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Raising a roof

iceman5

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Dec 30, 2014
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Lititz, PA
I've started a build thread on my 30x40 pole building rennovation. I've got a question on raising a roof.

This pole building was really built "inexpensively" by the previous owners. From what I've been told it was a church barn raising. So, I've found that the rafters were not set level. It seems that the band board supporting the rafters was set about 10" lower on one side of the building. The best that I can figure is that one of the boards was set on the wrong side of the level line.

I'm considering raising the roof structure on one side of the pole barn to get the rafters level. I know that anything is possible given enough time and money, but has anyone undertaken a project like this with a pole building and is it really worth it?
 
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rburke65

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There has been folks on here that have raised the entre building! How many trusses are we talking? Every 8' or every 2' ? I would think you could brace the bottom of the trusses, raise with bottle jacks or floor jacks. This should not be that hard.
 

Michigan Mike

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Kalamazoo Mi.
If you raise the trusses is there enough post left to fasten the band board to? The other option is to lower the high side and cut off the extra length of the posts.
 
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iceman5

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Lititz, PA
There has been folks on here that have raised the entre building! How many trusses are we talking? Every 8' or every 2' ? I would think you could brace the bottom of the trusses, raise with bottle jacks or floor jacks. This should not be that hard.

The trusses are 4' OC so there are 10 of them. I was thinking the same thing but ...

If you raise the trusses is there enough post left to fasten the band board to? The other option is to lower the high side and cut off the extra length of the posts.

Michigan Mike hit on one issue that I saw today. The end posts have enough height but 3 of the center posts are cut flush with the top of the existing band board. This happens on both sides of the building. I was thinking that I could possibly drill a hole along the central axis of the existing post, then add an extension using a large diameter dowel to pin the two posts together. Then I could add another band board on top of the existing one to get my height. I'm a little concerned about the joint in the post.

Lowering to match the low side messes up my garage door plans. I have an enclosed car trailer that's 9'6" so I was planning on a 12x12 door so that I can get the trailer in the shop. If I lower the tall side I'll be limited to a 10' tall door that I think will be too short for my trailer. So I could go with a 12x12 and a 10x12 without changing the trusses, and that wouldn't be the end of the world. But leveling the trusses will also make my finish work on the interior easier.
 

Radix2

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the thumb!, MI
The trusses are 4' OC so there are 10 of them. I was thinking the same thing but ...



Michigan Mike hit on one issue that I saw today. The end posts have enough height but 3 of the center posts are cut flush with the top of the existing band board. This happens on both sides of the building. I was thinking that I could possibly drill a hole along the central axis of the existing post, then add an extension using a large diameter dowel to pin the two posts together. Then I could add another band board on top of the existing one to get my height. I'm a little concerned about the joint in the post.

Lowering to match the low side messes up my garage door plans. I have an enclosed car trailer that's 9'6" so I was planning on a 12x12 door so that I can get the trailer in the shop. If I lower the tall side I'll be limited to a 10' tall door that I think will be too short for my trailer. So I could go with a 12x12 and a 10x12 without changing the trusses, and that wouldn't be the end of the world. But leveling the trusses will also make my finish work on the interior easier.

How do you lose so much in door height with a 10" cut ?

You can order a door 11' high or even in-between sizes if you want.
 

Mike in Ohio

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What size are your posts? In a similar situation I added a block to lengthen the posts,. My posts were 4 x 6, I used 3' 2 x 6s glued and screwed over the seams. One on each side between the rim boards. Use good construction adhesive, not elmers glue. I also added a little bit of extra bracing between posts to tie every thing together a little better.
 

NUTTSGT

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I'm trying to picture this with one side lower than the other and then I try figure out how somebody did not notice this ?

If you raise the short side to match the taller side, won't you have to replace the exterior metal panels also ?
 
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theoldwizard1

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The simplest way to check for all of the "band boards" being leve is a water level. Cheap and accurate.

Questions.

Are the "posts" true posts (round like telephone posts), or rectangular (4x6) solid or laminated ?
Are the "band boards" bolted through the posts, notched in or ?

The "best" method to attach the beams to the post is to notch them in or place them on top with a bracket.

If I was going to add 10-12" to the top of the post I would use a 2' piece of 1/2" all-thread screwed into a slightly undersized hole through the addition ionto the orih=ginal post.
 
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iceman5

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Dec 30, 2014
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Lititz, PA
What size are your posts? In a similar situation I added a block to lengthen the posts,. My posts were 4 x 6, I used 3' 2 x 6s glued and screwed over the seams. One on each side between the rim boards. Use good construction adhesive, not elmers glue. I also added a little bit of extra bracing between posts to tie every thing together a little better.

