Convert Storage Area to Office..Bring Me Into the 21st Century

**petec** · 29th August 2018, 03:05 AM

I hope this is the correct forum.

I plan to convert a second floor storage area into an office.
But I need to be brought into the 21st century.
Back about 50 years ago (48 years to be more precise) I worked for an contractor building private homes.
We did everything. Foundations, walls, studs, wiring, plumbing, wallboard.......

But that was then and now is now. Things have sure changed. Like nobody nails wallboard, it is all screws.

So, if the collective doesn't mind, I will describe my project and ask my questions and hope for additional comments.

The room is about 12 x 19 but 7 of the 19 slope down from 8 ft. high to 4 ft. high.

There is no ceiling in the room. Just a vaulted roof going up to 19 ft. There is a room adjacent to this area along the 12 ft wall. It has a ceiling held up by 2x10s and covered with what seems to be blown in insulation. It is a white fluffy substance. That wall has fiberglass bats between the studs which are exposed to this area.

The three walls that don't slope have studs (16" centers) and top plates of 2x4 on 2x4. They are about 8 ft high. One 19 ft wall butts against the hallway so it is insulated also.

I plan on putting two outlets on each of the long walls and one each on the short walls. I will also put an internet connection on each long wall. I can tap into the AC that runs along the 12 ft wall that shares with the adjacent room. I also found the internet Cat5 cable in the attic and can reroute it to this room.

There is no HVAC to this area but from the attic I can have full access to the area. I can walk the ceiling joists of the second floor right up the this opening and look right down into it. There is a HVAC (forced air) unit in the attic about 20 ft from this area. The duct work runs even closer.

So, now for my questions:

(1) Since I plan to put up wallboard on the walls and ceiling I need joists for the ceiling. Adjacent areas have 2x10s but what do I really need?? There is nothing there now so it is not a structural need for the house. All I want to do is have something to screw the ceiling board to. I also will mount a couple of 48 inch lights and a ceiling fan. Could I use 2x4s for joists? Note, these joists can rest right on the double 2x4 plates that rest on the studs.

(2) What do I do for ceiling insulation? Can I get "blown in" fluff like the rest of the house or do I need to use fiberglass bats? Then I might need 2x10s for joists to get the R rating like the rest of the house has.

(3) For the HVAC. I feel that this room will not add to the HVAC load because we do not use most of the second floor. We would use it only when we have visitors. I close the vents to most of the upstairs except the room where I am right now. Once the project is done I will move to the office and close all vents except the office. I have an ecobee thermostat with room sensors so I could set it up to heat/cool only this area. Except if we have visitors. In that case I shut down the office and let the unit work like the original plan. I think I need one ceiling vent and it should be placed near what will become an outside wall. How do I tap into the existing duct work to add this branch? Do I pick a close spot, cut through the insulation, cut into the duct and add a tee? Then route new duct to the ceiling vent and wrap it with insulation.

(4) What am I not taking into account.

I hope this is not too much to throw at this forum.
Thanks for your patients.

Pete

**rwbuild** · 29th August 2018, 12:04 PM

Welcome to the forum.
Since you are in the US, I would rely on your fellow knowledgeable countrymen to answer/advise what to do.
Whilst there are some similarities in how we build in Australia to how its built in the US, there are a lot of differences in building codes, stress grading of timber, regulations, acceptable building practices, etc, etc which would only allow for us to generalize which could be confusing for you and possibly create problems that you can well do without.
I suggest you either take photos to clearly show existing and sketches of what you plan on doing and post them in the thread to assist others to advise/assist you.

**petec** · 29th August 2018, 12:19 PM

I never realized these forums were based in Oz. Sorry.

I guess most folks don't know about 2x4s, etc.

I'll see if anyone from this side of the big lake can help.

**rwbuild** · 29th August 2018, 12:59 PM

We are metric here and a 2x4 is a 100x50 (millimetres) here, largest dimension always precedes smallest. We changed from imperial measure to metric in late 60's. There are still a lot of people from the old school that still think in imperial. The US is the last bastion of imperial and its inevitable that it will have to change eventually.
Good luck with your plans

**rwbuild** · 29th August 2018, 01:01 PM

Originally Posted by petec

I never realized these forums were based in Oz. Sorry.

Have a look at the banner at the top

**old1955** · 29th August 2018, 03:32 PM

Welcome to the forum Pete.

**elanjacobs** · 29th August 2018, 06:57 PM

Originally Posted by rwbuild

We are metric here and a 2x4 is a 100x50 (millimetres) here, largest dimension always precedes smallest.

I was taught that it's always length x width x thickness, regardless of how large or small the numbers are.

**rwbuild** · 29th August 2018, 09:55 PM

Other way round, width x thickness x lenghth
When picking an order or specifying the first priority is "what section is needed" then "how long" then "how many of that length"
Mind you I could have some real fun in the big green sheds using your method....hmmmmm when am I visiting them next

**petec** · 30th August 2018, 07:24 AM

Originally Posted by rwbuild

We are metric here and a 2x4 is a 100x50 (millimetres) here, largest dimension always precedes smallest. We changed from imperial measure to metric in late 60's. There are still a lot of people from the old school that still think in imperial. The US is the last bastion of imperial and its inevitable that it will have to change eventually.
Good luck with your plans

Lucky you. Your 2x4s are nearly 2x4 if I did the conversion correctly, 1.97x3.94. Ours are 88.5x38.1 (3.5x1.5).
There is some bull floating around that they start out at 2x4 but dry out to 1.5x3.5. I say bull because when my father built his house in the 1960s they were 3.875x1.875 and they used the same "dry out" excuse. They really just want to get more boards from each log.

The US tried to change when Jimmy Carter was president (late 70s/early 80s) but he didn't get re-elected so people lost interest.

We really like having to have two sets of open end wrenches (metric and standard). Same for box end and sockets. They haven't found a way to make a difference for screwdrivers but I bet they are trying. That is me being sarcastic of course. I even had a 1981 Oldsmobile that had an alternator bracket that was bolted in with both metric and standard bolts.

For years I lived near Buffalo NY which is next to Canada. Canada converted long ago so I am pretty used to jumping back and fourth. As an engineer I also have to do it often. We always joked that everything is smaller in Canada. The miles are shorter (actually km), the dollars are smaller ($CN<$US) and the temperatures are smaller ( degrees C vs F). Or as we called them, degrees Canadian.

And of course, from 1999 we have the Mars Climate Orbiter crashing because someone used the wrong units. Just $125M (not $CN) down the drain.

Thanks for putting up with me.

Pete

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