Garage Loft Storage

[Crazy68Dart]

I asked in the gallery, but didn't want to hijack. Any of you have a loft setup with high ceilings instead of an attic truss?

I had planned on doing a portion attic truss, and the other portion scissor for a lift. Just wondering if there is any advantage/disadvantage to doing all scissor and doing a loft over a portion instead. One advantage is that the scissor truss might be able to be spread wider, but not sure on that given an asphalt roof and snow load.

I want to maximize storage, and am limited to 18' to the peak (without variance). A friend has a 24x36 stick build that uses rafters instead of trusses. We measured it and it is exactly 18' to the peak. He has nice storage and you can stand up in the attic. His is over the full space, but I want to break it up and have a bay for a lift. I didn't measure his inside finished ceiling height, but it has to be 8' at least.

Thanks.

 

[Crazy68Dart]

Anyone ?

 

[Dan M]

I just finished my build in SE Michigan. 32' wide by 36' deep with the gable end on the front (trusses are 32' span). Trusses are 2' on center, attic for the first 10 feet, then scissors in the middle, the attic again for the last 8 feet. I can put a lift in the middle in the future, with storage on either end. Walls are 2x6 on 16". Both attic and scissor trusses can go much wider than my 32' span.

Edit: I said "finished" but the interior, electric, etc is not done. The building, exterior, doors, etc are complete

 

[Chilliwack Murray]

There are some good storage ideas in this thread:

http://garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3148

Problem is you see so many great ideas, it's hard to remember all of them when you need to. If you bookmarked or subscribed to every one of them you'd never get your shop built!

I have (will have) a high flat ceiling and with the intention of keeping my stuff out of the attic so I am also interested in what you find out.

My thread:
http://garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=187939

 

[Dan M]

Also, depending on what you are doing for doors: In my case the 9' section doors roll up under the front 10' section of attic trusses. Having scissors there would be a waste, since they'd be covered up when the doors are open (The lift has to be set deeper than the doors if they are sectional with a typical horizontal top track)

 

[gpalmer77]

I stick built my gambrel roof 24x22, 18 feet high. Have two bays, one is 8 ft, the other 12 ft for a lift. Above the 8 ft side I have a full height space for a workshop, above the 12 ft side I have a crawl space storage area. I used a steel beam down the middle to avoid dropping posts.

 

[Chilliwack Murray]

Some less fancy but very practical storage ideas near the end of this thread:
http://garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12897&showall=1

 

[Crazy68Dart]

There are some good storage ideas in this thread:

http://garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3148

Problem is you see so many great ideas, it's hard to remember all of them when you need to. If you bookmarked or subscribed to every one of them you'd never get your shop built!

I have (will have) a high flat ceiling and with the intention of keeping my stuff out of the attic so I am also interested in what you find out.

My thread:
http://garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=187939

That's just it... I try to remember the things that I see on here, and things that I think up myself, I need to start doing a better job of documenting.

Curious, why did you decide on a high roof, instead of attic trusses (or storage)?

Thanks for the links!

Also, depending on what you are doing for doors: In my case the 9' section doors roll up under the front 10' section of attic trusses. Having scissors there would be a waste, since they'd be covered up when the doors are open (The lift has to be set deeper than the doors if they are sectional with a typical horizontal top track)

Yeah, this makes a lot of sense. My garage will most likely be eve entry. Either two 9x8 doors or possibly a 16x8 and 9x8 depending on how wide I go. Either way, the higher ceiling will be in one of the 9x8 bays. The remaining I had planned attic trusses. However, just thinking about the options. I don't necessarily want to take up SQ FT with permanent stairs, so thinking a pull down or similar option for hide-away stairs. Attic space will be for storage and that is it.

One thing that I really need to figure too is how much ceiling height I really need. I see some guys getting away with 11-12' finished ceilings. The plan is a 4-post lift for maintenance type work, and car storage. But at the same time I like the in-floor scissor setups that take up no extra space.

We have a three car attached garage right now (32x24) gable entry 1 16x7 and 1 9x7. I have had thoughts of a possible lift (for storage or work) in this space as it has close to 12' ceilings.

Either way, if/when I do a separate shop, I just want to maximize the space. Trusses probably make the most fiscal sense, however joist/rafters would possibly make for a less obstructed attic space. I've not talked to anyone about anything other than trusses at this point so I have no idea the price difference.

 

[Higgins]

When we built the 2nd garage we used TGI's to eliminate steel posts. Secondly, the garage has a loft, and we installed collar ties at 7'6" for the ceiling, thus the area is considered "Storage Area" although it makes a nice office area!

AL

 

[Dan M]

One thing that I really need to figure too is how much ceiling height I really need. I see some guys getting away with 11-12' finished ceilings.

I went back and forth on eve vs gable entry, trying to figure out what looked best against the house. In the end it was decided for me, I have a 18' height restriction, I couldn't match the pitch of the house over 36' without breaking above the 18' limit.

My walls are 10'
The roof is 6' rise for every 12'
The bottom chord of the scissor is 4 on 12. So 6' away from the wall, the ceiling will rise 2' giving 12' clearance to the floor for the lift install.

