Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
7
Ceiling frame construction
The shape of your ceiling is limited only by your imagination, the experience and insight
of your engineer or building consultant, and your physical capacity.
The most common ceiling is the flat ceiling, where the height of the ceiling is set by
the height of the external walls. However, in a number of older homes false ceilings have
been fitted below the original ceiling to reduce heating and cooling costs.
The cathedral ceiling is very popular, as it gives a feeling of space without
dramatically increasing the cost of the construction. With a cathedral ceiling, the internal
ceiling will normally follow the shape of the external roof with the highest point
normally being below the peak of the roof, often in the centre of the house.
Our house in Heathcote has a barn style ceiling in the upstairs area. This ceiling is
sloping and follows the roof line from the top of the walls up to a little over three metres
high where it meets the flat ceiling covering the balance of the room. Rather than lose the
lines of the roof behind dividing walls, we decided to extend the dividing walls 2.3 metres
and leave the rooms open to the upper barn style ceiling. This means that the ceiling line
is revealed throughout the upstairs area, giving it a free and spacious feel.
Components and method of stick construction for a flat ceiling
Stick construction is just as it sounds. The ceiling is built in position, one piece of timber
at a time. The ceiling will be made up of ceiling joists and hanging beams. In some
instances ceiling battens may be fitted to the ceiling joists, however this is unnecessary in
most cases as the ceiling joists are generally held in an even plane to carry the ceiling
lining. When roof trusses are used, it is normal to fit ceiling battens to the underside of
the roof trusses.
The ceiling joist is fitted to the top of the walls, both internal and external. When
fitting ceiling joists to a straw bale house of infill construction, the ceiling joists will be
fitted to the beam around the perimeter of the building (the ring beam) and the internal
