Raise the roof to install a lift?

[skulldrinker]

I had my 22 X 24 detached garage built back in 86 when I had no idea what a lift was. Currently I have a normal residential ceiling height. Without measuring probably 8 foot. Has anyone ever raised their roof to better accommodate a lift? I may not be able to get a full sized 2 post in but even a 2 foot rise would make a mid height lift function more like it was suppose to. I currently have drywall up and all conduit in place so i was thinking is it possible to raise the whole darn thing up from right down at the sole plates? I know that is a lot of weight and likely a massive job. Or the other way and just trying to raise the roof part. Or am i just out of luck and should just start digging a pit?

 

[jchetty]

Can you post a picture or two? Guys on the forum are very creative. One garage did a pocket/tray type ceiling above the lift area which I thought was pure genius.

 

[skulldrinker]

No pictures tonight santas coming. But it's just your typical suburban square garage with a roof. HAHA best way i can put it. To bad my rafters go perpendicular to the way the lift would. In otherwords the peak would slope at the front and rear of the cars which would probably limit the height of the pocket. but that is an idea.

 

[camarotoolman]

You could carefully demo the roof, build a 4' tall on your existing wall, then rebuild the old roof on the new taller walls. Lots of labor, but not that big of a deal. i would also remove the top plate on the old wall and sister 12' studs to the old ones.

 

[crazytrain]

 

[stingry]

trusses or rafters/ceiling joists? It is much easier to do what you want if you have roof rafters with ceiling joists tying the walls together.


Cheers
Steve

 

[DonnyT]

MaxJax.....

 

[danski0224]

I had my 22 X 24 detached garage built back in 86 when I had no idea what a lift was. Currently I have a normal residential ceiling height. Without measuring probably 8 foot. Has anyone ever raised their roof to better accommodate a lift? I may not be able to get a full sized 2 post in but even a 2 foot rise would make a mid height lift function more like it was suppose to. I currently have drywall up and all conduit in place so i was thinking is it possible to raise the whole darn thing up from right down at the sole plates? I know that is a lot of weight and likely a massive job. Or the other way and just trying to raise the roof part. Or am i just out of luck and should just start digging a pit?

That video is the job in a nutshell.

If that person had to buy all those jacks, steel and cinder blocks, it isn't a cheap job. It may have been less to call in some house movers.

The overhead door solution screams hack.

Overlapping the sheathing from new to old to avoid a hinge joint is important. I'm not sure about the 6" lap in the video, but maybe it is enough.

If the garage is not in good shape, it may be less of a hassle to take it down and rebuild. Companies that build only garages may be able to do it for less than you can.

Materials alone for a 2' wall extension on a 30' x 20', siding (for the extension and gable ends, 2' of sheathing top plate overlap) and a new 4/12 gable roof is ~$4k. I want to do the same thing.

A pit is a whole nother set of problems. Not recommended. There are serious safety issues, not to mention water.

 

[PAToyota]

I had my 22 X 24 detached garage built back in 86 when I had no idea what a lift was.

I feel your pain. Built my workshop back in the late '90s before the internet really came into its own and people were posting pictures of all this sort of stuff. I knew lifts from commercial shops, but figured they were totally out of reach for a home shop...

The overhead door solution screams hack.

Should have been simple enough to add an extra couple sections to the existing door, extend the tracks, and change out the spring(s) to accommodate the extra weight.

Overlapping the sheathing from new to old to avoid a hinge joint is important. I'm not sure about the 6" lap in the video, but maybe it is enough.

I agree on that. He says he screwed them together every 4" - I can just picture some people using drywall screws or something... I'd have bolted the plates together. That still might not be enough to keep things from twisting there. It might be fine for years and then a strong wind topples it off the "base" that was built.

It is better to have the "addition" at the bottom of the walls, though. I've seen people try to do something similar at the tops of the walls. Up there you can have the roof trying to push the walls out and can run into problems quickly.

A pit is a whole nother set of problems. Not recommended. There are serious safety issues, not to mention water.

Just to be clear, the issue with pits is that you can trap flammable vapors or carbon monoxide in them unless they are ventilated properly. Your homeowners insurance will likely deny coverage or deny claims if they find out you have it.

 

[danski0224]

I agree on that. He says he screwed them together every 4" - I can just picture some people using drywall screws or something... I'd have bolted the plates together. That still might not be enough to keep things from twisting there. It might be fine for years and then a strong wind topples it off the "base" that was built.

