Raise Garage Heigh

[ddurrett896]

Raise Garage Wall Heigh 2'

Hey y'all I currently have a detached garage that is 24x14 with 8' stud walls. One of the 24' walls has termite damage and since it needs to be rebuilt, i'd like to raise it in the process.

My thought was to run two 20' LVL beams on the inside, parallel to each wall, maybe 2' from the original wall and jack from there. I figured this was the easiest because everything from the top plate down needs to be replaced.

Let me know what you think or if you have a better idea - those LVLs are pricey! Thanks!

 

[Jlbc212]

Go for it. You may want to somehow diagonally brace your jacks and have the newer taller wall laying on the outside ready to be swung up into place.

 

[The Cobbler]

jack it up as you have said, replace the wall that is damaged, lay a course or two blocks on the pad & set garage back down.

 

[ddurrett896]

Go for it. You may want to somehow diagonally brace your jacks and have the newer taller wall laying on the outside ready to be swung up into place.

Yea I'll most def have the wall pre built ready to roll. What do you mean by diagonally brace the jacks? I Was thinking if I went the LVL route Id put 2 jacks on each beam, 4 total. Let me know, thanks!

 

[ddurrett896]

jack it up as you have said, replace the wall that is damaged, lay a course or two blocks on the pad & set garage back down.

When you say lay a course of block, do you mean build up the slab permitted with blocks? Currently, there is a slab with a 2 inch concrete ledge higher that the wall sits on. Thanks!

 

[The Cobbler]

I thought you wanted to raise the height of the walls. I was suggesting laying block underneath the walls.

 

[ddurrett896]

I thought you wanted to raise the height of the walls. I was suggesting laying block underneath the walls.

Yea definitely raising, but don't want 2 feet of blocks. If rather keep it all studs, just longer.

 

[James-W]

I am a bit confused here. If you want to increase the height of the walls you first need to raise the roof. To do that you need to detach the roof from the walls. That is not a simple thing to do. Once the roof is detached, you need to raise the roof up, then build the walls taller. To do all this would be a major undertaking.

 

[Cyberbear]

Not entirely certain if you want to raise one wall or all the walls to match the new wall height as well. When house movers jack a building like a garage off the foundation, I've seen them spike a continuous 2 x 8 or larger to the existing walls just above the foundation where they then use house jacks underneath the 2 x 8 and simply raise the building. Once up it can be braced from inside below and the old termite eaten wall removed, leaving the existing double top plate in place to stabilize and hold the roof.
Put the ready made stud wall in place and you're done after dropping it onto the foundation as before. The new wall can be made in sections easily handled by a few helpers. Give this some thought.

 

[ddurrett896]

I am a bit confused here. If you want to increase the height of the walls you first need to raise the roof. To do that you need to detach the roof from the walls. That is not a simple thing to do. Once the roof is detached, you need to raise the roof up, then build the walls taller. To do all this would be a major undertaking.

That's exactly what I want to do, just looking for ideas. I've thought about using 2 LVLs (one on each side of the garage length wise) or even buying a 2 post car lift and using that to lift up the roof. Any advise is well take . Thanks!

 

[rburke65]

You can do this. Take your time. I think there YouTube videos on this. Also your might want to do a search on this site located at the top of the page. Good luck!

 

[James-W]

This is just a thought that came to mind, but I think it may be an idea worth exploring. Suppose you jack the entire garage up, walls and all. Then add the extra height to the bottom of the wall rather than the top of the walls. That way you don't need to remove the roof. I have not seen this done before, so I have no idea what complications may arise, but I THINK it may be easier to do it this way than by trying to remove the roof and adding on to the walls that way.

Let's say you want to add on 4 feet to the walls. You can build the walls first, making them 4 feet high, then lift the entire building up a little over 4 feet. Slip the new walls under the old walls and you can use half inch bolts to bolt the old and the new walls together. You can even make sure the studs line up to the old ones.

 

[Jlbc212]

Yea I'll most def have the wall pre built ready to roll. What do you mean by diagonally brace the jacks? I Was thinking if I went the LVL route Id put 2 jacks on each beam, 4 total. Let me know, thanks!

The jacks may have a tendency to topple over.
It's been a long time since I've seen a building moved, but cribbing (square timbers) are placed under the structure (or under the temporary beams). The cribbing won't topple. As the building got moved along, the movers would just keep advancing the cribbing from one end of the building to the other. You are not moving the garage horizontally, only vertically, but the concept is similar.

