Need Some Help With Design

[wrenchmaster]

I have posted in the past on my garage dream project and I must add, received
amazing, thoughtful and meaningful responses.

Long short is my dream was refocused and my wife and I purchased a second home in a foreign country.

With time being split, I wouldn't see it sensible to build what I had in mind prior to the second home purchase.

So I have a 20 x 20 with an open gable roof. I would like to come off the side and back with a shed roof addition at least 10' out.

My first question would be, can I get a beam to carry the load of the removal of a 20' wall caring the ends of the roof rafters.

 

[glentre]

A sketch of what you want to do would be helpful. However, it looks like what your are proposing needs the guidance of a structural engineer and not guesswork by anyone who is not qualified to understand the loads that are required to be supported.

Glen

 

[matt_i]

The easy answer is yes, of course, bridges are built that can carry 6 lanes of fully loaded semi trucks with longer spans than that. A 20' roof load is considerably smaller. Most double garage doors are in the 18' range.

Your best advice was also given that you need a structural engineer to analyze the loads and specify a design.

 

[Radix2]

Check with your local lumber yard that sells engineered lumber and trusses. They will typically have a person and software on hand to size and specify these things, often at a cost included in the materials.

 

[raferguson]

I agree that this is not all that simple, engineering is appropriate. If you were just extending the existing roof, you could simply copy the existing design. Once you start taking out parts of the load bearing wall, it gets complex, you have to factor in the various loads, and design a beam to provide support where the wall was removed.

Rather than take out 20 foot of load bearing wall, why not cut a 4 foot doorway to access the shed? Not a big deal to put a small doorway in a wall, just put in a header.

For a 20 foot span, I would probably use a steel H-beam. However, calculating the correct size of H-beam is the issue. It also needs to be adequately supported at each end.

One other general comment that I would make, is that a drawing is worth a thousand words. Pictures marked up are also worth a thousand words. A picture not marked up is worth maybe 500 words. ;-) Without photos and/or drawings, it is hard to figure out what you want to do.