How to tell if ceiling beams are load bearing? PIP

[jloww]

We have an addition off our kitchen w a flat roof that is 100% wood paneled including the ceiling, which also has beams.

My next project is to sheet rock and take down the beams but it just occurred to me they may be structural.

Also - what should I do for ceiling texture?  Our house was built in 1928.  My gut says to do flat but the ceiling scraper estimate guy looked at me like I was a little nuts and suggested orange peel, which I am planning for the walls.

They're awfully rustic 

[mrs.jacinthe]

Can you PIP? My gut says not to take down the beams, not just because they might be structural. Are we talking about big rough-hewn type beams, or joists?

[susieq]

A good "ceiling scraper guy" would not bat an eye at you asking him to do flat ceilings. I prefer flat ceilings and walls. I have sanded too many walls and ceilings smooth from previous homeowners deciding to texture them to ever put texture on a dry walled surface again

[mrs.jacinthe]

I think those are, indeed, structural, especially if you have a flat roof.

If you still want to take them out, I'd talk to a GC or structural engineer.

[jloww]

Mar 4, 2013 14:09:08 GMT -5 susieq said:

A good "ceiling scraper guy" would not bat an eye at you asking him to do flat ceilings. I prefer flat ceilings and walls. I have sanded too many walls and ceilings smooth from previous homeowners deciding to texture them to ever put texture on a dry walled surface again

I wonder if its our climate?  I have never seen flat walls or ceilings here.  It's all orange peel and knockdown bc of seams.  I think I can go flat though and if seams become an issue I can texture at that point.

[jloww]

Mar 4, 2013 14:13:04 GMT -5 mrs.jacinthe said:

I think those are, indeed, structural, especially if you have a flat roof.

If you still want to take them out, I'd talk to a GC or structural engineer.

Shoot.  I guess they're staying.  That majorly bums me out.

it looks like the paneling runs under them.  I wonder how we would Sheetrock the ceiling.  I don't want to go over the wood because w the flat roof I want to make sure we know ASAP if there's a leak.  There's some major old water damage in a corner now and it's impossible to monitor with all the dark wood if any is new.

[kaylie]

Would it be completely out of the question to just paint them white? We have beams in one room that used to be wood and we painted them. They actually look pretty good and give it some extra character.

[jloww]

Mar 4, 2013 17:49:47 GMT -5 kaylie said:

Would it be completely out of the question to just paint them white? We have beams in one room that used to be wood and we painted them. They actually look pretty good and give it some extra character.

Nope.  I'll have to start looking for inspiration pics.  Some of them are cracked so I may go with a super dark stain instead of paint.

[Deleted]

I like kaylie's suggestion a lot. I think jimbooo (think she has a new name now) did that, and it looked cute.

I messaged you a long time ago under your old name I think so I don't know if you saw it. Did your daughter's party go OK with the freshened up bathroom?

[susieq]

Mar 4, 2013 14:17:14 GMT -5 jloww said:

Mar 4, 2013 14:09:08 GMT -5 susieq said:

A good "ceiling scraper guy" would not bat an eye at you asking him to do flat ceilings. I prefer flat ceilings and walls. I have sanded too many walls and ceilings smooth from previous homeowners deciding to texture them to ever put texture on a dry walled surface again

I wonder if its our climate?  I have never seen flat walls or ceilings here.  It's all orange peel and knockdown bc of seams.  I think I can go flat though and if seams become an issue I can texture at that point.

It could very well be regional because of climate.  A good drywall person should be able to finish flat and you not know where the seams are.  I just scraped a 2000sf house's ceiling of popcorn.  The guy that came back to finish them was great and you would never know that they were popcorn.  However if people in your area expect to see texture and you like it I would go with texture.  It should be cheaper to get drywall finished with texture on it than smooth. 

[jloww]

Mar 4, 2013 19:10:15 GMT -5 @juno said:

I like kaylie's suggestion a lot. I think jimbooo (think she has a new name now) did that, and it looked cute.

I messaged you a long time ago under your old name I think so I don't know if you saw it. Did your daughter's party go OK with the freshened up bathroom?

Ahh nope I haven't gone back to my old name.

it was good!  Most people aren't very detail oriented I guess bc I asked if they noticed and I got "oh yeah, you painted?"  Oh well!!  I emailed you forever ago - I think a picture of my chalkboard labels.  My house finally seems to be coming along.

kaylie - do you happen to have a picture of your white painted beams?  Did you have knots and cracks in yours like you can see mine do?

As far as texture I'm thinking a very light orange peel on the walls and flat ceiling to match the rest of the house (where I don't have popcorn, lets be real here, I have some popcorn to deal with).

[Deleted]

Yeah, I realized as soon as I did it that I used the wrong name. But I didn't want to message you twice and seem like an internet stalker I almost never check that address unless I'm expecting something; sorry I missed it! Cute labels, and it love what I can see of the subway tiles.

Sorry no one noticed You seriously need some IRL D&R friends, LOL. But at least they didn't call it dirty? Progress?

[jloww]

Definitely upgraded from dirty lol.

[kaylie]

Our ceiling isn't quite as beamy as yours, but here you go. I don't have any good befores because we were hustling to do it before we moved in (that was a mistake) but here is a picture from the MLS listing. They were very dark.

It was surprising how many knots, dings and cracks there were after we put on the first coat of white - the darkness of the wood had really hidden it well. I used wood putty to fill in most of the flaws, but I can still see some of them if I look closely. I also caulked the seam between the beam and the ceiling which made it look a lot better. Even though you can still see some of the knots they're not really noticeable and I'm very happy with it. We get lots of compliments on the beams now.


This is them painted:

[jloww]

Ahhh wood putty and caulk - how could I forget my good friends?

 Thank you for the inspiration pic!  H's dad is coming for Easter so well have a better idea of a project timeline then.  Hopefully soon - I can't see anything in this room it's so dark.

[Bonita]

Personally I think it would look great if you just painted it all white without trying to do the sheetrock in between the beams.

[jloww]

Mar 5, 2013 17:56:11 GMT -5 Bonita said:

Personally I think it would look great if you just painted it all white without trying to do the sheetrock in between the beams.

This is definitely doable except that there are 2 badly damaged areas from water damage.  New or old?  No idea.  When it's been raining out and we touch the spot it's not wet.  I suppose we could use paneling we take off the walls to repair it maybe?