Garage sim build advice - Raising ceiling with bedroom over garage

[mjf]

Hi,

I'm wondering if anyone has raised a garage ceiling under a finished space and if there are any lessons learned that could be passed on.

We're looking at converting our 2 car attached garage that sits under our master bedroom into a golf simulator room. Currently, the garage ceiling is about 8'6" but to make the space work, we'd need to raise the ceiling height by at least a foot and hopefully up to about 10 feet. The garage ceiling sits about 2 feet lower than the ceiling in the rest of the first floor of the house so there should be about 2 feet to play with.

What we're hoping to do is remove the current ceiling / insulation and replace it with spray foam insulation between the joists and then raise the ceiling up to the bottom of the floor joists or as close as possible.

Based on discussions with the spray foam insulation company we've contacted, we suspect (hope!) the composition of the space between the master bedroom floor and the garage ceiling is:

Hardwood
Plywood
Floor joists under master bedroom
Vapor barrier (probably?)
Air Gap (heated with forced air to keep bedroom floor warm)
Fiberglass Insulation (thick!)
Strapping
Drywall Garage ceiling

We're hopeful that the existing duct work runs between the floor joists and won't require any reconfiguration to move them out of the way.

Looking for feedback for anyone who has done this before. Are there any gotchas to be aware of?

Thanks!

[golfdad]

Let me know how this goes. I am in almost the exact same situation. I had a architect look at it and they said they would have to run support beams which wouldn’t give the whole gap space

[TheJones]

Each situation will be different based on how they built it. This is not a DIY job for most people. You must maintain support for the finished area above.

[ro10016]

In the midst of finishing my garage that is similar to your situation.
The difference with mine is that it is a smaller bedroom that only covers 3/4 of the double garage. Therefore, I had a steel I-beam supporting an exterior wall and another structural wood beam supporting the upstairs hallway wall. I still managed to gain 10" of ceiling height but could probably have gained another 10" if I didn't have to deal with that (and the ducts).
The forced air ducts were hanging below the joists but I was able to remove the ones that were heating and cooling that space.
I was able to fix the remaining ducts while they were exposed with some foil tape because the builder had not properly connected them.
Still a work in progress but I was glad I had the garage doors converted to high lift. The rails went from 7'3" to 9'4" ... more that enough room for me to swing a club

[bubbtubbs]

If your garage has light fixtures, there's a chance that you'll be able to remove one of the lights, pop the octagon box off the joist and push it out of the way to stick a phone camera up through the hole to see what you're dealing with.

I did it all the time when I was quoting pot light installations. You can send a screw through the box from inside once you're finished and have put it back in place. It goes without saying that you should turn the power off before doing this.

Edit: if you have any questions, feel free to ask. Or, if you need a step by step how to do this, I'll do it on my ceiling and take photos of each step for you if you'd like. Heck, is even be willing to Zoom call you as long as the time difference isn't too terrible (I'm EST). I've subscribed to the thread so I'll see updates.

Good luck.