You can remove a wall without disturbing the roof if you use a sawzall to cut between the top of the vertical studs and the bottom of the horizontal plate. The new wall top plate can then be nailed to the bottom of the existing horizontal plate. However, if the top plate is also badly termite damaged and needs to be replaced, it may be difficult, as James-W indicated, to separate the rafters and joists from the top plate.

 

[Ainsley]

I didn't have to replace any existing framing in my garage but I did need to increase the height of the knee wall in order to correct some grading and drainage issues on the one side. I ended up jacking it up and laying two more courses of block on the existing course.

parged and waterproofed:

 

[finn]

Friend of mine did this. He braced the walls diagonally to prevent racking, then bolted 2x10s along the walls parallel to the ground and undid the nuts holding the sill plate to the concrete, and jacked the entire structure up about four feet.

Constructed a new wall to fill the gap, lowered the structure and bolted it all together,

Making a block stem wall seems structurally more robust than a wood knee wall.

Use plenty of cribbing, and wait for a calm day.

I once moved a 10'x20' shed in a similar manner: jacked it up after bolting cross ties spanning the width, backed my pickup under the ties, lowered the building and drove ti the short distance to the new site. Don't try this if public roads are involved, though.

 

[ishiboo]

This is just a thought that came to mind, but I think it may be an idea worth exploring. Suppose you jack the entire garage up, walls and all. Then add the extra height to the bottom of the wall rather than the top of the walls. That way you don't need to remove the roof. I have not seen this done before, so I have no idea what complications may arise, but I THINK it may be easier to do it this way than by trying to remove the roof and adding on to the walls that way.

Let's say you want to add on 4 feet to the walls. You can build the walls first, making them 4 feet high, then lift the entire building up a little over 4 feet. Slip the new walls under the old walls and you can use half inch bolts to bolt the old and the new walls together. You can even make sure the studs line up to the old ones.

I would not recommend this, a wall bolted on top of another wall does not make for a very strong structure.

If the goal is to retain the existing wall structure, I would hammer off the sill plate once it's jacked up, put a new one down on the concrete, and sister a new full-height stud to each existing stud.

 

[ddurrett896]

I didn't have to replace any existing framing in my garage but I did need to increase the height of the knee wall in order to correct some grading and drainage issues on the one side. I ended up jacking it up and laying two more courses of block on the existing course.

Awesome pictures! I could do that and sister the 8' with 10' studs, however my only concern would be that I couldn't swap the top plate.

Just a small part has termite damage and it will probably be fine, just figured spending another $20 while its apart for peace of mind.

I'm unable to add a half wall because the existing wall has termite damage and must all be replaced. I figured since it's going to be replaced I'd replace the other walls too.

 

[ddurrett896]

Ainsley,what 2x did you use on the walls and between the parallel walls in those pictures? Also, how large is that garage? Thanks!

 

[James-W]

I would not recommend this, a wall bolted on top of another wall does not make for a very strong structure.

You may be right, I am not a structural engineer so I can't say for sure. But I suspect if you have a 2X6 wall, or a 2X4 wall, with a sill plate on it and you add a 4 foot wall underneath it with a sill plate and a top plate on it and you use construction adhesive and half inch blots to secure the two walls together, it would be very strong. Once you have sheathing on the outside and the inside of the wall, I suspect it would be as strong as any other wall would be.

 

[sublimate]

or even buying a 2 post car lift and using that to lift up the roof.

This I gotta see!

 

[Ainsley]

Ainsley,what 2x did you use on the walls and between the parallel walls in those pictures? Also, how large is that garage? Thanks!

I used 12' 2x6s, that said the cross pieces that I put the jacks on bent a bit much for my liking. I'd suggest 2x8s and maybe doubling them up for the cross pieces.
The garage is 11x25 and I now have 9'3" ceilings. Check out my journal for more pics

 

[ddurrett896]

This I gotta see!

 

[trukkins10]

This is just a thought that came to mind, but I think it may be an idea worth exploring. Suppose you jack the entire garage up, walls and all. Then add the extra height to the bottom of the wall rather than the top of the walls. That way you don't need to remove the roof. I have not seen this done before, so I have no idea what complications may arise, but I THINK it may be easier to do it this way than by trying to remove the roof and adding on to the walls that way.

