Cathedral Ceiling Framing

Hi Bob, I have a question for you. I have a house and it has cathedral ceilings. It is a house of western red cedar and stone construction and the ceiling material is also WRC planks supported by large thick beams which in turn are supported by posts at the ends of the house and rooms.

I want to add a family room to my house and I want to add the room at right angles to the exposed beams. The roof is colourbond steel. My question is, is it possible to attach a roof to the existing roof at right angles when I would have to remove the roofing steel, leave the WRC celling planks in situ and use the beams to support a portion of the new roof which is supported by studs where the new room is added. The roof I want to add is not a cathedral type but is a normal cavity type with gyprock ceilings etc. Would I be able to use the existing beams to support a portion of the new roof line coming off the main roof. Hope this is clear enough for you.

Jim,
Bob is out on medical leave. You are stuck with me. You need to call in an architect and/or a residential structural engineer. It is non-negotiable.

Hello.I just purchased a 215 yr old stone house with high humidity and mortar that needs to be replaced. The roof is asphalt shingled in fairly decent shape, cathedral ceilings in the living room with what looks like tongue and groove wood panelling for the A-frame ceiling. There is no insulation whatsoever in the house and the average winter indoor room temp is 35 degrees. it leaks heat like crazy. What is the best suggestion for adding insulation to this ceiling? I know I'll probably lose the beautful wood panelling. Thanks! Sarah

Sarah,
You have multiple options. I would call in several remodeling contractors and see what type of creative ideas they float. Get back with what they say.

I have a log cabin with vaulted ceilings... no attic space. The roof has a ridge vent. The rafters and roof have an overhand, but no soffits with vents. I am getting hundreds of flies and wasps in the house, and I cannot see any nests on the sides of the house or visible under the overhang. I am suspecting air-space somewhere in this roof construction or ridge-vent area where they are nesting. I am fairly certain the roof has 2 layers of the styrofoam insulation sheets (house is in NC). It is a shingled roof. Any ideas how this house may be harboring wasps??

Stephanie,
Sure. You need insect screening over the ridge vent and any other place where those devils can squeeze into.

Hi Bob. I am building a cabin with 2 cathedral ceilings - one in a downstairs room, and one in a higher, but connected loft area (you can see down into the other room with its own cathedral ceiling from the higher loft area), and I am planning on installing soffit and ridge vents in both roofs, but I was wondering if I need some sort of gable vent in the gable ends of the two rooms with cathedral ceilings.

I will be heating with passive solar and a wood stove, and I will not have air conditioning, just ceiling fans. I plan to keep a lot of windows open (and screened) in the summer. I live in North Carolina. Would it be enough to install some small, operable round windows in the gables of the upstairs, and maybe downstairs cathedral ceilings, or do I need to put some sort of gable vent with a fan in it in these gable ends.

I was thinking about taking an attic gable vent with a fan, and creating some sort of insulated shutters that I can keep closed during cold weather, and then open them in hot weather to vent out the space, but if that's not necessary, I'd rather just put in windows that open up there. It gets up to over 100 degrees Fahrenheit here in the summer, and humid.

Any ideas?

thanks.

Beth,
I don't know where Bob is. That rascal has not been showing up to answer questions. My idea would be for you to go to a sign maker and get this sign made:

Free Sauna Experience - Come Stay in our Lofts and Sweat Your Life Away

You can have as many windows or vents as you can fit into the gables, but it will still be like an oven up in those spaces.

I have cathedral ceilings in an older house. That ceiling is very attractive with exposed beams and a loft that does not need less head room. The ceiling/roof is not well insulated and half of it is north facing. The roof decking is of questionable quality and fells soft in about 10% of the north facing side. There is not a ridge vent or appropriate air space above the existing insulation in 2 x 10 rafters.
I'd like to add depth to the exterior of the rafters. The 2 x 10's and supportive structural beams exceed code for slope and snow load. The question: With this, can the roof be insulated further from outside with high density styrofoam? The plan would be to strip the old roof to the rafters, install high density styrofoam (2.5 or 3 inch -- R15 or so) directly to the beams, leave spacing for ventilation, and then add new roof decking (needed?), roofing materials and a ridge vent. This would be done without adding new wood to the rafters with 2x4's or 2x6's and assumes the strength of the high density styro would support roofing materials.

Jay,
The answer is Yes. You simply must build in great ventilation.

My question is close to others, and I'm sure I will need to get a structural engineer. However, to convert from a manufactured ceiling truss for a flat ceiling, to a vaulted ceiling, isn't there a way to do this without removing the entire roof above the trusses? This seems to be the answer from contractors, but not engineers. I would just like to be more informed as to the possibilities before hiring an engineer. Thanks

Rick,
You absolutely can do this from the inside without removing the exterior roof. Will it be easy? Heck no! But it can be done.

