Got a builder to do our final house here in north GA. Too old for ladders or much maintenance, so low-maintenance ceilings for the screen porch and covered porches are first priority. Read all the relevant posts I could find here, but I’m thinking there’s some newer fiber cement panel/sheet goods we could use on the ceilings.
The other choice, for the screen porch, is open to the rafters. My better half doesn’t like that ’cause it shifts the cleaning burden–how to reach up and keep the spider webs, etc. off all that lumber up there? Got a point.
Gets way too humid here for vinyl and such; it gets covered with mold and is its own maintenance problem. Not rich–nobody’s coming to clean it up for us.
Screen porch is on north side, 3 sides screened, other wall brick. House has 9′ ceilings; all roofs are 6:12. Slab on grade, concrete floor. Open gable on north/end wall. It’d be nice to screen up all the way in that ‘A’ framing, but that means a cathedral-type ceiling if we finish up under it.
What are my choices? Within reason, I’ll spend the money now while I’ve got it to avoid the maintenance later.
Replies
I'm from the same climate as you and I would use fiber cement, ie. Hardi. Also might consider a mildew resistant paint though I'm not a painter.
Open rafters would be your cheapest now but like you said it would be the most maintenence later.
Have you seen Azeks T&G bead?
http://www.azek.com/info.php?product=4
I'd like to know why none of the lumber yards around here carry Azeks.
How much does it cost where your at?
Don't recall pricing but I can get it from the local yard without much fuss even though they don't carry it regularly (same issue you point out). Since it's a spec order through them pricing varies on the quantity ordered. Never hurts to order extra if you have the space to store.
Best I can determine it's PVC. All the PVC up here gets so riddled with mold it's just a constant mess, especially if it's not sitting right out in the sun; siding on the north side looks bad first. (Aside from the environmental issues.)
You can paint the Azek which should prevent the mold issue (if you use a good paint) but that may not be in the realm of the low maintenance you're looking for.
Azek is cellular PVC. It will not support the growth of mold or algae. These need food sources to grow and the PVC is NOT a fgood source for them.if you let siding o any other plastic material get dirty with spores, dust, etc, the micro-organisms can feed on the dirt, but that is the same with any other surface. Keep it clean and it will not grow stuff.And azek is easy to keep clean and will not suffer from water and washing as many other materials will.
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Thanks; my problem is old bones and ladders and water getting up to clean the porch ceiling. Just not gonna be a good combination. Any PVC around here needs constant attention like you said.As for style, it can be pretty rustic. Could I put galvanized roofing up there as a ceiling?? Trim the edges with cedar or something? Sure like the metal t&g product I mentioned earlier, but I know that's gonna be way too pricey.Still brainstorming here.
Price out standard steel soffit.
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
Will do. Many thanks.
There is metal (presumably steel) ceiling material available, kinda like soffit material.
I've got a enclosed sunroom the previous owner had installed over the existing deck. They left the joists in place and set the structure directly on the joists and used 3/4 underlayment inside.
Under the deck, which is now dry, they installed 12" vinyl soffit material (has 2 6" rows of embossing with perfs in a pattern) in rows over th whole 14 x 12 space. Little perferations in it, but as picky as I am about such things, I find it quite attractive. So much so, that as I continue to enclose the underneath of the deck to make the rest of it dry, I will use the same material to finish that exterior ceiling.
Yeah, similar stuff is available in steel, and even in stainless. Lots of bank drive-thrus, gas station shelters, etc, have something on this order, and you also see it used in building entrance awnings and the like.
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
Whoa!! Found Opaline structural panels by ATAS in t&g system. Alumininum (anodized available) or steel. All their pictures are commercial, which usually says really big bucks. Do I have to sell all the cattle and baby sister as well to afford that? Oh, yeah, I could seriously go for that.
Here's what I did when I had my dream house built. I had to move due to a job transfer and was only in the house for three years, but it was fine all that time.
I used beaded plywood. It was sanded and sealed with Woodlife, which is a mildew resistant wood preservative that soaks in well. Then painted with two coats of exterior acrylic paint with mildew protection. It was light blue because that's traditional and keeps bees and wasps from nesting on it. We don't have the propensity for mildew up north, but it worked fine for me.
By the way, the prep was done before the wood was hung, so it was a thorough job.
you want Azek beaded board T&G on those ceilings. No paint necessary. White already. Never rot. Looks great.
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Was out in the country today and stopped at a small shop (because wife wanted to). The shop was done in "pole barn traditional" style with painted/enameled steel siding.
They had a porch out front and I noticed that its ceiling was done with the same stuff -- steel building siding. Looked pretty nice, actually (better than the stuff used as siding), and it's gotta be cheap.
