Vaulting a ceiling -- what to do with the rafter ties

[dobson156]

Hi,

The master bedroom of my house which I am slowly doing up occupies the entire width gable end of the house.

The room has a flat conventional ceiling although at far right and left of the room the ceiling slops in a bit where the roof "cuts in" a little.

I think this room would look and feel much much nicer if it had a vaulted/cathedral style ceiling.

However current flat ceiling is plaster boarded (on the room side) and OSB on the attic side over rafter ties.

My question is:

1. Can these rafter ties be removed, or are they likely to be spotting the roof from spreading?
2. If they can not be remove, can they be replaced with something more aesthetically pleasing?

Cheers

PS: Before I actually do anything, I will get a structural engineer to give me their opinion first. I just want to gauge viability.

 

[noseall]

A ridge BEAM typically replaces the job that the joists do. However that beam needs to sit on structural walls/supports at both ends. The size of such a beam can also be prohibitive if the span is excessive.
Wind loading and stability will be a factor as will the condition of the gable masonry and any openings within it.

 

[dobson156]

Thanks for the reply. That seems VERY difficult to retro fit and additionally and I am not sure there is a load bearing wall at both ends (there is at one end).

I wonder whether its possible to rather than remove the rafter ties altogether, they could be replaced with something more aesthetically pleasing. Either metal ties (painted black) OR aged oak or something like that.

 

[dobson156]

Either like this:

Or like:

 

[oldbutnotdead]

You probably can, it was something i considered in a similar situation but money & time were tight. Do a sketch plan with dimensions & count of all timbers, a note on roof covering, ridge walls etc. & talk to an se. The sketch will be enough for a quick yes/no, detailed solution calcs shouldn't cost a fortune

 

[dobson156]

Cheers, that sounds like a goer; although for another day. The expensive bit imagine is the sheer amount of thick Kingspan I'll need to insulated the ceiling!

 

[oldbutnotdead]

It you've got the headroom in the pitched bit (roof pitch 45 degrees or more) you could do worse than false rafters and rockwool above/between them (think pitched false ceiling). I know ti.ber has got pricey, haven't needed any pir recently so no idea how silly that's got!

 

[dobson156]

Yep, that's an idea too. although I'd have to see what the saving actually is once plasterboard, extra timbre and I guess time is taken into consideration.

 

[freddiemercurystwin]

A photo of the ties/structure inside the loft would help.

 

[dobson156]

I'll have to draw on later on; I just put the osb boards back; one of the reasons I want to do this is because the attic space is utterly useless, you can only really crawl in it and it's an absolute pain to access; I'd rather that the space was "given to room".

it's not going to happen in a hurry, I am just assessing the feasibility right now.