Shop building

[bfullmer]

Building a 12x24 shop in my pole barn should I use 2x6 rafters on 16 centers or 2x8 on 24 centers? Will be hanging drywall on ceiling 1/2 or 5/8? Top will be used for light storage. Will one of those miracle Amish electric heaters be enough? Located on central mi .

 

[MSS3020]

You plan to store anything on top?? Assuming you will Id use the 8" 16 apart.. I build a "deck" in my shed in one of the corners.. can park skidloader and lawn tractor under it and store stuff I dont use often on top.. no drywall though just framed and sheeted with 3/4 plywood..

 

[Bill in IL]

If you are planning any sort of storage up above it you better use at least the 2X8's. You can hang 1/2 inch sheetrock on the ceiling BUT it has the tendancy to sag over time at the screws. Would reccomend 5/8 or even better for a shop in my opinion is steel or OSB.

I did a storage loft 10 foot wide span used 2x6's on 12" centers to save space (height). It works well but does have some spring to it.

 

[showcrop]

You don't mention ceiling height in either building but you may want to make accommodation for a future lift point. So far as heat, I have a 16x22x10 insulated inner room inside my 40x50x17 insulated shop building. I heat the inner room with a little wall-mount catalytic non-vented propane unit. I keep the inner room at about 50 degrees then bump it up when I go in to work. It keeps the outer part at about 40 degrees unless it gets below 10 degrees outside, then I turn on my propane salamander. The heat costs me about $400.00 a year. I have no moisture problem and I have a CO detector about four feet away that has never gone off.

 

[hadley]

If you plan on storing anything on top you had better go with 2X8's on 12" centers! 12' span may not seem like much but remember they have to hold the weight of not only the ceiling, but also the "light" storage your are planning and the weight of themselves. Anything less and it is going to sag. Also, I would not put drywall on the ceiling if it is not going to be heated all the time, the drywall will tend to warp, 7/16 osb would be a much better choice, not only will it not warp but a piece of your "light" storage will not go though it if accidently knocked off the rafters.

 

[old]

Think of the future and what may be needed that you do not see now. I would use a min. of 2X8 on 16 if not 2X10 on 16 so that if in the future you need to be able to say install a way to lift an engine or other such things it will handle that. Or if you find you need the loft area to store things.

 

[caseyc]

My hip roof barn has a lean on each side, both 12' wide. The roof is 2x6 on 16" centers. Both roofs sag. I agree on 2x10 or 2x12 on 12" centers, especially if your planning storage above...

Casey in SD

 

[paul]

I think 10 inch. 12 inch would be nice for storage use.

6 inch, at 5.5 inch actual, does it even hold itself up at 12 foot span? 8 inch would be pretty bouncy.

Big difference on the low quality wood most of us are able to pick up at the big box store, and the select top quality stuff, depends what you are picking up?

Paul

 

[dpendzic]

at 50 psf (for comparison at first floor in a house is designed for 40 psf Live Load) a 2x8 at 16 on center will have a bending stress of 1095 psi--and a 2x10 at 24 will have a bending stress of 1009 psi. Generally cheap lumber is rated at 1200 psi allowable
so the 2x10 is a bit more stronger and less deflection.
If you are planning on storage that is more than what you have on the 1 st floor of your house then i would go definitely with something stronger

 

[Pops1532]

Use 2 X 10 16 OC for your joists.
3/4 T&G plywood or OSB for the deck. 5/8 Fire code drywall on the ceiling.

 

[farmer boy]

I used 2x10@24"to span 17" and wouldn"t want anything less. Should have really used 2x12@24" or 2x10@16" The very least I"d want over 24" is 2x10@12" with bridging and at least 5/8 plywood floor.

 

[David G]

Go to the lumberyard, tell them what you want to hang on them. They will engineer and supply trusses.

 

[showcrop]

(quoted from post at 16:59:04 11/01/13) Go to the lumberyard, tell them what you want to hang on them. They will engineer and supply trusses.

Trusses for a twelve foot span?

 

[john in la]

What do you call light storage??

Using #2 Southern Pine with a dead load of 10 psf and a live load of 20 psf

2x6 16oc will span 13 ft 6 inches
2x8 24oc will span 14 ft 2 inches

So either will work on your 12 ft span

 

[Pops1532]

Looks to me like the OP was asking about floor joists for a storage area above a shop.
For that he will need 2 X10's 16" OC.

If he just needed ceiling joists for the shop and wasn't going to use the area above the shop for storage then 2X6's 16" OC would be ok.

The price difference between 2X6's and 2X10's for that project is only about $120.

 

[farmer boy]

I read the post wrong. I thought you wanted to span 24". If you"re only spanning 12", 2x8 @ 24" will work, although it will have some bounce.

 

[dpendzic]

be sure to choose the floor sheathing so its compatible with the joist spacing you choose.
flooring should generally be APA rated
it will be stamped on the sheathing and you will see two numbers over each other
IE---32 / 16
the top number is the maximum joist
spacing for a roof and the lower for a
floor

 

[Wile E]

I saw this post earlier and I did not have time to add my thoughts.

1. You need to put 2x8 joists 16" OC. The little extra money will be well worth it, do not go cheap. I built a back deck 10 years ago and I used 2x8s 12" OC, (I made it better than the code required)

2. As for a heater, those small space heaters do not do anything in the dead of winter. You need to have a 50K BTU kerosene heater running with a window cracked open for air flow so you do not get CO poisoning. Any heating appliance is calculated with BTUs. A small electric heater will not heat a 12 x 24 shop.