Thanks for passing that on. Nothing like a reallife testimonial. Think I'll find it at local building supply or big boxes?
Look for an outfit (eg, Morton) that builds ag buildings, or check places like Fleet Farm that sell a lot of ag-related products.
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
steel is really not that cheap no more.
You ever tapped the side of an ag building? There isn't that much steel there.
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
mold is going to get on any surface ... it's spores carried on the wind
it will feed better on some things than on others
but none of the things discussed here are any more mold resistant than vinyl and one of the nicest ceilings you will find is Alcoa ProBead
looks just like 4" beaded ceiling
View Image
Edited 7/15/2007 7:15 pm ET by MikeSmith
Edited 7/15/2007 7:16 pm ET by MikeSmith
Edited 7/15/2007 7:17 pm ET by MikeSmith
REAL nice. And nice work. Looking at all my options here. Just saw J. Hardie's vertical siding panels, 5/16" thick in 4 x 8ft. Could use grooved ones with or without woodgrain texture, or smooth, or stucco look. They've got the trim board too. What I gotta figure is: it's not getting painted or restained or washed or whatever. It's going up and whatever it gets now is it--at least within my lifetime. Hardie's gonna survive that. It gets SW's Duration paint when it goes up. Pale sky blue.If the roof doesn't leak, the mold oughtta be minimal. So it gets a life, too. Just don't want it to look too bad.
This is just speculation, but I suspect that a surface would be more resistant to mold or mildew if it were a painted surface, painted with a mildew resistant paint, than something inert, like vinyl, which, while not being a food source, would get dirty and provide no deterrent to mildew.
how would you attach the vinyl to the ceiling
With a vinyl like Azek, the vinyl IS the cieling.
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one strong wind and it be gone
Not the stuff I am talking about properly installed.
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Brownbagg, I wouldn't use vinyl.
I understand your desire for less maintenance but I really like the look of the narrow t&g boards with a bead detail on them.
When i sit under a porch and look up at one of these cielings it gives a warm fuzzy feeling. All is well in the world. It helps if you've had a few beers.
I don't get that feeling with vinyl or aluminum. Even hot coffee on a cool morning under a beaded ceiling makes the day better.
Well, I'm more confused than ever. I see what looks good, what's beautiful, what's reminiscent of a better time. But I still don't know what's gonna look the best and endure the best without doing any maintenance on it in my lifetime (could be 40 years; the old birds before me hung on forever, seems like. Not 40 good years, but 40 years nevertheless).
"But I still don't know what's gonna look the best and endure the best without doing any maintenance on it in my lifetime "That's because you won't listen to me, you stubborn old coot!;)Put up the Azek with glue and finish nails, galvanized.Then hose it down once a year. Heck, use a pressure washer if you want.
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Don't know about the "coot" part. You got the "old" right. Already got Parkinson's, so the maintenance isn't gonna happen, I'm tellin ya. No Azek. No new soffit materials that require maintenance.What about these choices:
1- Cathedral ceiling; t&g pine beadboard-look panels, sealed before installation and never touched agin;2- Cathedral ceiling; J. Hardie's fake cedar-look grooved 4 x 8 panels; painted with SW's Duration satin paint and never touched again;3- Cathedral ceiling; second layer of exterior plywood up under the roof sheathing (so can't see the nails from the sheathing); stain it and seal it before it goes up and never touch it again.How'm I doing here? Like the cathedral ceiling with screening all the way up in the open end's roof peak. Like the "never touch it again" part.Need help with the rest. Any other old coots wanna rank 'em #1 (best) to #3 (least)? Young coots can play too, just time travel.
Here's where you aren't listening - ANYTHING you put up there will need at least as much washing as the Azek to keep it clean. No maintenance - just washing. That's it. No matter what the material is, dust and spores will land on it and grow, so they will have to be washed off the surface.OK, I give up - Copper - that's what you want. nothing will grow on it.
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I know I'm frustrating the heck out of you and I'm sorry. I would like copper. That's not happenin'. I will look into the zinc; I remember now it is naturally a mildewicide/algaeicide. Also the steel.I've gotten a lot of help here. And learned that, you are correct: mold will grow on anything. So, I hereby modify my criterion that mold not grow on it. Here's the new standard: freakin stalagmites (or is it stalagtites?) of mold can form and they will be left in peace. Now, what material will best endure the chronic infestation of mold, and look the least awful--among the reasonably affordable choices available??? Because, Piffin--you young whippersnapper--IT AIN'T GETTIN' CLEANED.
I agree with Piffin. You're not listening. You've been given a wealth of choices. You're rejecting them without consideration because you THINK they are going to get in some condition you can't tolerate.
