Arron
14th April 2015, 11:10 PM
Hi. Currently I'm converting unused downstairs space into a rumpus room. The carpentry and gyprocking are nearly finished, so now I'm focusing on the large beams running across the ceiling. These are metal I-beam type RSJ's - they seem very large for their intended function. I know the conventional approach is to box them in with gyprock - but frankly I'm pretty much over the whole plasterboard thing. Over the stupid crumbly edges and the back-breaking weight and the hours spent stopping up the cracks. So I'm wondering if there isn't some other way to do it - perhaps something closer to my skillset which is basically woodwork. Is there a strictly woodworking solution to boxing in an I-beam ?
To give you an example, I was explaining to my wife how the conventional method was to stick noggings in the recess of the I-beam and then fix a long thin sheet of gyprock along each side, and one along the bottom. She (a good lateral thinker, unencumbered with preconceptions) said 'why put a sheet on the bottom - surely its redundant' . Then, 'why hang the side sheets on the outside of the beam - you're only making something ugly bigger - surely they should be recessed between the limbs of the I-beam'.
We then worked up a partial solution with thin mdf glued to battens glued to the inside face of the I-beam. The outside face of the mdf would be flush with the very tips of the horizontal protrusions of the I-beam (the limbs). Because I can cut the mdf as a very close fit the only gap to fill would be the tiny one between the aris of the mdf and the tip of the limb. I cant see why it would look any less neat and seamless then a beam boxed in with gyprock.
But maybe someone has a better idea.
Any ideas anyone ?
cheers
Arron
ps. can someone please tell me how to permanently delete my signature (I shut the Patonga website down months ago, but cant find how to delete the reference to it)
344737
To give you an example, I was explaining to my wife how the conventional method was to stick noggings in the recess of the I-beam and then fix a long thin sheet of gyprock along each side, and one along the bottom. She (a good lateral thinker, unencumbered with preconceptions) said 'why put a sheet on the bottom - surely its redundant' . Then, 'why hang the side sheets on the outside of the beam - you're only making something ugly bigger - surely they should be recessed between the limbs of the I-beam'.
We then worked up a partial solution with thin mdf glued to battens glued to the inside face of the I-beam. The outside face of the mdf would be flush with the very tips of the horizontal protrusions of the I-beam (the limbs). Because I can cut the mdf as a very close fit the only gap to fill would be the tiny one between the aris of the mdf and the tip of the limb. I cant see why it would look any less neat and seamless then a beam boxed in with gyprock.
But maybe someone has a better idea.
Any ideas anyone ?
cheers
Arron
ps. can someone please tell me how to permanently delete my signature (I shut the Patonga website down months ago, but cant find how to delete the reference to it)
344737