cathedral celing blues

[tesa]

so, several years ago, when this adventure started, a dear friend told us, make a list of things
you want, things you need, and which ones you are flexible on, and which ones are non negotiable

ok, i've always wanted a loft, but i can give on that, so we decided to modify our 1 1/2 story plans
to be a one story

but another thing i've always wanted is a cathedral celing

we've decided to modify the original pitch of the 1 1/2 story from 12/12 down to 8/12

will this pitch give us a nice open feeling, with my exposed rafter ties?

how does one work on such a roof WITHOUT the benifit of a second story floor to stand on??

i guess we rent/buy schaffolding?

it would be cost prohibitive to lay a floor up there just to work on, then tear it down so i can have my open celing?

thoughts??

tesa

[MikeT]

I am a bit confused about your questions, specifically if you are questioning the exterior (roof) or interior (ceiling).  How wide is your place?  And what do you mean by work on your roof?  Do you mean your ceiling? 

[tesa]

well, i mean the whole darn thing.

ive got some calls into some truss companies, but we'll still have to install them, right?

and if we go with a rafter system, we'll have to install it, well, i'm assuming having someone
else install them would be out of our budget, but the jury is still out on that decission

but then theres our insulation, drywall, and the like

the building is 20' wide

i've already priced two sets of schaffolding, since someone will need to be at either end

we thought buying schaffolding outright was better than renting

tesa

[NM_Shooter]

8:12 gives you about 6.5' at the peak above the chord.  I'm not sure a temporary floor will help, it might be a bunch of work and material for little benefit.  Can you do half/half?  I wish I had built a 12:12 with a loft across half of my cabin. 

Here is a picture of my greatroom.  It spans 25', and is a 6:12 pitch.  Sort of cathedral... rough trusses and ceiling.

[tesa]

beautiful!!

i love the look and its just what i want

might i ask about the all with the cabinets

how high does that wall go?

i need to research how to have a celing on the bathroom, but have the rest of the house open

do you have any insulation in that celing?

i just love it

thanks for sharing your photo

tesa

[Redoverfarm]

Yep Tesa schaffolding.

[NM_Shooter]

Thanks.  The photo is a little misleading, as the perspective makes it look at though the bottom chords touch the top of that pony wall above the cabinets.  Actually, there is about 18" space between them.  Behind that wet bar is a half path which serves the greatroom.  There is a small hallway that runs back there.  In retrospect, I would have done that differently. 

Anyway... the bottom chord of the truss is about 10'9" above the floor, and the wall above the cabinets is about 9'4" above the floor. 

These guys built my trusses and are local to me.  I was a little disappointed at how full of sap those trusses were (are).  But I do like the way they look:  http://www.abslumber.com/trusses.html

Yes... there is a pocket above that ceiling.... it is full of 36" of blown insulation. 

The cable lights turned out great.  They are 12V halogens which are on dimmable ballasts.  We have some pointing at wall, some up into the ceiling, and others down onto the floor and pool table.  We can move the lights around to change the way the room looks, and they don't stick out too badly. It is a great party room. 

[tesa]

wow, it doesn't look like 10' 9", it has the feeling of being much taller,

how might i frame that to include such insulation, 36" ?  wow

tesa

[Woodswalker]

I did a vaulted, or cathedral ceiling with exposed rafter ties in my 16' x 20' cabin, at a 6/12 slope.  That put the peak at ~12 ft.  I did the insulation, 1 x 2 cross-ties at 2' OC, sheetrock, and now painting with only a 10' stepladder and a rented sheetrock hoist.  The guy I hired to mud/tape/texture the rock did use a set of scaffolding on wheels.  There are pre-built trusses available that give a vaulted ceiling, but in my experience it takes 3 people to set them up by hand, working off stepladders.  I was working alone.

Compared to a flat ceiling, a vaulted one involves considerably more time and effort.  Since my cabin is a single room, having the vaulted ceiling makes a huge difference in the spacious appearance of the place.  I feel it was worth the extra effort.

If you want a look at the thread I posted several years back about the cabin build, do a search from the CP home page, using the lower search box, for the title "Cabin Build in N-Central WA by 1 person."  This summer I am painting and finishing the interior, and will post pics of that later.

[davidj]

I bought a used 14ft high scaffolding tower set for doing the 12:12 roof of our 20x30.  Then we built wooden scaffolding down each side.  The combination of the two made setting the 2x12 rafters quite easy.  And putting up the sheathing was a lot safer and easier with the scaffolding down the side.

[NM_Shooter]

wow, it doesn't look like 10' 9", it has the feeling of being much taller,

how might i frame that to include such insulation, 36" ?  wow

tesa

Sort of a weird deal.. there are a second set of scissor trusses above that ceiling that actually hold the roof load.  The whole thing is balloon framed, the timber trusses set into pockets in the walls. 

Normally, you would place 2X12 on 24" centers running from the ridge down.  You would insulate between these rafters, then deck on top.  I wanted more insulation than that. 

[tesa]

thanks everyone!

it so exciting to learn about all the different aspects of this process

up till now, i haven't really put much thought into the roof

(certainly not today, i sort of "took the day off" from thinking about houseplans, and joists to swim
in a local creek with some friends....fun thing to do on a monday, jump in a creek! and it was nice
to NOT think about the house, dreaming of lumber is a big sign its time to take a few days off)

tesa

[Bobmarlon]

Yeah I came to the same dilemma we spanned material
across then we made one 4 x8 section
we walked on.  I saw it on Scott as thread