Let's say you want to add on 4 feet to the walls. You can build the walls first, making them 4 feet high, then lift the entire building up a little over 4 feet. Slip the new walls under the old walls and you can use half inch bolts to bolt the old and the new walls together. You can even make sure the studs line up to the old ones.

This is what i did exactly with my detached 22x24 garage. I lifted mine 18" The new wall was nailed to the old, and 1/2" osb was nailed over the seams. Been 4 years with no problems.

 

[ddurrett896]

This is what i did exactly with my detached 22x24 garage. I lifted mine 18" The new wall was nailed to the old, and 1/2" osb was nailed over the seams. Been 4 years with no problems.

How did you go about jacking it up? Thanks!

 

[Jlbc212]

this looks like a good way to do it, particularly if the reason for adding to the height of the walls is to install a two post lift. Assuming a structural dead load of 20 lbs per square foot, a 14ft by 24ft garage roof would only weigh 6720 lbs, well under the weight limit of a good two post lift. It is easy enough to calculate the actual load. The weights for common construction materials can be found on the internet. In the video it looks like the owner or contractor built a large and tall wooden frame to sit on the lift arms. This would make it possible to lift the roof the full travel of the two post lift.

 

[sublimate]

this looks like a good way to do it, particularly if the reason for adding to the height of the walls is to install a two post lift. Assuming a structural dead load of 20 lbs per square foot, a 14ft by 24ft garage roof would only weigh 6720 lbs, well under the weight limit of a good two post lift. It is easy enough to calculate the actual load. The weights for common construction materials can be found on the internet. In the video it looks like the owner or contractor built a large and tall wooden frame to sit on the lift arms. This would make it possible to lift the roof the full travel of the two post lift.

Hmmm, are you going to mount the lift at the exact center of gravity for the roof? How will you know? Is that where you want the lift anyways?

Obviously it can work (hence the video) but seems like the wrong tool for the job to me.

 

[Jlbc212]

Hmmm, are you going to mount the lift at the exact center of gravity for the roof? How will you know? Is that where you want the lift anyways?

Obviously it can work (hence the video) but seems like the wrong tool for the job to me.

In the garage that size, 14' x 24' the lift could be placed right in the center of the garage. Even if it was at 10' or 14' feet from the front wall, you could easily determine what counterweight you would need to add to the shorter side. It wouldn't be much different from lifting a long wheel base pick-up truck. My standard size pickup is 19' long.

 

[justanengineer]

JMO but unless youre involving a professional engineer do yourself a favor and dont stack walls, jack them up and rebuild/replace each properly. Stupid and dangerous are the first two words that come to my mind on that one. As for jacking it up, a properly placed 20 ton bottle jack supporting a beam tied to the trusses will do wonders, tho if you go with Chinese tonnage or your jacks are old/leaky you might want two for each side's beam. We've always made piers of 2x4s, ~3' on a side and stacked like lincoln logs with the jack centered on top. I'd suggest building your four new walls first then jacking it all up, cut one wall free at a time and and replace it. If you must have it up awhile, have cribbing ready to support the walls in the meantime. If the wind in your area is predominantly from one direction, replace the upwind wall last. Raising a building or roof isnt overly difficult but you need to very carefully and deliberately plan and execute everything. We've jacked up quite a few, my brother just raised one of his pole barns that was sinking last summer.

 

[ddurrett896]

JMO but unless youre involving a professional engineer do yourself a favor and dont stack walls, jack them up and rebuild/replace each properly. Stupid and dangerous are the first two words that come to my mind on that one. As for jacking it up, a properly placed 20 ton bottle jack supporting a beam tied to the trusses will do wonders, tho if you go with Chinese tonnage or your jacks are old/leaky you might want two for each side's beam. We've always made piers of 2x4s, ~3' on a side and stacked like lincoln logs with the jack centered on top. I'd suggest building your four new walls first then jacking it all up, cut one wall free at a time and and replace it. If you must have it up awhile, have cribbing ready to support the walls in the meantime. If the wind in your area is predominantly from one direction, replace the upwind wall last. Raising a building or roof isnt overly difficult but you need to very carefully and deliberately plan and execute everything. We've jacked up quite a few, my brother just raised one of his pole barns that was sinking last summer.

Stacking walls isn't an option. One wall has to be replaced and I want to raise in the process. I've never done this before and looking for ideas or past jobs that were a success.