I was looking at something similar this afternoon. I was thinking of sistering another post to the short ones to lengthen them. I would then add another band board above the existing one to get my height.

I'm trying to picture this with one side lower than the other and then I try figure out how somebody did not notice this ?

If you raise the short side to match the taller side, won't you have to replace the exterior metal panels also ?

Lord knows that I can't draw a straight line to save my life without CAD. When I first walked into the building when we looked at the property, I saw that some of the girts (horizontal boards) on the rear wall weren't level, but I really didn't think much of it at the time. It wasn't until I started measuring for the garage doors that I saw how far off it was. This was a mennonite church barn raising ... maybe they should have hired amish?! I think it will be more noticeable once the concrete is in and there is a truly level floor.

I'll definitely have to reside one side. There is enough damaged metal and wavy screw lines that bother me that I'm not too concerned about doing that. There are enough pole building suppliers near me that sourcing the metal isn't a problem.

The simplest way to check for all of the "band boards" being leve is a water level. Cheap and accurate.

Questions.

Are the "posts" true posts (round like telephone posts), or rectangular (4x6) solid or laminated ?
Are the "band boards" bolted through the posts, notched in or ?

The posts are 6x6 square posts and the band boards are nailed to the posts. The band boards are level from the front to the back; but the left side is higher than the right. It's as if they put a level line on the posts and set the top of the band board on the line on the right side and the bottom of the band board on the line on the left side.

The "best" method to attach the beams to the post is to notch them in or place them on top with a bracket.

If I was going to add 10-12" to the top of the post I would use a 2' piece of 1/2" all-thread screwed into a slightly undersized hole through the addition ionto the orih=ginal post.

This was my first thought to lengthen the post. Then I was going to add a brace across the joint just for a little extra stability. Construction isn't necessarily my area of expertise but I'm glad to see that my idea wasn't too far fetched.
How do you lose so much in door height with a 10" cut ?

You can order a door 11' high or even in-between sizes if you want.

That is another option that I'm considering. If I went with an 11' door I should still be able to get my trailer inside. I've got to take some measurements to make sure that I still have enough height for the lift. At some point, I'll have a 4 post so that I can stack cars for parking.

Thanks for all of the suggestions. I'll keep documenting the progress in my build thread. Concrete first then to address the roof issue.
 
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gungatim

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west mich
how much work are you wanting to do? if you have a metal roof, and are planning to unscrew the panels, I would use scab trusses to bring the roof height level....easiest option IMO. other wise trying to lift and pivot the entire roof in one piece is not something I would mess around with, and I lifted an house once...scabbing on extentions to the short poles is no big deal, use 2x6 on either side of the post like laminated posts are made.
 

NUTTSGT

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How about some pics of this thing while we're talkling about it so we can see all the issues ?


If you reside, that will give you some metal to line the inside possibly.
 

Danno1

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... I was thinking that I could possibly drill a hole along the central axis of the existing post, then add an extension using a large diameter dowel to pin the two posts together. Then I could add another band board on top of the existing one to get my height. I'm a little concerned about the joint in the post.



I did this once to fix a post supporting a stairway landing. The bottom 4 ft was rotted. I used Gorilla Glue as an adhesive and then glued and screw 2x4s to the 2 inside faces for a splint. You might want to use 1/4 steel plate.

It's still there 20 yrs later!



OTOH, why not do a half lap bolted through horizontally?


.
 

Kennybill

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Aug 4, 2010
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Braceville, Ohio
I raised my pole building from 8 ft to 12 ft. I added 4 ft stud walls on top of the existing header. You can level it out with taller stud wall insert on the low side.
 
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iceman5

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Dec 30, 2014
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Lititz, PA
How about some pics of this thing while we're talkling about it so we can see all the issues ?


If you reside, that will give you some metal to line the inside possibly.

NUTTSGT ... let's see if these pictures show what I'm talking about. The floor was just poured so I could get a better measurement of the issue.

I've attached pictures of the front and rear walls of the building. If you look at the bottom of the truss and follow along the wall you can see that it isn't parallel to girts. If I measure from the top of the band board supporting the trusses on the right wall to the floor I measure 12'. On the left side, the same measurement is 12'8".

You would think that someone noticed this when the building was put up. I just don't know if they were so far along that they didn't correct it or just chose to ignore it.

Let me know if there is something else that you would like to see.
 

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