One can lead the cow to water, but...
Okay, fair enough. I have been told by a lot of folks here that everything is going to support mold growth and that everything HAS to be cleaned. Fine. My recent conclusion was that I can live with the mold growth. And, that it's not getting cleaned. So, everything is going to look equally bad (or okay) under those conditions?And, more importantly, every material is going to survive equally well without decaying, etc, under those conditions?That's all I want educated opinions on now. No one will play my ranking #1, #2, #3 game?
This is a ceiling. Dust doesn't collect on ceilings if they're smooth. Your biggest worry is cobwebs and wasp nests.
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
Thank you! I completely forgot about gravity. My parents, who are still alive (you guys think I'm bad--now there's a pair that will try your patience) have not cleaned (much less painted) the porch ceiling in the 12 years they've lived there and it doesn't look bad at all. And I doubt the fellow they wheeled outta there with his oxygen tank had cleaned it in awhile either. I'll go on that. It's painted white with strips of something tacked up in a grid pattern over the seams, I suppose, of whatever they were using on nice houses down here at the time. Plywood?OK. I'll take my medication now and say thank you all for the help. Feeling calmer already.
You just want it reasonably smooth, and not attractive to bugs or birds.
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin
Dust will collect on exterior ceilings, sometimes worse than on walls where rain washes it. BUt I agree on the cobwebs etc. We paint the porch cielings here a sky blue colour. This is traditional but for a good reason. It fools the bugs into thinking there is a shy above and birds ready to swoop down on them, so they habitate elsewhere. He could probably do fine with almost any material painted sky blue with a good exterior paint containing mildewcide and never need to do a thing with it.but he asked for best, so I am stuck on Azek, cause Azek's stuck on me, ooops, wrong ditty
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I was thinking that you've been in GA long enough to know that you really ought to pressure wash the house 1x a year. It doesn't cost much to pay somebody to do it & there's plenty of people around in the business.
You can wash it yourself easy enough with a 2-gal garden sprayer mixed up with 1/2gal bleach, 1 pint vinegar, shot of dish soap; fill the rest with water. Spray, let it sit, rinse it off with a hose. Alz kinds makes doing this difficult but it's still not that bad.
LOL, I ain't frustrated. I am actually gettinga kick out of this 'cause I have a picture of you based on one old fart here in town...do you tuyrn your hearing aid up and down constantly according to whether you want to hear or not?;)The answer is still beaded Azek IMO. the Zinc will resist growth, but it will also oxidize and look like h3ll after a few years and will be hard to paint when you get tired of looking at it.
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Whats that you say????I hear fine; I just don't think too straight. But I can't wait for the day I can tune out all the stuff I don't wanna hear. My grandma sat so serenely in her chair singin' to the birds and being undisturbed by all the useless chatter around her.Don't think I'm exactly what you picture. I'm from the big city down here; just moving to the mountains for some peace and quiet. More a freeze-dried hippie from the 60s than anything else.Do appreciate your help. I'm sure your favorite product is all over the place down here; just don't know that I'd recognize it. I promise to go find some and look it over.If the ceiling gets paint, it definitely gets pale blue paint for those practical reasons mentioned. It does work!
freeze dried hippie from the sixties in your sixties, eh?LOLmy gramma used to have to yell at grandad.Then one day, he told her quitely, "You don't need to holler so, Lil, I can hear you just fine. It's just that the words don't make sense anymore..."
He progressed into deep stage Parkinsons and then Alzheimer's pretty fast after that. Made it5 'till he was 87YO
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Well, bless his heart. It's amazing how much we can adapt to living with and without. E.B. White said his problem was that he still thought of himself as a lad of 19. When he was way past that. It's that way for me too. Yeah, Sixty's not what it used to be and all that stuff. But it also ain't 30, or even 45. It's just caught me by surprise that now I'm one of them. Ya know?
True.
Today's soffit material requires frequent maintenance.
The galvanized panels should be a good option.Zinc oxides are a natural mildewcide.Looks are a different matter.I wonder if you can get any of the "tin" ceilings in galvanized..
.
A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
How about cedar? Can you get it in T&G?
Assuming it was no more expensive than my other 3 choices, I might could. But the carpenter bees here smell cedar from 10 miles away and soon it'd have enough perforations to let a river through. If I wasn't putting a door from the porch to the yard, I might try that, thinking the screen'd keep em out.Are my 3 affordable, durable choices above just too ugly for ya'll to conceive of installing at the old folks place?
I still think you should look at the steel siding.
So convenient a thing it is to be a reasonable Creature, since it enables one to find or make a Reason for everything one has a mind to do. --Benjamin Franklin