Looking to raise a 26' wide, gable end by 32, garage with 8' sidewalls. I would like to put 3 possibly 4 courses of 8" block go create 10' with 3 or a 10'8" wall with 4. I'm leaning towards 4 courses so I could put in a 10' door. I have a good supply of heavy duty jacks and cribbing. I would fill in the service door opening on an eave side. On the existing gable end door openings , bracing across bottom. Garage is sheated with 1/2" OSB, and 2x4 studs. Walls are 16" on center and the conventional trusses are 24" centers. My question is any ideas how much bracing across the walls on the eave sides , and gable sides would be needed at the bottom of the walls. The ceiling has half inch drywall that is unfinished. I would like to leave the ceiling alone.
Raising a garage on a slab
- Thread starter MJD1
- Start date
Cyberbear
Well-known member
It's good you have the OSB to act as shear panels. Be sure to reinforce the courses of block with steel and pour the cavities solid. You may want to key then to the existing slab.
Try looking at previous posts on GJ and see what others have done successfully for proper bracing.
Try looking at previous posts on GJ and see what others have done successfully for proper bracing.
bczygan
Well-known member
Where are you?
Pleas put your location in your profile.
Do you have foundations or just a thickened edge on the slab?
Pulling permits? Who is the jurisdiction having authority?
Will it fall within your zoning's height restrictions?
Any power lines overhead? Don't laugh, people forget this little detail sometimes.
Putting in a taller door while you have the opportunity?
Time to strip the roof? One layer of shingles?
As far as bracing and jacks, I think of it as a beam problem.
Properly fasten (Lag bolt) a beam, sized properly for the load and span, to as many studs as possible on each wall. The span will depend on the number of jacks used and their spacing.
Brace the garage door openings in an "X" fashion as well. Triangulate to avoid racking.
Then simply lift in increments,
Bill
Pleas put your location in your profile.
Do you have foundations or just a thickened edge on the slab?
Pulling permits? Who is the jurisdiction having authority?
Will it fall within your zoning's height restrictions?
Any power lines overhead? Don't laugh, people forget this little detail sometimes.
Putting in a taller door while you have the opportunity?
Time to strip the roof? One layer of shingles?
As far as bracing and jacks, I think of it as a beam problem.
Properly fasten (Lag bolt) a beam, sized properly for the load and span, to as many studs as possible on each wall. The span will depend on the number of jacks used and their spacing.
Brace the garage door openings in an "X" fashion as well. Triangulate to avoid racking.
Then simply lift in increments,
Bill
Last edited:
matt_i
Well-known member
I think its going to be a giant expensive pain.
From a load perspective, the garage is built with this distributed load thru the studs down to the bottom plate. You have to support it on a number of points (the jacks).
You have to start jacking offset from the thickness of the walls. It can be close to the inner plane, but there isn't a micro jack that can simply wedge itself in between the concrete and bottom plate and start working. After you raise it a foot, the jacks could be theoretically placed directly under the bottom plate with cribbing and steel plates to distribute the jack-piston load. But, then you have to clear that out in order to be working on blocks underneath it, and straddle across the block-work zone.
That is a really tall lift with a lot of potential for wind uplift during the entire process.
If its vinyl sided or in need of a reroof, I would seriously think about gently taking it apart.
If I was going to raise up what I just built, I would put a 2x10 around the entire perimeter near the bottom, inside and outside. I would buy another LVL or single 2x12 for the garage door opening. I would X-brace every wall (drilling a hole for every stud) with 1/4" x 1" steel flat bar, including the underside of the trusses, and one for the garage door opening that has a hole for every jack stud. GRK 3-1/8" screw in every hole. This seems like overkill but do I really want the thing to rack itself over on top of me working inside of it? Not really.
You can see its going to be a giant pile of timber and steel at the end that don't have a direct use. If you disassemble it, the biggest waste would be the roofing. I think the plywood could be almost completely saved, and you could take the walls down in whatever increment they were built, still sheathed, with some manpower, and stack them in the center until the block is done.
