Ceiling for porch/patio

[Alan Gage]

About have the outside of my place buttoned up but I need to get a ceiling in the patio area and am trying to figure out what to use. Any suggestions? How about things to stay away from?

Was thinking 4x8 sheets of something like T1-11 or maybe shiplap boards or drop siding. Whatever it is will be painted white.

Is the 2' on center spacing of the trusses going to cause problems with some options? Strapping it to 16" on center wouldn't be a big deal if need be.

The patio is roughly 8x21.

Here's a shot of the patio:


20111002_003 copy_web by Alan  Gage, on Flickr

Cedar siding on the patio walls, same as the rest of the house.

Thanks,

Alan

[ScottA]

If you're just going to paint it you could go with 1/4" AC plywood. People use it for sofits all over around here.

[CjAl]

You can get bead board.in 4x8 sheets. Its a nice old fashioned look

that beam and siding looks so nice my vote would be for some t&g cedar or some.other species stained to match


BTW. Is that 4x4 post temporary?

[Alan Gage]

I'd like something a little nicer than plywood and while those 4x8 sheets of beadboard would be nice I'm not that crazy about the look and I know of a few houses around here that it's swelled and buckled badly.

I'm leaning towards some T&G siding. All they have in town is pine. Not a problem if I just paint it. Stained cedar would look nice though.

The 4x4 post is permanent and will be wrapped with cedar at some point. While permanent it's not really necessary. The trusses were designed to cantilever over the patio but I liked the look better with the post in place.

Thanks guys.

Alan

[CjAl]

Wrapping it would explain it. Lol

i think T&G is the way to go. I prefer stained but its not my house   

[Ernest T. Bass]

I did t&g for a guy on a porch ceiling and liked the look. Honestly, it probably would have matched the house better painted off-white, but he liked the wood grain so much that he ended up staining it later.

[Alan Gage]

Wow, that's some nice looking work.

I stopped at the building center this morning to have them send out some T&G car siding. Don't know if I'll actually get to it this weekend or not. We'll see.

Alan

[PEG688]

A nice V-matched T&G in either  White Pine , or Hemlock given a clear oil finish  would look very nice. I'd go with the W. Pine if it where my choice.

  If you use a T&G solid wood product make sure you leave it outside under cover to pick up some moisture , if it come out of a covered but NOT heated storage barn  you'd be OK to just install it.   But if your not sure how it's been stored you should let it acclimate to the environment you'll be installing it on/ in.

If it to dry and you install it it will swell and may buckle/ heave at a joint.     

[PEG688]

I did t&g for a guy on a porch ceiling and liked the look. Honestly, it probably would have matched the house better painted off-white, but he liked the wood grain so much that he ended up staining it later.

  Nice work Ernie.

   Why didn't you guys wrap the beams?  Money maybe??  How are the posts connected to the beams?   I suspect you didn't frame this place , and you  just did the  porch ceiling ?   

[Alan Gage]

Thanks. The siding is white pine with the V groove. The lumber store keeps everything in unconditioned buildings but it has been quite dry the last couple weeks. The humidity did pick up today and should stay up for a little while. So far we've been dodging the rain in the forecast so if that keeps up I won't get to the patio ceiling for a couple more days while I keep working on the soffit.

Alan

[Ernest T. Bass]

  Nice work Ernie.

   Why didn't you guys wrap the beams?  Money maybe??  How are the posts connected to the beams?   I suspect you didn't frame this place , and you  just did the  porch ceiling ?   

Yeah, it's a 100 y.o.+ place. The beam is laminated 3/4 ply at the curve I believe, and the posts are mortised up into it. Since I thought it would get painted, I didn't think to bother with the it.. Would have looked nice, now that you mention it.. We could have planed stock to make the curve easily, but how would you tackle the underside? I'm thinking wider stock, mitered every few feet and coped to size. Maybe a flush-trim router bit would have made that an easy edge to get.. How would a pro handle it?

[PEG688]

Yeah, it's a 100 y.o.+ place. The beam is laminated 3/4 ply at the curve I believe, and the posts are mortised up into it. Since I thought it would get painted, I didn't think to bother with the it.. Would have looked nice, now that you mention it.. We could have planed stock to make the curve easily, but how would you tackle the underside? I'm thinking wider stock, mitered every few feet and coped to size. Maybe a flush-trim router bit would have made that an easy edge to get.. How would a pro handle it?

  If it had to be rough sawn , which I think is a possibility, I'd have used Okuma (sp) ply, it's available with a R/S face. It sort of like T1-11 only it's better plywood, no football patches / plugs on the face.   Smooth faced ply could be used if a smooth painted look was desired.

And yes cut to fit roughly , flush trim off after it's nailed up would have works.

Do the bottom of the beam first , hang the side pieces down abut 3/8" for a  nice reveal, and of course the sides would be solid wood.

So the bottom of the beam would be easier in ways than the curved inner and outer vertical faces.  Those would have to be resawn onto thin enough plys to bend around the curve and glued and nailed to fit  and more then likely a bunch of clamping would need to be done on the lower some what exposed bottoms of those vertical pieces.   Once the glue was dry use the flush trimmer , guided  it on a scrap of 3/8" to keep the reveal line going , or use a over sized bearing if you had one.

         

[Ernest T. Bass]

Thanks for the advice.. The posts would still be a bit tricky as the router wouldn't get all the way up to them, but it would handle the majority of the work. Who knows, maybe we'll talk the guy into it someday.

[PEG688]

Thanks for the advice.. The posts would still be a bit tricky as the router wouldn't get all the way up to them, but it would handle the majority of the work. Who knows, maybe we'll talk the guy into it someday.

If it was easy anyone could do it!     Block plane , crank neck chisel, etc for the sticky bits / cleaning up corners / details. The fun stuff.   

[Native_NM]

They use a white vinyl T&G product in Texas.  Looks pretty real, and is well-suited for outdoor use.