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[larrylwill]

I paid the 3 stooges to build a tin garage building just to park the cars out of the weather. It was just to be a building 16" on center 2x4 with a 9x18ft door. Outside covered with bubble wrap insulation and 26ga tin. The top, engineered trusses 2x4 and covered with the wrap and tin. I'm in North Alabama, so not much snow. Almost never. In the county, these types of buildings are common. The inside will be stiffened with OSB to tie the studs together.
The building is built on 4x4 anchored on the concrete . The roof pitch will be 3" or 4" pitch. The building is 21' x 27'
The door company needs 9' plus 15" for the door. So they built the walls at 10'3"
The question is the header. They were not going to use one and they were going to build the rafter/trusses out of 2x6's, Since they cant cut straight or measure correct or show up or work more then 4 hours per day. I fired them and lost $2000. Now I need to move about 2/3 of the studs to 16" on center which are now anywhere from 15" to 17" one at 21"
Back to the header. I would suspect I need at least 2-2x12's but since the roof will be so light do I really? Can I make up a wood I beam with 2x4 and OSB or a laminated beam? How big?

 

[PontiacFan]

Try a google search for 'header span calculator' or similar.
You might find one that will help.
But I'd hope some contractor/builder would come along & give some good replies also.

 

[larrylwill]

I found a local lumber yard that builds LVL beams and a 20ft 11-7/8 will do it.
thanks

 

[thammel]

Funny, but I thought the 3 stooges were all dead by now. It's amazing how many of the stooges have survived.

Reminds me of when I was getting bids on a prior garage I had built. One guy advertised himself as a builder. We were discussing the roof pitch and I told him that the wider I made the building, given a fixed roof pitch, that the taller the roof peak would be (If the trusses spanned the width). He did not get it and kept insisting that the roof peak wouldn't change.

I never called him back. One of the stooges.

Tom

 

[irishtom]

klyde,
Get some friends to help you with that LVL. If it's a 3 1/2" beam, it'll weight a couple hundred pounds. Have the lumberyard give you the manufacturer's recommended installation guide for their LVL's. There are some specific code requirements for bearing and strapping.

 

[pgreen]

it is amazing that only 50% of the people in this world are below average intelligence.....

 

[larrylwill]

klyde,
Get some friends to help you with that LVL. If it's a 3 1/2" beam, it'll weight a couple hundred pounds. Have the lumberyard give you the manufacturer's recommended installation guide for their LVL's. There are some specific code requirements for bearing and strapping.

Yes I have an x contractor friend that is going to help me with the beam and trusses, he had a knee replacement and had to quit full time, as soon as we move about 1/2 of the studs to get 16" on center. I also have to nail down the bottom of the studs as they put 5"-12" blocks on the 4x4 base and nailed the studs into those blocks instead of toenailed through the stud, block and 4x4. I also have to pull the top plate as some of the gaps barley hit the stud and the nails come on a 45 degree angle to catch it. not to mention one side looks like a child's roller coaster. I could not get them to use my nail gun because they claimed a nail gun split to many 2x4's and preferred hammers. I have nails all over the place due to missing the head center and the nails went flying. I would laugh but I gave that guy $3000 to buy the materials, so I'm out at least $2000. My neighbor is out $4000. I am remodeling the inside of the house and thought I would hire someone to do a carport then decided to just build a tin building garage on the driveway. Big mistake. If you want something done right do it yourself or call Mike Holmes. At least my new kitchen and master bath and living room is done correct. Thank you me.