It is better to have the "addition" at the bottom of the walls, though. I've seen people try to do something similar at the tops of the walls. Up there you can have the roof trying to push the walls out and can run into problems quickly.

Drywall screws aren't structural?

Building inspector here said that 24" overlap would be fine on the exterior and Simpson straps on the interior, or sheathing.

 

[regguy1]

I had the same decision to make, modifying building would cost to much and eliminate storage above and the door would have to be closed when car was lifted. I went with the MaxJax and I'm happy with it. My ceiling is 8' 10" MaxJax will work OK with 8' ceiling.

See photos and videos here: http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=140674

 

[Kevin54]

If you have trusses, check with a truss company to see how you could modify them. If you have a 4/12 pitch, which is common on most houses, you may have 4'+ above the ceiling. You only want to modify just what you need. You would have to run a joist from one full truss, to the other full truss on the other side of what you are wanting to cut out. This is going to have to do the supporting. Then I'd probably cut a sheet of 7/16" OSB and cover as much as whats left as you can on the sides of what's left of the cut trusses.

I've seen a few garages that's been modified with no problems. One person is on HotRodders and goes by 33willys. You could probably speak with him as to how he did it. I'm almost positive that is what he goes by. I could stop over there and check. If you decide to, he drives the yellow Willys.

Other than using common sense, talking to 33Willys, I would still give a truss company a call and possibly e-mail them a sketch as to what you want to do. You're not the first that's wanted to do this, and wouldn't be the first that's pulled it off. But you want to do it safely and correctly. There is nothing any worse looking than driving by a house or garage and seeing a huge sag in the roof.

 

[Fueler]

My neighbor did exactly that. I wish I had taken pictures. They premade their matching wooden 3 foot wall extensions ahead of time. They then lifted the whole garage in one motion from the outside.

They rented what best can be describe as wall board lifts. You have seen the ones that lift the wall boards up high? Same kind of thing, only larger with some out rigging for stability. Think I have seen the same principal used in raising pyramids.

These things had mechanical winches and they used 3 on the long sides and 2 on the short sides. A man at each one and they slowly lifted it in unison. click, click, click. Slipped in their extensions and set it back down. I must disclose that these folks had some construction experience which while looking a little crazy it all went smoothly. They did clear off the internal walls to cut the weight and had installed some cross boards for the lifts to bolt to.

Preparation, forethought and some friends on a Saturday afternoon was all it took. Once it was all ready to go they had it all lifted, extension inserted and bolted back down in about 3 hours. Another couple of hours dismantling the lifts, etc. After that it was interior fix up time. All an all it came out solid and nicely finished in the end. A excellent working garage.

I will ask him what the name of the lifts are and if they took any pictures.

 

[Tedb01]

 

[PAToyota]

Drywall screws aren't structural?

Building inspector here said that 24" overlap would be fine on the exterior and Simpson straps on the interior, or sheathing.

The previous owner of my place seemed to think so...

No offense, but I really wouldn't take such advice from a building inspector unless he could show me his PE license. I've had building inspectors that understood what they were doing and then others... Well, let's just say not so much... Two that stick out were the one who asked if the metal in the hole was rebar (that was his foundation inspection) and the other guy whose framing inspection consisted of grabbing hold of a wall and trying to shake it.

 

[Kevin54]

How high were your ceilings to begin with? Did you support anything from underneath when you made the cuts?

 

[Doug B]

Several years ago,a friend and I lifted a 12' x 24' shed that had a six foot sidewall.We used a very similar approach as was used in the video,but we installed 3 courses of 8" block to get a 24" lift,resulting in an 8' ceiling height.
Adding wood pony walls,top or bottom,makes me nervous...

 

[Tedb01]

The ceilings are 9'
Nothing supported from underneath. 2x12's set before cuts.

Everything else structural built after cutting the trusses.

 

[ToocoolZ28]

The ceilings are 9'
Nothing supported from underneath. 2x12's set before cuts.

Everything else structural built after cutting the trusses.

Great pics, I'm thinking about raising the middle 10 feet of my 24x30 garage. I have 9 foot ceilings and want to be able to use a full size lift. My trusses are similer to yours, mine dont have a support post in the middle, Its open all the way. I have a 12/12 roof with 8 feet of height in the center of the attic. I plan to talk to a truss engineer first to see if its possible.

