Properly Framing Transoms.

[4g63mightymax]

Hi,
I'm new here and have a quick question about transom window framing above my garage doors. My garage is going to be 24' wide x 34' deep. It will have two 9 foot wide garage doors on the front. I have three 24' long by 9" tall LVL's to make the header for the two garage doors (spanning the entire distance). Now, if I have 9' transom windows over each door, do I need to make 2x6 headers for those too? Seems like overkill, what is the "right" way to do this?

Thanks in advance! Any pictures that people have of transom framing would be amazingly helpful.

-Jeremy

 

[sunaar]

If I am understanding you correctly, the windows are above the garage door then you must have the lvl header above the window. You could then frame down to the garage doors themselves, using the lvls to hang the framing below. Possible issues with doing this is that the top of the garage door openings will not be nearly as rigid due to the lack of lvl headers directly above the door bucks, and depending how much framing you are 'hanging" off the lvl header you could have to use strapping to hold/tie the framing into the lvl. To solve these issues you could either install lvl headers both above the window and above the garage door (expensive, twice the material), or use 2x10..etc.. headers above the garage door to make a more rigid wall and span the opening to trimmers on either side of the opening to counteract the forces that want the framing to pull away from the lvl header above the window. Hopefully this is helpful and you can understand my rambling.

 

[tcianci]

It depends on the transom... If the transom has a dedicated nailing fin all around then you could probably do with minimal framing between the door opening and the bottom of the transom. The transom will kinda hang in the opening. The garage door itself doesn't need any framing in this area other than to apply the trim around the door. If the transom units are traditionally constructed then you need somewhat of a header under the transom. Even though you have a full length header of LVL's I am assuming there will be some sort of dividing "post " between the 2 garage doors. Which makes me wonder what the purpose of the one big header is for. Also are these doors in the gable end of the building? If so, then your big, trippled LVL is a waste of time and money unless the 2nd floor joists are running parallel to the ridge of the building.

 

[Kevin54]

Hi,
I'm new here and have a quick question about transom window framing above my garage doors. My garage is going to be 24' wide x 34' deep. It will have two 9 foot wide garage doors on the front. I have three 24' long by 9" tall LVL's to make the header for the two garage doors (spanning the entire distance). Now, if I have 9' transom windows over each door, do I need to make 2x6 headers for those too? Seems like overkill, what is the "right" way to do this?

Thanks in advance! Any pictures that people have of transom framing would be amazingly helpful.

-Jeremy

Before you fasten any LVL's up, you may want to rethink the money you just spent.

I am going to assume that with it being 24' wide, the gable ends are on the 24' walls (rafters being 24' standard rafters) If so, all you need are headers above the garage doors and they could be framed 2x's for a header as the walls are going to be carrying the truss weight. Am I correct in thinking this?

If your gable ends are left and right of the door and the trusses rested above the doors, then you would need a beefier header. But even at that, the headers can be shorter to carry the load above the door area and not the complete 24' span.

The 24' header completely across the 24' length is overkill.

 

[4g63mightymax]

Kevin & others, I believe you are correct in thinking the way that you are thinking. It is going to end up very similar to this garage.
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2047

Alrighty. Technically I can return the LVL's but I am willing to keep them and chalk it up as a learning experience if possible. So I guess the question is, since the wall is not a load bearing wall, do I "hang" the door framing off the LVL, and put the transoms in between? Or do I use the LVL as the garage door headers, sit the transoms on top of it, and just do a 2x6 frame above them? Keep in mind there will be engineered I-Beams spamming the 24' distance above my head in the garage. This will be the strongest wall in history apparently.

Thanks again guys!

-Jeremy

 

[little d]

"engineered I-Beams spamming the 24' distance above my head in the garage". along with the trusses? damn man, i tend to "over frame" myself, but your taking it to a new leval! its not my building, or my money but..., i think ya need to step back and rethink things a little, ya might save a few bucks.

 

[gabeancounter]

I just checked my notes, from building and yes you can use the 9" lvls. I used 16" lvls everywhere. I have 300' of 16" lvl in my house. Cause I got all of them from a lumber yard that was closing for $1000. My house is built on 16" I-trusses and they were cheaper than I could purchase the 9". Overkill...absolutley!

 

[D.J.]

"chalk it up as a learning experience if possible." Awful expensive learning experience if you ask me!
________
FETISH *****

 

[gabeancounter]

9" lvls are $4ft. $300. I think I still have the print out from the building inspector for framing of the garage wall at the house, but I do remember that every county was not enforcing this. 2x12' are maybe half the cost so all this wasted money I don't see. I doubt you just decided you need these but someone told you to get them?

 

[4g63mightymax]

little d - > I'm not using trusses, just the engineered I-Beams as the upstairs floor, and normal rafters as the roof.

I did talk to my building inspector about the LVL, and the full length LVL's aren't a law in my area, but it is recommended by him as good practice. My neighbor, who is a framer, also recommended the 24' LVL to me. Once I ordered all of the wood, I then decided that I like transom windows. So, I am trying to make it work with what I have.

