question about beams

[frums143]

hello everyone im new here and thanks for the add. names walter i live in victorville ca. i've worked in plumbing flooring electrical and a little iof everything else lol. but i never really learned about framing even thought i used to do plumbing in new house for kb homes lol. my question is what are these diagonal 2x4's at the corners. i started to drywall and got to these in the way? they don't look to be supporting any of the other beams but not sure if i can remove them or just drywall around them. i noticed one of them seems to be already cut, guy pointed it out to me when he came to install new garage door.thanks for any input or information.
<a href="https://ibb.co/DPJy7cC"><img src="https://i.ibb.co/vCFGJyP/IMG-5935.jpg" alt="IMG-5935" border="0"></a>
<a href="https://ibb.co/jMx4Sf4"><img src="https://i.ibb.co/ncVkFmk/IMG-5933.jpg" alt="IMG-5933" border="0"></a>
<a href="https://ibb.co/4s5BskD"><img src="https://i.ibb.co/q0Pb064/IMG-5934.jpg" alt="IMG-5934" border="0"></a>

 

[kd3pc]

they hold the 4 corners of your garage in a position to support the what appear to be, an almost flat roof. Would not remove/change them without doing some research or consulting an engineer. It appears you have rafters and they usually have ties and bracing.

From the pics, one can not tell what the overall construction is.

Others will have more, I am sure.

 

[cdestuck]

Looks like they were installed during the build to keep the walls square to each other. With the roof on and the sheeting on the roof rafters I would not hesitate to cut the diagonals out of there.

 

[Jlbc212]

Looks like they were installed during the build to keep the walls square to each other. With the roof on and the sheeting on the roof rafters I would not hesitate to cut the diagonals out of there.

^^^ this.

 

[readhead]

Pretty common framing during the forties and fifties. They were there to hold the building square while framing the roof. Cut them out.

 

[firebirdparts]

for you, in California, they're an anti-earthquake measure. In the rest of the world, we don't use them.

 

[frums143]

for you, in California, they're an anti-earthquake measure. In the rest of the world, we don't use them.

well in my case, i guess it wont matter if big earthquake hits....probably garage will be the least of my worries lol thanks for the reply

 

[frums143]

thanks for reply. i will be working on it this weekend....we got snow for two days....yeah go figure . thanks for the help

 

[Bretny]

Even if your roof is flat you have sheething on it. That's way stronger for racking than a single 2x4. If your worried move the 2x4 to the top of the ceiling joist.

 

[matt_i]

If you wanted to place a flat metal strap (simpson 16ga or other) you can get the benefit of holding the walls at the top corners back without interfering and its thin, hopefully does not interfere.

 

[rsanter]

I would not remove the ones that are right above the garage door. They will add shear strength to the wall with the garage door it in

 

[readhead]

A flat strap only works in tension and requires opposing installation to work properly. Having remodeled many garages in California back in the seventies and eighties and working with older carpenters that installed those braces when they were younger I can say with confidence that the braces were simply a framing brace that was left in place. In the era that these braces were installed no body envisioned that a garage would be anything but a place to park a car.