dexterdog

Hello. I hope that I am posting this in the correct section. My wife and I are going to remodel our 2 car garage into a family room and need to put up a grid so that we can hang drywall from it for the ceiling. We would like to do it so that the entire room is open with no support posts, but aren't sure what the proper size beems are to use. The garage is about 20X22 and we can't get anything bigger than 16ft in the area. We were thinking about putting a beam down the center of the garage at the 20ft length and running 11ft beams from the center to the ends of the garage. Is this something that could be done or is there a better way of doing this? Thanks.

Wuzzat?

'1/2 " drywall is 1.7#/ square foot. A 4' x 8' sheet is about 54#'
so your "dead load" is 54/32 = ~2 pounds per square foot. I assume the "live load" is zero.
L/Δ = 240 seems to be an acceptable sag for a ceiling. For 11' this is 132/240 = ~a half inch.

Aren't there ceiling joists from which you could hang the grid?

dexterdog

There are ceiling joists that I could hang the grid from, but the roof is a strange shape and I am not sure if I could do it easily. What size lumber should I use for the grid if I was going to hang it from the joists? Are 2x6's okay? I was thinking of running the beams across the top of the garage walls and connecting them in the center beam but that might not be the best route?

Wuzzat?

If you're allowed to suspend the grid from the ceiling with wires you could probably use 1x2s, depending on how many wires you use.

20x22x1.7 = ~750# for the drywall.
A single iron coat hanger wire can support 180#. For a safety factor of 15, you'd need 15x750/180 = ~60 wires.

Lay out how you want your 14 sheets of drywall to sit. Then comes how many wires of what tensile strength, then comes what size & type of wood for the sag.

The good part is you can test a prototype: one sheet of drywall, a 4'x8' wood rectangle and four hanger wires. If all is in order, you duplicate it 13x.

Post some drawings and photos.

inspectorD

This sounds great...make sure you wear your special helmet to bed also...just in case.
Coathanger ceilings.

Have it inspected by the building official in town...just in case something happens.

__________________
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Perri

Are you just trying to drywall the ceiling. If you are, you might able to frame the ceiling using a drywall suspension ceiling. The framing looks alot like the old suspension ceiling with the 2x4 or 2x2 tiles, but it is just a little different which allows you to hang drywall from it. It's pretty cool.

Let me know if there is anything else I can help with.

Perri

dexterdog

Yes, we are just looking to drywall that ceiling. I didn't know they made such a thing. Where do you get it?

Perri

I know around here, Utah, I would call one of my drywall supply stores, so that is where I would start is in the yellow pages, under drywall supply. If they don't have it, they should know where to point you. Make sure you are asking for "drywall suspension grid", and not accoustical grid. Completely different and the latter will not work for you.

Can you maybe post a picture or two, so we can sort-of see what we're up against.