Need new ceiling

[Mel(NC)]

My SS equipment room ceiling is made up of 4' x 4' 1" thick Styrofoam insulation panels installed in what looks like tracks for a suspended ceiling. It's flimsy and the panels blow out if the there is a strong wind. The tracks are rusty and I need to replace them. I hate to go back with the same type of ceiling.

Does anyone have any suggestions for something more robust? My car wash has a flat steel roof so there is only a couple of feet above the ceiling to work with.

Thanks!
Mel

 

[cantbreak80]

Why do you need a ceiling?

 

[Mel(NC)]

I probably should have posted a picture. The brick walls of the mechanical room don't go all the way up to the roof. They stop about 2 feet short. The ceiling is needed over the mechanical room so that I can heat the space.

 

[cantbreak80]

How about having a siding contractor fill in those 2' and then, insulate the underside of the roof?

 

[2Biz]

How about adding 4-6" fiberglass insulation on top of the panels to help hold them down? My cieling is 3/4" foil backed styrofoam attached with latice board. I put another 4" of insulation on top af that and it really helped with how much it cost to heat the ER.

 

[Mel(NC)]

2Biz, is the lattice attached to the rafters? My ER doesn't have rafters. I suppose i could fasten metal studs across the top of the walls.

 

[2Biz]

Yea, I have rafters 2' on center and the Styrofoam/latice is nailed to the rafters . My Er had (2) 350K BTU Jarco Webn boilers. One for floor heat and the other to heat water. When those were running, it didn't matter how much heat was being lost! When I did away with the boilers and installed high efficiency units, I needed to make up that heat loss. Adding the 4" insulation on top of the foil faced Styrofoam really helped.

If you do away with the suspended ceiling, you could run 2 x 4's across the concrete walls and use 1" Styrofoam in 4' x 8' sheets, Attach it like mine and then put 4" on top of that. You'll be amazed how much easier/cheaper it will be to heat. Whats the width of your ER?

 

[Earl Weiss]

3/8" Plywood. Simple and Cheap. Leavbe ridgid foam sections on top of each plywood panel if desired.

 

[Mel(NC)]

2Biz, My ER is 8'6" wide.

 

[Randy]

We have a storage loft/attic above our equipment room, the ceiling in the loft is about 3 feet high so its hands and knees time when we go up there. We used 2 x 6’s on 16” centers for the loft floor and the ceiling in the equipment room. We used 3/8” plywood for the loft floor, insulated the equipment room ceiling with 6’ glass insulation and used ¼” plywood for the equipment room ceiling. Painted the equipment room ceiling with white enamel and installed 3 8’ fluorescent lights so it’s well lighted.