Need opinions on whether it is worthwhile to fur down a new vaulted ceiling
As I continue to overthink my new garage, there is one place I still need your input. In case you haven’t followed my recent questions, I have a 16′ x 44′ tandem garage just framed in, that I’m insulating in order to heat the building with a 5000w electric resistance heater. Half the structure features a storage truss where I’ve decided to lower the ceiling to get full cellulose depth.
The other half is a scissor (cathedral) truss where I’m considering doing the same by adding 2×4 ‘gussets’ and doing a multi-angle vaulted ceiling (see sketch). Since the roof deck must be ventilated here, I have to give up 1-2″ of the rather bay to a chute.
Is this crazy to put all this extra effort into the ceiling, or will this make a significant difference in the roof insulation assembly? Assume I’m paying someone to do the work, though I would DYI if I have time. One possible side benefit of this might be that I could dense pack the walls from the attic cavity, right?
Thanks,
Ryan
Minneapolis, MN
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Replies
Ryan,
Adding that 2"x4" to the bottom chord of the trusses and nailing it to a plate on your wall is a morning's work well spend. I'd do it.
Malcolm,
Thumbs up on the idea of framing down the ceiling to provide more room for ceiling insulation near the eaves.
I'm more dubious about your suggestion that you might be able to dense-pack the walls from the attic. In most cases, you'll get a better dense-packing job if you keep your hose short, and if the installer can insert the hose into each stud bay, about 4 feet off the floor. That allows the stud bay to be dense-packed by starting at the bottom, and dense packing up to the hose insertion point; then moving the hose to the top of the stud bay, and dense packing the bay from the top down to finish the bay.
Great, thank you both for the responses. Yes, Martin, I was wondering if maybe there was a reason that dense packing from above wouldn't work so well. Can you suggest the best way to dense pack when there is an additional 1" strip of foam covering the inside of every stud? Can netting be attached and then later finished with sheetrock? or should I just dense pack with netting attached to the studs and then add the foam strips later? trying to avoid hanging sheetrock just to punch a bunch of holes in it again. Thanks.
Ryan,
It would probably be easier to attach the InsulWeb netting directly to the studs, and add the foam strips later. The foam strips will minimize the need to flatten the netting, which usually bellies out.
For more information, see How to Install Cellulose Insulation.
Ryan,
Don't forget that if you prefer the single plane of the original trusses, as opposed to a more gambrel style ceiling, you can easily fur the whole lower chord.