I have a ranch built in 1976 (New Jersey) and I'm looking to put in a cathedral ceiling in the family room. Any idea of what range of cost that I'm looking at? I'm waiting for a person to get back to me in order to get an estimate but I want to have some sort of idea.

We are building a house and we have a cathedral ceiling in it.We have metal roofing with no ridge vent.The metal is attached to 2x4 perlins with 30# felt between the two.And 2x8 rafters. What is the best way to insulate?

Mona,
I don't quote prices. There are too many variables.

Lisa,
How is all of the moist air going to exit the attic area??????

You should have an air gap between the roofing and the insulation so water does not condense on the underside of the metal.

I have a vaulted ceiling which follows the roof line. Is it possible to convert a vaulted ceiling to a cathedral ceiling and how difficult/costly of a project is this?

We have an exsisting screen porch that we are enclosing and have removed the flat ceiling to make a vaulted ceiling. There was no seperate ventilation system in this room as it was open to the main attic.Vaulting the ceiling will close it off, so we know some type of ventilation is necessary, but don't know what or how to do it. The house was built in the 50's.

I am tired of my TOO HIGH cathedral/vaulted ceilings. Can they be lowered and changed to coffered or tray?

Hi there,

According to your advice I have used triangular plywood supports that I have both glued and screwed to the roof rafters. My roof is not a typical cathedral roof; it is quite small measuring around 4ft high and the rafters are 6 ft long on the inside. I have used 1ft high plywood supports, would you say that the supports are a big enough size to support this roof?

If someone could answer me that would be great!

Thanks!

Hi Bob,
Am I crazy for wanting to change my high vaulted/cathedral ceilings to trays? With energy costs as they are I would like something lower and more manageable. Also, we have high windows that are brutal in the heat. How hard would it be to lower this ceiling?

I'm building a small garden shed 11 x 14 feet and want a cathedral ceiling, 8:12 pitch. But, a 6 foot wide french door is at the end that is suppose to support the beam for the rafters to lay on. Can I use a header under the beam to disburse the weight to the end walls. I will tie the side walls together by a 4x6 beam across the open ceiling.
Steve

Hello!

We are reconfiguring the kitchen and dining room to make an office space. The ceiling is angled so we aren't sure how to attach the framing. Do we create the top of the framed wall on an angle to match the ceiling?? Can't seem to find online help.

Many thanks!

Mary (trying to help husband Rick)

Can a cathedral ceiling have an exposed beam connected to a wall that also has a wood burning fireplace?

I am about to build a small shed/ cabin on some land. It is to be a 2 story structure with a gambrel roof. The gambrel design is too low for comfortable use in the 2nd story. Shed is 16' wide.

My question is- can I simply add a 1'- 2' high side walls and attach the gambrel rafters to the top of this wall? Will this be structurally sound, or will the downward pressure of the roof forces push and spread the short walls apart, possibly causing collapse?

Bob, Im about to buy a ranch fixer upper. I want to vault the ceiling in half the house. the roof is a 4 pitch, with 2x6 rafters and 1x6 ridge board and a collar tie on every other rafter space.

To get the hieght and open feeling out of a 4 pitch, I want to use spray foam insulation. Swap the existing collar ties with wire cables and turn buckles so i can drywall to the rafters.

Is this a good idea, the house is 25' wide.

We are converting a new clear span metal bldg on a concrete slab to a retirement home. I would like to install a cathederal ceiling in a 40x42 area(kitchen living room area). Eves are 10' and peak is 18'. 3/12. Ceiling now is 26 ga skin o 8" purlin on 15" I-beams. ANY TIPS WOULD BE WELCOMED! Thanks Richard Looney

I have a carport that was closed in sometime ago (before I bought the house) and we use this room as a den. The ceiling in the room slants slightly because the carport had a "flat" roof, lean-to style. When the room was closed the roof was gabled to match the rest of the house and i want to create a cathedral ceiling in there to give us more overhead space. I climbed in the attic to take a look and there is no bottom piece to the triangles but they did use the plywood gussets you mentioned above. Being there is no bottom piece to the triangle and they did use the gussets do you suppose it is save to remove the original lean-to style ceiling and open up the room?

I have a home with pre-fab trusses with really low ceilings. Are there any options I could consider for creating cathedral ceilings?

i am putting in cathedral ceilings in and need to know what to do about insukating them there is no ridge vent please let me know what u think its only about half the roof that im doing

Is there a difference between a vaulted ceiling and a cathedral ceiling and if so, what is the difference?