the skylights with "light shafts" that properly dry-walled, and you might be able to come up with a nice way to open up part of the space, but I would at least talk to an experienced local architect or qualified builders about what really makes sense in your climate...
We don't have any codes here, so that's not an issue. Wondering if I just used a really good heavy duty insulation along to upper part of the roof line and had beams installed a foot or two below the actual beams if that would work then? There'd still be a couple feet of space as a buffer for the weather and it wouldn't be direct attic access in case any small and furries got in.
Contractor / architect is out of the question for us. For starters I'd have to go over an hour to find one. And the budget doesn't call for it. So I'm stuck with a local handy man and my bright ideas. Dear God, help us all!
Quote:
Originally Posted by CptnRn
If the ceiling is supported by the bottom (tension) chord of a truss, you can't remove the truss members without beefing up the upper chord or providing some other means of replacing or supplementing the tension chord of the truss. Anything can be done, but needs to be done intelligently. I'm sure any trained professional can help you accomplish your dreams for this space.
I have a rental house where I am contemplating doing something like this. Remove the sheetrock ceiling and possibly several or all of the bottom truss members, add framing and beams to compensate for the lower truss removal, install skylights and a higher finished ceiling when the modified structure is in place. It would add immensely to the light and quality of space that the room has. But it needs to be done intelligently by someone who understands the structural issues involved.
I was going to leave that bottom and the top beams in place. Instead of trying to make them disappear I thought I'd just build them up with some nice wood around them and stain that to match the floor. Just make them 'pretty' so to speak. Figured I could use them to attach the wiring along the top of the beam and the ceiling fans to it.
I'll give the local handyman a call and ask him to take a look and see if what I'm thinking of will work in this house. Something needs to be done. It's so dark and small it leaves you feeling depressed and claustrophobic. It originally was all wood floors and walls and it was all stained very dark, which just made it worse. Against everyone's advice I painted it in very light coastal canvas white and light blue and that alone made a huge difference. Now if I can just open up that ceiling and find a way to get in more light it would actually be a nice room!
I was going to leave that bottom and the top beams in place. Instead of trying to make them disappear I thought I'd just build them up with some nice wood around them and stain that to match the floor. Just make them 'pretty' so to speak. Figured I could use them to attach the wiring along the top of the beam and the ceiling fans to it.
That would work, I have considered doing that exact thing with my house. The additional framing would actually strengthen the truss in that area.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mrs1885
We don't have any codes here, so that's not an issue. Wondering if I just used a really good heavy duty insulation along to upper part of the roof line and had beams installed a foot or two below the actual beams if that would work then? There'd still be a couple feet of space as a buffer for the weather and it wouldn't be direct attic access in case any small and furries got in.
Yes, you would most likely want to create a new insulated ceiling soffit suspended below the upper chord of the roof trusses, rather then having the underside of the roof exposed, other then at the locations where you want to place a skylight.
Ok, sounds good. Sounds like what I've been wanting to do will work then! I'll have to start clearing stuff out of the house and get some before photos and some after! Thank you!
I'd seen those! Wasn't sure if they worked quite as well. Or how difficult or expensive install would be. They look almost like can lights once they're installed inside, don't they? Would it be as much light as a sky light though? I'd guess probably not. It might work for the back stair well of the house that goes to the right side second floor guest rooms though. I want to flood that first floor with a lot of light though. I hate small dark areas in a house, and mine just screams dark and depressing.
We have two solatubes in our house. They work beautifully. They were easy to install. You can direct the light tubes to almost anywhere regardless of where you need to put the recievers. They are not cheap, but not as much as a regualr skylight when you include installation. They really bring in a lot of light. We have one in the back stair case, and one in the upstairs hall. They light both places beautifully. They are much brighter than electric lights and they fell like sunlight (hard to describe). I wholeheartedly recommend them.
We have two solatubes in our house. They work beautifully. They were easy to install. You can direct the light tubes to almost anywhere regardless of where you need to put the recievers. They are not cheap, but not as much as a regualr skylight when you include installation. They really bring in a lot of light. We have one in the back stair case, and one in the upstairs hall. They light both places beautifully. They are much brighter than electric lights and they fell like sunlight (hard to describe). I wholeheartedly recommend them.
Thanks! Maybe I'll use them in the back stair hall. Do you think they'd light a large living / dining / entry room. Probably forty feet or so long?
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I want to flood that first floor with a lot of light though. I hate small dark areas in a house, and mine just screams dark and depressing.