I know the rule of thumb for scissors is the top and bottom chords are "2 pitches apart" but that can vary. Still, you should be able to layout the footprint of what you want to lift, the pitch of your roof, then back calculate to the vertical wall height needed

 

[Crazy68Dart]

When we built the 2nd garage we used TGI's to eliminate steel posts. Secondly, the garage has a loft, and we installed collar ties at 7'6" for the ceiling, thus the area is considered "Storage Area" although it makes a nice office area!

AL

Do you have any photos? What is your finished interior ceiling height? Scissor trusses, or?

I went back and forth on eve vs gable entry, trying to figure out what looked best against the house. In the end it was decided for me, I have a 18' height restriction, I couldn't match the pitch of the house over 36' without breaking above the 18' limit.

My walls are 10'
The roof is 6' rise for every 12'
The bottom chord of the scissor is 4 on 12. So 6' away from the wall, the ceiling will rise 2' giving 12' clearance to the floor for the lift install.

I know the rule of thumb for scissors is the top and bottom chords are "2 pitches apart" but that can vary. Still, you should be able to layout the footprint of what you want to lift, the pitch of your roof, then back calculate to the vertical wall height needed

Can you explain "the entry was decided for me..." comment? Since the attached is gable entry, I thought it might be nice to do eve entry for the detached, just to change things up a bit. Siding, roof, etc. will match the house however.

Any interior shots of your place?

 

[mbatarga]

My 6/12 roof pitch scissor trusses are 3/12 on the interior. I never heard of the "2 pitches apart" rule. My truss company guy suggest going half the roof pitch - and with my 10' walls this still gives me about 15' center clearance on my 38' x 60' shop.

 

[Crazy68Dart]

My 6/12 roof pitch scissor trusses are 3/12 on the interior. I never heard of the "2 pitches apart" rule. My truss company guy suggest going half the roof pitch - and with my 10' walls this still gives me about 15' center clearance on my 38' x 60' shop.

Do you have scissors throughout the whole space or a combo of attic or something else for storage? Just curious.

 

[kj_mustang]

You can see pictures of my second floor/loft in my build thread. My scissor trusses are the same pitch as mbatarga's but the building is 32' wide. 9' ceiling on lower level and over 11' in the center in the upstairs. I built mine with 16' walls to get that height and then could use regular trusses over my shop area and have plenty of height for a two post lift.

 

[Dan M]

Can you explain "the entry was decided for me..." comment?
Any interior shots of your place?

I'll try to find a better interior pic. My property (house location, water well, etc) allowed me to fit a 32' wide by 36' deep building. I wanted to keep the roof pitch at 6/12 to be close to the house (house is 8/12). I wanted 9' tall doors with 10' walls. A 6/12 pitch along the 36' depth would put the peak at 19' (1' over the township ordinance of 18'). A 6/12 across the 32' wide face is 8' (plus the 10' wall puts me right at the 18' limit)

I'll post a thread in the gallery tonight so I don't derail your thread with off topic questions.

 

[mbatarga]

Do you have scissors throughout the whole space or a combo of attic or something else for storage? Just curious.

I've got 18' of scissor trusses on one end of the shop and the remaining 42' are attic trusses. With the 6/12 pitch and 38' span, I have about an 8' height and 10' wide by 42' long storage area.

 

[texasOFT]

My 4' X 20' loft in metal building setting on purling at 7' with wood frame wall under purling supporting weight. Height 7' to bottom - 11' side walls, peak about 13'.

 

[Chilliwack Murray]

Curious, why did you decide on a high roof, instead of attic trusses (or storage)?

Sorry to take so long to repy... Two main reasons for the high walls is my lack of fine finishing skills; straight, square walls and ceiling are much easier for me to finish, and having high walls, flat ceiling and clear span keeps my options open down the road. I have lots of conflicting ideas of how I would like to finish the space when I get around to it. I am not too interested in storing anything in the attic space anyway as is rains a lot here and humidity tends to damage anything stored there.

 

[soapii]

I replaced 1/3 of my trusses with attic trusses and am I ever glad I did it. Amazing how much you can put up in the attic to keep your working floor space clean.

My attic is roughly 16'x16' and is centered in the garage. Knee wall is about 4' high and the cross brace at the peak is about 7' high. Attached is a picture after I put the floor in the attic.

--Joe

 

[wo69442]

I am in the process of finishing my 32x40x14 and installed a mezzanine across the back wall 8x40 with doubled up LVL's and I will have one support lally column once I start putting things on it. It also provided stair access to the attic truss upstairs without losing any floor space due to ceiling height. Will be putting a 25ft work bench across the back wall underneath

 

[Sims5]

wo69442
You need to start your own build thread. Your building looks very nice and interesting. Curious why you put the boards across the bottom of the trusses? Going to drywall the ceiling?

 

[wo69442]

I should and will start a build thread. It will be drywalled and its just strapping

 

[Sims5]

wo69442. Sounds good. Thanks for the info