One of the top benefits of our clear span metal building kits is that you’ll have a beautiful cathedral ceiling. As we say on our website, the advantage of the Miracle Truss® design is no flat ceilings or low hanging rafters to get in your way.
More usable interior space gives a nice open feeling while inside the building. You have flexibility to add a loft for multiple uses, and even room to hang a chandelier to finish out your man cave! Open floor plans with high ceilings and large windows can mean that you’ll have to pay a bit more attention to your drywall finish.
What the Light Lets In
Let’s say you decide to go with a Miracle Truss® design for your new home. You’re going to love the gorgeous big spaces our clear span trusses create. If you opt for a glossy rather than a flat paint, the extra light shining across the expanse of your cathedral ceiling and higher walls will draw far more attention to irregularities that sometimes are a part of using drywall.
It starts with being aware that there are multiple finish levels you can apply to drywall to prepare it for paint. You’ll likely have to go for a higher finish upgrade.
Hiding the Patchwork
You’ve seen drywall before the finish primer goes on. It looks like a giant patchwork. All that tape and drywall compound is necessary, though. It combines to strengthen the seams, and to blend all the separate sheets into a continuous surface.
It’s the sanding process that hides the seam and tape, but that sanding process can also create different textures on the surface of the drywall. If you’re not careful, you’ll create very smooth surfaces on the compound areas, but slightly raise the fibers of the uncoated areas. And, the remaining paper surface of the drywall will be even less smooth. This area also will have a different porosity.
All of these things usually are less noticeable when you use a flat paint. But, when you combine a gloss or even semi-gloss paint over large expanses of drywall, you may actually end up seeing some of the seams—not because they’re raised, but because they are smoother!
What’s the Solution?
If you’re doing it yourself, you’ll want to pay closer attention to the entire surface—rather than just the seams and patches. Any type of glossy paint will need a complete surfacing primer to make all areas of the drywall homogenous. If you’re having someone else finish your drywall, be sure to ask for a “level 5” finish. It’s a higher level of finish recommended for gloss or semi-gloss paints for large surfaces that will receive ample lighting from large windows.
Our designs feature closer truss spacing and closer secondary members (purlins and girts). It provides even more strength, and the ability to finish off the inside without having to retro-fit a whole interior stud wall. Our wood wall members are edge mounted every 24 inches on center. That means you’ll never have any problems hanging drywall.
Head here to see examples of Miracle Truss® residences and cabins.