Walls and Ceilings - Florida Room Ceiling

I have what is termed a Florida Room on the back of my house. It is basically a porch that has had windows/doors installed and enclosed. I plan to replace the windows and doors as they are very old. The question is about the ceiling, it has exposed framing and my wife would like me to finish if off to give it a cleaner look and maybe turn this into a game room for the kids. I'm concerned about how to ventilate. I want to make sure that if I enclose the ceiling that is does not trap moisture and cause rot. There are no vents in the eaves and I cannot vent on the high side (where the old porch roof meets the house) as this is a solid wall. Any ideas? Is this even a problem?

Thanks, Matt

What type roof does it have? Flat, gable, shed, and what pitch? Does the water flow off fast, or is it such a shallow pitch the water moves slowly.
Do you plan on insulating the ceiling? Is it on a slab or elevated at all?
It would help if you could post a couple of pictures on a site such as photobucket.com and give us the url's so we can see what you see.

It's a shed roof, not sure of the pitch (I think it is 12X3; 12" run X 3" rise) but I have never had a problem it shedding water. Yes I plan to insulate the ceiling. The room is on a concrete slab. I will post some photos when the wife returns from a trip, she has the camera.

Thanks for the help, Matt

While you are waiting on the camera, how do you plan on heating and cooling it? Will it be closed off from the adjoining rooms, or open?
As a disclaimer, no advertising intended, nor any solicitation intended, go to www.ChandlersCarpentry.com and click on projects one. This is a page of recently finished screened porches turned into 4 season rooms. Maybe you could get some ideas to use in yours.

In terms of heating a cooling, the room already has electric baseboard heat installed. Have not thought about the cooling yet but maybe a window air conditioner. Yes, it will be closed off from adjoining room. Here are the photos, I have never used this site so I hope it works.

http://s192.photobucket.com/albums/z140/ttamittap/Florida%20Room/

I don't think you will have any problem as long as there are soffit vents in the front to aid in dispelling the moist air. Once you install the insulation and ceiling you shouldn't have a problem with the condensation you have now, as I can see by the peeling paint. That area should become more stable, heat wise.
Looks like a good project. You will probably have to custom order thermopane windows in a size that will fit your openings, as you are limited by the brick wall below and the door on one end. But that should not be a problem, as most of the window dealers I have association with can make a window any size you want. Just get away from the single pane jalosie windows. They leak air, humid air. And they leak heat out.

Just in the interest of accuracy, I would not refer to that structure as a "Florida room". It is really something along the lines of a how you initially described it, "a porch that has had windows/doors installed and enclosed".

A true Florida room, I believe, is one that is at the back of the house and is incorporated into the ORIGINAL construction, thereby it is insulated and heated/cooled along with the rest of the house. They often have/had flat roofs and lots of windows, usually 50's-60's vintage jalousie type. Tried to find a good pic of my Mom's house (the Florida family homestead since 1966) showing the style, but came up empty.

Any fellow Floridians back me up on this?

I lived/worked in fla for a little over 15 yrs and I always thought that a fla room was closer to a closed in porch than an actual room in the house. Sometimes heated and cooled but not always. Always lots of windows. Often french doors between it and the rest of the house.




:D but maybe I was banished to east tenn for not knowing the correct definition of a fla room :D :p

LOL; what would they call a room like that in Tennessee? :D

I'm thinking "sunroom" would be a more universal term; I had never heard the term Florida room before actually living in Florida.

Don't know the right term for the room, but the realator sold it as a FLorida Room.

Oh well :)

Thanks for the help