what size ceiling battens/joists?

**madmuso** · 19th April 2013, 03:42 PM

Hey guys,

im about to begin converting my single car garage into a music rehearsal space consisting of two rooms within the garage dwelling. These will be two complete separate rooms which do not touch the existing dwelling ( except for being fixed to the slab ). So basically i will build two "rooms within a room". The rooms will be approx 4m x 3.5m x 2.3m (L X W X H).

I intend on lining the walls with particle board and 1 layer of plaster. The ceilings with just two layers of 16mm plaster but im not sure what centres and size ceiling joists/battens I should use for these room sizes and for 2 layers of 16mm.

As far as the construction of the ceiling goes, I was going to make the four walls, erect them, then build then ceiling (just like another wall) and lay it on top of the wall top plates then fix it all together with nails and screws. Is this ok?

I have purchased 90 x 45 F5 timber so far to get me started.

Also, is there a membrane or something that needs to be placed under the timber bottom plates to stop moisture from the concrete coming up into the timber?

any help is greatly appreciated, thanks guys,

**rustynail** · 20th April 2013, 01:01 PM

90 x 45 F5 will only span 1800 with conventional ceiling.
120 x 45 will span 2400.

**rustynail** · 20th April 2013, 01:04 PM

Just lay the joists over and skew nail. You will bust your phoo phoo valve trying to lift the lot.

**SawDustSniffer** · 24th April 2013, 02:20 AM

why 36mm of plasterboard for the ceiling , at 3.5m span your joists will have to be huge to hold up all that weight , 10mm span 600 plasterboard is best , you can go 600mm for 13mm plasterboard or 450mm for 10mm plasterboard

insulation will deaden sound better than plasterboard , and its a dam site lighter / cheaper

90x 45x f5 is fine for the wall frames , yes "damp proof course " under the frame

16mm particle board behind the plasterboard ????? for the cost per square meter , you could carpet the walls on top of the plasterboard

**jrock_au** · 24th April 2013, 08:33 PM

I agree, 36mm of plasterboard sounds like a lot. You can buy a denser 10mmm plasterboard which is designed for sound deadening, you could also then insulate the ceiling with sound deadening insulation(sono bats?)
If you still want better sound deadening you could use a suspended ceiling system, which you can get some sort of rubber mounts to stop the sound transfer.
lf the slab you are building the room on is dry no membrane under bottom plate is needed. When building new houses we only put poly damp (thin plastic) nder the plates on external walls. If there is moisture coming through he slab, I would be concerned storing things like musical equipment in he room.

**Malcolm Eaton** · 25th April 2013, 01:49 AM

I presume you are using 16mm plasterboard in double layers for Sound transmission, if so I suggest you contact your local CSR Gyorock suppliers and arrange to get hold of their catalogue on the use of Gyprock in relation to its use for sound transmission. You will find a heap of usefull information on recomended methods of construction to achieve a range of different levels on Sound transmission. Just what is the STC range you are aiming to achieve? Perhaps you should speak to a accoustic consultant before you proceed onyour project.
Cheers
Mac

Information on the design of ceilings and walls using Gyprock can be accessed on the internet by downloading CSR Red Book on Fire and Acoustic design. Just Google on the subject.
Mac

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