Some stuff to think about. It definitely needs a very detailed plan.
From a load perspective, the garage is built with this distributed load thru the studs down to the bottom plate. You have to support it on a number of points (the jacks).
You have to start jacking offset from the thickness of the walls. It can be close to the inner plane, but there isn't a micro jack that can simply wedge itself in between the concrete and bottom plate and start working. After you raise it a foot, the jacks could be theoretically placed directly under the bottom plate with cribbing and steel plates to distribute the jack-piston load. But, then you have to clear that out in order to be working on blocks underneath it, and straddle across the block-work zone.
That is a really tall lift with a lot of potential for wind uplift during the entire process.
If its vinyl sided or in need of a reroof, I would seriously think about gently taking it apart.
If I was going to raise up what I just built, I would put a 2x10 around the entire perimeter near the bottom, inside and outside. I would buy another LVL or single 2x12 for the garage door opening. I would X-brace every wall (drilling a hole for every stud) with 1/4" x 1" steel flat bar, including the underside of the trusses, and one for the garage door opening that has a hole for every jack stud. GRK 3-1/8" screw in every hole. This seems like overkill but do I really want the thing to rack itself over on top of me working inside of it? Not really.
You can see its going to be a giant pile of timber and steel at the end that don't have a direct use. If you disassemble it, the biggest waste would be the roofing. I think the plywood could be almost completely saved, and you could take the walls down in whatever increment they were built, still sheathed, with some manpower, and stack them in the center until the block is done.
Some stuff to think about. It definitely needs a very detailed plan.
Jazz1
Well-known member
Here's you tube on how to raise a garage. Gives you some ideas, I think a bit more engineering as your garage is larger. Not to over complicate as garage is just a large box on a slab.
1949 caddyman
Well-known member
Here's a thread a member posted.http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=283853
I'd be a little concerned with wether the existing slab/grade beam is up to task for the extra weight of the block walls. On the gable ends, the 4 courses of 8" block with adequate grout is going to weigh mare than the wood walls they're supporting.......
Ainsley
Well-known member
I raised my 11x26' single and laid two more coarse of block.
you can look though my journal for more details on the lift.
you can look though my journal for more details on the lift.
Permits not an issue, nothing overhead. Slab is 5" thick with fiber mesh. Perimeter of slab is a 12" x12" grade beam with rebar. Building is approx 3-4 years old and in excellent shape. Raising the roof would be costly and labor intensive, due to the finished overhangs.
theoldwizard1
Well-known member
Biggest issue is bracing the garage while building the block wall. A good stiff breeze could knock it off it's temporary foundation points.
Besides adding bracing to prevent the walls from racking, add bracing across the corners to keep them at 90°. Bracing on front/back walls and side wall against bowing in or out at the top plate and near the bottom plate is also a good idea.
Besides adding bracing to prevent the walls from racking, add bracing across the corners to keep them at 90°. Bracing on front/back walls and side wall against bowing in or out at the top plate and near the bottom plate is also a good idea.
Jess
Well-known member
I have lifted a similar building by setting up scaffolding close to the inside corners. Planks on the top frames for support and a couple of long planks set up close to the walls under the roof trusses. A couple of hydraulic jacks and 6x6 blocking to raise it a bit at a time. Final was 24" and the poured a continuous wall under. Depending on the framing, you might have to attach the long planks to both the wall and ceiling and lift off of there.
I got the idea from a crazy friend who wanted to move his shop. He brought home a single axle dump for the weekend, set up scaffolding in the back, some long planks on top and jacked the whole thing up. Once in the air and braced, he drove it across the yard to the new location and set it on the new foundation. If you watch house movers, you will be amazed at what they can do with blocks, jacks and a beam or two.
I got the idea from a crazy friend who wanted to move his shop. He brought home a single axle dump for the weekend, set up scaffolding in the back, some long planks on top and jacked the whole thing up. Once in the air and braced, he drove it across the yard to the new location and set it on the new foundation. If you watch house movers, you will be amazed at what they can do with blocks, jacks and a beam or two.