 

[Chris05gto]

Here's what I did.......
New BendPak HD 9 4 Post Lift

 

[jchetty]

Here's what I did.......
New BendPak HD 9 4 Post Lift

You are who I was talking about

Brilliant, genius, efficient. Basically the perfect solution.

 

[Chris05gto]

You are who I was talking about

Brilliant, genius, efficient. Basically the perfect solution.

Cool, I hope it helps!

 

[Rickenbackerman]

Here's what I did...

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=101090

 

[cyamaha2007]

I have done this a few times. I bought 10 or so scissor jacks from the junk yard. I lifted a 24x30 detached garage that way. We added 4feet to the garage with phoney walls. All the structural work/ lift was done in one day. Siding was finished the next. It could be a weekend project if you had a hand.

 

[canadiantim]

I have a garage about the same size as the OP. I just finished raising the roof 5'.

My initial vision was for a pony wall under existing walls but the City wanted continuous framing from slab to trusses. Couple feet and I might have done it with pony walls without permits, but was kind of hard to hide 5' and working for the City, it was in my best interest to try and comply...

I ended up reinforcing the roof, cutting the top plates off of the walls and hiring a zoom boom for a day to lift it. I started the lift with 12 bottle jacks and a pier structure to keep the roof aligned and level but it kept getting very windy and was rather hard on the nerves, thus the zoom boom.

To meet code I had to reframe with 2x6 on 12" centres as the original 2x4 on 16" did not meet code for the walls being over 12' tall. In retrospect, I should have torn it down and built a new, larger building. I completely replaced the entire wall with the main door allowing me to put in a 16x10 door.

I too had anticipated a couple weekend project with buddies but it's been a year and I'm still puttering on things.

By the way, thanks for such a great site! I've been a lurker for a couple years and usually get pretty numbed out reading the huge quantity of info on here. I could read for hours. Some great stuff and a great group of people on here.

 

[m5james]

Bumping this thread since I asked a permitting question on Chris05gto's post but ToocoolZ28 has been online more recently.

 

[Denwood]

Copy/paste from page one of my build thread. Stick frame to ridge beam. This was an engineered solution accounting for our rather high snow load requirements here.

Edit: This thread was originally just a ceiling raise project. Thanks to this forum (damn you all!) the project has, well, morphed into a six month and counting project

I was inspired by a build found here on the journal, so am returning the favor for anyone looking to follow a similar path.

I have a rather pedestrian garage, at 16 x 24 which came with our house. Other than converting over to natural gas heat, I've done nothing to it. After reading some of the MaxJax lift posts I decided to order one, which is enroute. My problem, like many with a smaller shop, is the 8ft ceiling. The roof is stick framed, with the required truss ties in place. With high snow loads here, cutting these truss ties is a guaranteed collapsed roof (as they keep the walls from bulging out under load), and raising them to collar tie configurations will not pass code. Scissor trusses would have only got me to a useable 8ft six, unless I entirely replaced the roof. This might have been ok if I only lifted cars, but I have a 90 Westfalia that needs to work in the space. The shop is used for automotive work, wood work, and has also been a paint booth (auto) from time to time. It's in desperate need of a major clean up and re-organization to maximize usable space.

Enter the load bearing beam ridge design. After a few visits to Unitized manufacturing (local truss design/manufacture guys), we came up with a simple in place retrofit.

The roof is 5/12 slope. In case it helps, I've also included the beam specs.

September 2014 at the beginning of the renovation:

October 2014:

A sneak peak 5 months forward showing the shop at February 2015.

November 2015:

And now, back to the beginning with beam data..

Here's the micro-lam delivered:

The mess of improperly installed/ventilated insulation has to go, spray foam to come:

About eight hours later, we got to this. I was able to do everything except the top beam by myself. For the top beam, my brother, a few beer and 2 hours did the trick. Although glue was not called for in the spec, I used PL Premium construction adhesive as well as the 6d ardox nails and laminated the beams in place. This made it a lot easier to lift them. I now have 10'2" of clearance across a "window" of 6ft x 16ft. This should allow approx. 40" of lift on the MaxJax for the Westfalia.

 

[m5james]

Wow, complete change!! What you do think you're into that project roughly?