So, should the full 24' span LVL's be above the transoms or right above the doors. What is the general consensus on this?

Thanks again guys!

p.s. a 9" LVL may not seem like a lot, but like I said there will be engineered I-Beams used for the floor of the second floor of the garage. Combine the two and you probably have overkill.

-Jeremy

 

[gabeancounter]

Jeremy,
What is the height of wall? What is the height of the door? What is the height of the transom? If you are staking a 9-0x8-0 door (9-0x7-0?) a 12" transom then an lvl you need to know the wall height to fit everything in there. The only thing between the transom and door is a board laid flat. Either way you put the lvl on top of the door. The only thing is if you run the lvl right below the top plate or right above the top of the transom, this depends on wall height. The problem with running the lvl to far below the top plate is there is nothing tieing the top and bottom together. i.e. the studs stop at the bottom and top of the lvl.

 

[4g63mightymax]

Alrighty. here we go!

1) 10ft 2x6 walls (+ the ~6" header and footer height)
2) 9 wide x 8 high garage doors.
3) Transom height is a question because I haven't bought them yet. I guess whatever the standard height is? 12"? Is there a standard height?
4) 16" tall engineered I-beams for the floor of the room above the garage (if that matters)



-Jeremy

 

[Kevin54]

If it were me, I would either eliminate the transom for facts stated. You'll be almost out of wall given the wall height. If you can not go higher on the wall height to something like 12', do like the above pic and eliminate the transom window and put windows in the top panel of the door. Or what else you could do is go with a glass block which is smaller in height than the 12" or 14" dimension of a transom window. This way you could use the LVL's, frame in for the glass block, then build above them.

 

[4g63mightymax]

That actually sounds like a clever idea. Do those glass blocks have a special name? Got any pictures of them being used?

-Jeremy

 

[4g63mightymax]

Since we are already talking framing, is there a need for using longer nails like 3.5 vs 3? What's the "norm" for framing using 2x6's ?

Thanks again & sorry for the noob questions.

-Jeremy

 

[gabeancounter]

I was thinking about this thread a little and also remembered about your soffit overhang. The ceiling height inside is not the height of the outside fascia boards and soffit. Assuming you are using 9-12 pitch roof with a 2' overhang then you loss an additional foot half of height. I assume the i-beams are riding on top of this wall and you are putting in a knee wall to get all the space you can above. If thats the case then the soffit height will be real close to your ceiling height inside the garage- if that makes sense. If you were going with a standard height 7-0 door I would say go for the transom. Nails - you want to use the thicker .131 nails with 3 1/4 length. Make sure you get the right angle and head type for your gun.

 

[4g63mightymax]

First off, thanks again for the guidance. I truly appreciate it.

The I-Beams are riding on top of the 2x6 walls. I was actually intending on a 10 pitch roof to give me maximum space above the garage with the least amount of work. Once the roof is done, I would add in some knee walls to square things off, and make it more like a normal room.

I do have rafters long enough for a 2' overhang, but isn't 1 foot standard? That's the way I understood it. Maybe its a north east thing?

I could be convinced to do a 7 foot door. I just want things to look proportional. Would 7 feet look weird ?

-Jeremy

 

[gabeancounter]

Overhangs seem to be different on many homes. 2' use to be the standard when roofs were not as highly pitched. In GA the fad is high pitched roofs like mine that make the house look bigger. The problem with this is again the height of the soffit to get to the 2' overhang causing many people to go as small as 12" but norm being 15-16". Just personal opinion but I like the 2' overhang as it is very functional for helping keep water more away from the house. Mine is smaller cause I forgot about the brick eating 5" of the overhang.
Personal opinion on the door, but I would get the 8-0 door and skip the transom. My truck only clears a 7-0 door by about an inch and it always smacks the antenna. So for me the 8-0 is functional. I think the proportion on the wall would really look good with that size door. 7-0 plus transom is just slightly bigger than an 8-0. So either option would give you the same look. Transoms are normally just a door side light with a little casing to keep it in place. I would also be worried about sagging in the center over transoms that big. I have seen a few around here, but it is not common. Good luck with your choices. Paul

 

[tcianci]

If you are in the Northeast, I think you will find that the traditional overhang is about 8 inches with the soffit being made of a 1x8 and a 1x8 fascia. This is for a typical gable roofed house. Older style ranches typically used wider soffits like 2 feet or so and they were made from plywood. The style of house would dictate the width of the soffit.

 

[4g63mightymax]

If you are in the Northeast, I think you will find that the traditional overhang is about 8 inches with the soffit being made of a 1x8 and a 1x8 fascia. This is for a typical gable roofed house. Older style ranches typically used wider soffits like 2 feet or so and they were made from plywood. The style of house would dictate the width of the soffit.

That sounds like what my house has. I haven't measured my house, but I'd bet 8 inches is right on the money. My house is a cape FWIW.

Thanks again guys, I will be sure to post up pics of the progress each weekend.

-Jeremy