 

[trukkins10]

I did what Ainsley posted in the pictures. Nailed a 2x6 to every stud and diagonal braced all four walls. Used a High-Lift/ farm jack to lift entire structure. Use cribbing as you lift. There is an old thread on here about using osb to bridge the new wall to the old. For the anchor bolts, i sawzalled between the bottom plate and concrete. Faster to drill and set new anchors when new walls are in.

 

[ddurrett896]

Please forgive my elementary drawing!

My garage is 14' wide x 24' long. It looks like I could do (2) 2x8x12 on each of the 24' walls, then run a 2x10x16 between both walls (maybe 2 2x10x16 sistered between each)

From there, jack away with 4 jacks total, 2 on each 2x10x16, adding 6x6 cribbing as I move.

Once up, I can knock off the bottom plate, sister the 8' studs with 10' studs and be done. What do you think?

 

[trukkins10]

My garage was drywalled, so I cut away the bottom 30". That way i could pre build my new 18" walls with the same stud centers. Once the garage was high enuff, toss in new walls, nail, and done. I'm not trying to say sistering is wrong, just that its time consuming while the garage is in the air.
Take a 2x4 and nail it on a diagonal to every stud as bracing. The man door and the garage door both need s 2x6 a foot off the ground to keep the opening square. Check your inside corners and see if your walls are connected to each other. If not, nail in third corner stud.

 

[ddurrett896]

I'm not trying to say sistering is wrong, just that its time consuming while the garage is in the air.

My problem is that I can't pre-build a 2' wall to nail under the existing wall...the existing wall has termite damage.

 

[sublimate]

Can you pre-build the 10' walls (leaving the top plate off) and then tilt it up? Maybe with a 2x4 on the face to hold the tops together?

 

[ddurrett896]

Can you pre-build the 10' walls (leaving the top plate off) and then tilt it up? Maybe with a 2x4 on the face to hold the tops together?

Thats definitely a good idea. I could do that from the outside of the building.

 

[ddurrett896]

If you see the picture above, would it be best to position the 2x10x16 that would be used to lift near the corners of the building or in the middle of the 2x8x12 attached to the wall? Thanks everyone!

 

[ddurrett896]

bump

 

[Jlbc212]

Your drawing looks similar to the pictures in post #14. It worked there. However, if one of your walls has termite damage, it may not work so well for you. Notice in post # 14 that the jacks are placed close to the walls. The walls are taking most of the load. Because you have a wall that is damaged, you may need to lift from under the ceiling joists or roof rafters.

 

[Daniel Dudley]

Please forgive my elementary drawing!

My garage is 14' wide x 24' long. It looks like I could do (2) 2x8x12 on each of the 24' walls, then run a 2x10x16 between both walls (maybe 2 2x10x16 sistered between each)

From there, jack away with 4 jacks total, 2 on each 2x10x16, adding 6x6 cribbing as I move.

Once up, I can knock off the bottom plate, sister the 8' studs with 10' studs and be done. What do you think?

You need triple jacking points, not double, one cross member every twelve feet. You need to fix the walls and sills before you jack, and you need to run continuous 2Xs along each wall. Two timberlock fasteners per stud, almost full penetration. Pilot drill them. You can pick up the wall enough to fix it, if you need to pick it up to make repairs. There are other ways of lifting a wall that amount though, ways that won't make it hard to get in and do your repairs.

Double up the cross pieces, and use decent cribbing. I honestly would be happier if you had a buddy helping you, but this is not rocket science. However, consider the consequences of failure, and proceed carefully. Keep one side grounded on cribbing as you lift the other side. I use some smaller blocking, and I lift each side 1 1/2'' to 3'' at a time. It's not a race.

If you decide to do this, take pictures and keep us posted BEFORE you start jacking. Plenty of guys here have done this enough times to be able to see if everything looks good before you have a problem.

 

[ddurrett896]

Because you have a wall that is damaged, you may need to lift from under the ceiling joists or roof rafters.

I also considered running doubled up 2x10x24, 2x12x24 or LVL on both sides of the garage longways and jacking from there, supporting the roof section by those 2 beams and a jack on each end of the beam (4 total)

The more I think about it, I favor this idea because I can literally cut away a wall from top plate down and already have a pre-built wall ready to go.

I live near a lumber 84 and have LVL and long 2 by available.

My options are:
2x10x24: $30 each
2x12x24: $45 each
9 1/4 x 1 3/4: $139.60
11 7/8 x 1 3/4 LVL: $183.60

The roof is between 6,500 and 7,000 LBS. What would be the optimal supporting beams from the list above? Thanks!