fix bowing walls on 1930's garage

[rlefig]

Hi, I have been reading a bunch of posts on the wonderful Garage Journal site regarding bowing walls and my situation seems different than most (it always is).

I have a detached 1930's garage that I have removed the roof off of because of 6 layers of shingling, rotted roof boards and yes the bowing walls. the roof was made up of 2x3 joists on the 30", and a 1x6 ridge board made up of 3 sections along with 4 collar ties. The garage is 12x20.

The front of the garage is solid and straight there is no bow in the walls. On the back of the garage the left wall bows out about 1-1.5 inches and the right wall bows in 1-1.5 inches. Most of the scenarios that I see feature both walls bowing out.

As you can imagine going from front to back the bow gets larger until it hits the 1.5 at the back.

As i said the roof is off and the walls are tied together with 4 1/8 steel cables and turnbuckles. The studs on the back wall are also straight

What would be the best way of straighten out the two side walls?

After I get the walls straightened as stated in another thread I want to increase the height of the walls by 3' by sistering studs onto existing and then put on new roof.

I have attached some pics

Thanks

 

[firebirdparts]

You could just pop the top plate off and be done with it. Put a straight top plate on that wall and presto it'll be straight.

Bending curved 100 year old boards is not really something I would wait around for. There's no incentive with the roof off.

 

[Whitworth]

So it's racked like a parallelogram?

You could use a winch (come-a-long) at a 45 degree angle, but the end will need to be fastened to something very solid, like lagged into the concrete pad.

 

[rlefig]

i am going to put on a new top plate as the existing one is split in a number of places along both side walls. and yes I guess the back is kind of like a parallelogram

 

[PoorUB]

After I get the walls straightened as stated in another thread I want to increase the height of the walls by 3' by sistering studs onto existing and then put on new roof.

If that is the case don't worry about straightening the walls, at least not yet. Rip of the top plate al the way around, sister in studs to increase the height and a new double top plate, straightening the walls when you attach the top plate.

I still recommend tearing down every thing except the wall that is infringing on the lot line and build new walls, I mean, what the heck, you have half of it torn down already and by the time you sister in suds it will be a cobbled up mess.

Check with code enforcement in your area and see how much you can tear down before the setback becomes and issue.

I assume the rear 12' wall is the one on the property line?

 

[rlefig]

thanks @PoorUB @Whitworth and @firebirdparts the right wall is on the property line the back wall is close. We have already reshingled the front and the left wall which is kinda why I don't want to tear down. plus all the cost of extra wood, its so pricey now. I will be installing sheetrock or similar on the inside so it will look nicer. I was going to do a double top plate as well.

On a side note I found a newspaper from Friday November 13th, 1936 wedged in the rafters. Hopefully that is not a sign

 

[billconner]

If you can deal with it, a wider top plate can help keep wall straighter.

I assumed you checked sill plates and they are straight.

 

[rlefig]

@firebirdparts what is you favorite firebird? I had a 1980 and hated it, so many problems. Really like the early 70's

 

[firebirdparts]

@firebirdparts what is you favorite firebird? I had a 1980 and hated it, so many problems. Really like the early 70's

Per my age, the 1977 special edition is my favorite. Lots of other higher performance options behind that.

Generally, I like oddball stuff, and there are two major oddball firebirds. I'd like to have a first gen sprint convertible. I have a weak spot for the Esprit appearance packages, Skybird, Redbird, and Yellowbird. Very gaudy and designed for a woman customer. I've made some effort myself to get them a little more popular and respectable, and it has worked somewhat.

 

[Innovate1]

thanks @PoorUB @Whitworth and @firebirdparts the right wall is on the property line the back wall is close. We have already reshingled the front and the left wall which is kinda why I don't want to tear down. plus all the cost of extra wood, its so pricey now. I will be installing sheetrock or similar on the inside so it will look nicer. I was going to do a double top plate as well.

On a side note I found a newspaper from Friday November 13th, 1936 wedged in the rafters. Hopefully that is not a sign

You reshingled the walls? That threw me a bit as you said you had the roof off...

Sounds like the back is leaning a bit to one side rather than the walls bowing. Run a cable diagonally and pull it straight and put in a diagonal brace. Seems like a pretty easy fix. If you want to extend the studs doing that first would be much easier. I think I would be looking at only extending every second or third stud and for the others just build small sections of cripple wall. I don't see the need to run every stud full length but I haven't looked at it in detail.

 

[firebirdparts]

I didn't take it that way, but in any case, with the top plates off, the building will be weak like spaghetti. If any of the walls are not vertical, you drive stakes in the ground and attach diagonal braces to the building and to the stake with the wall vertical. That is the typical way that you get a new building vertical at this stage of completion. In a house it's much easier, because you can readily nail to the floor. Can't do that in the garage.

If any wall needs in-plane diagonal bracing, then by all means, get the corners vertical (or pick one) and slap a diagonal brace on the wall itself.

 

[nadogail]

Straightening old board walls should be done gradually and with great caution.

 

[Innovate1]

I didn't take it that way, but in any case, with the top plates off, the building will be weak like spaghetti. If any of the walls are not vertical, you drive stakes in the ground and attach diagonal braces to the building and to the stake with the wall vertical. That is the typical way that you get a new building vertical at this stage of completion. In a house it's much easier, because you can readily nail to the floor. Can't do that in the garage.

If any wall needs in-plane diagonal bracing, then by all means, get the corners vertical (or pick one) and slap a diagonal brace on the wall itself.

For a garage they often drive stakes in the ground outside the building and brace the walls with that. Same idea just outside instead of inside.

 

[Zeke]

Sounds like some are assuming the walls are bowed at the top along the plate and some read this as the walls bowing vertically the way he is holding his level. Either way, sistering should take care of the bowing even if you have to bend some of the old studs. On vertical bowing I have run a Skilsaw down the middle of the side of the stud and nailed a straight one next to it pulling the bowed one in or out as I went.

 

[DocsMachine]

I read this as "affix bowling balls to a 1930s garage", and now I'm honestly a little disappointed.

Doc.

 

[Innovate1]

Sounds like some are assuming the walls are bowed at the top along the plate and some read this as the walls bowing vertically the way he is holding his level. Either way, sistering should take care of the bowing even if you have to bend some of the old studs. On vertical bowing I have run a Skilsaw down the middle of the side of the stud and nailed a straight one next to it pulling the bowed one in or out as I went.

Actually, I was thinking the walls were racking without bending of any studs.

As to straightening studs I had to cut halfway through a couple bowed 2 x 6 studs when I built and sister with straight material.

 

[rlefig]

thanks for all your help. I did get them straighter and new top plate is installed