Got a question on ceiling beams

[fishfighter]

I'm looking at cutting some red oak ceiling beams for my build. The span is 12'. The load that they will carry is just sheetrock and insulation. They will be spaced about 36" on center.

My plan is to cut them from the center of logs. They will be 4" thick and no less then 8" wide. I will cut slabs across and then split at the pith. My thinking is to put the live edge downward. I'm not planning on boxing them. I would like to keep the tree bark on the edge. That should make them wanting to arch back up in the center. Of course, I will be hanging them green.

So, what y'all think of my plan?

Thanks

[Jim_Rogers]

bark will fall off.....

Jim Rogers

[fishfighter]

Kind of though so. Do you think a 4"x8" for a 12' span will be ok if I cut them the way in my first post? I can go to 5" with no problem.

[Raphael]

No problem with the strength of the beams but your sheet rock may have an issue over time from the weight of the insulation.  Fiberglass?

[fishfighter]

Yes, fiberglass. R30 is about the best one can get down here in the south.  Heating is really never a problem. It's cooling.

Oh, I will put some plastic sheeting on top of the beams. Being wet, that should keep water wick off the sheetrock.

[Raphael]

Yeah keeping it dry is the main thing.  I gather you'll be running 12' sheets across those beams to deal with the 36" span, that stuff gets heavy. 
Especially around 4 in the afternoon.  ;)

[fishfighter]

14' ran across. The room is 13'6" wide. But now you gave me something to think about a bit more.

Got a load of 1x3 100+ year old reclaim pine flooring in today. Over 500SF of it. 8) Best part is, it was free. I still need to denail it and then I will pass each board thru my planner.

[Raphael]

Nice!  Can't beat a deal like that.

Might want to go 24" on center to make working the sheet rock easier.
I hate taping so I'd be tempted to run the sheets with the beams leaving a single butt joint across the center of the ceiling to hide behind a trim detail.

[Bruno of NH]

Run you beams 2 ft oc and use 5/8 drywall .
i wouldn't leave the bark on looking for problems imo .
Jim/Bruno

[fishfighter]

It looks like I will have to run those beams 24" OC. That sure would help me not having to tape them. ;D

[witterbound]

You gonna put those "beams" under the roof trusses? 

[fishfighter]

Yes. The roof trusses are 2 1/8" set up above all top plate beams. The beams are floating at this time. Just letting them dry up some before I tie them in. Kind of hard to explain my attack plan. I will try to get some pictures of how things are lay out.

Here in the south, high ceiling are a very big plus when it comes to cooling. The trusses are set at 9'. In my house, I have 9' to as high as 17' ceiling. Saves on cooling big time.

Some pictures of the off set. On top of the beam is a 2 1/8"x6" pine board just to snap in the trusses. The outside edge are 2x10's that set on top of the post that are bolted in place. That is what the trusses are sitting on at this point.



 



 

The stick walls extend out were the 2x10 sits and ties into it.