Removing Loft structure questions!

[muddinguy]

So half of my garage has a "loft" that I knocked all the floor boards out of when we moved in ( to keep mr. City insp. happy) I plan on rewiring the entire garage so im not worried about that electrical.. But i wanna get rid of the loft structure thats left, to open up the ceiling.. I was told by our home insp. that as long as i left the "red" boards in place i could clear out all the "green" but the red boards seem kinda thin and friends have told me its not a good idea... so i come to the gods of GJ

 

[readhead]

The collar ties look to be to high to serve as rafter ties. Just a guess from the pics. You probably had rafter ties that someone turned into storage. Probably wasn't a good idea to pull them out.

 

[ozyborn]

A partial loft makes a great storage area. But I would not rely on the city inspector for structural advise. Use a structural engineer.

 

[Tweeker]

The lower boards hold the walls from expanding outwards.

 

[theoldwizard1]

Collar tie vs rafter tie.

Take some measurements at several different places across the floor from bottom plat to bottom plate. Then take measurement at the same locations from top plat to top plate. If you have more than a 1" difference at any point, you might want do some thing about it. Hook up a come along and put some tension on it. Remove the existing collar ties and pull the walls in. Install new collar ties.

1x6 are acceptable for collar ties, but I would probably space them 2 rafters apart.

 

[muddinguy]

The lower boards hold the walls from expanding outwards.

How would one go about constructing a somewhat vaulted ceiling in thus situation since that's my ultimate goal..

Collar tie vs rafter tie.

Take some measurements at several different places across the floor from bottom plat to bottom plate. Then take measurement at the same locations from top plat to top plate. If you have more than a 1" difference at any point, you might want do some thing about it. Hook up a come along and put some tension on it. Remove the existing collar ties and pull the walls in. Install new collar ties.

1x6 are acceptable for collar ties, but I would probably space them 2 rafters apart.

Well I learned something new I may do some measuring... So I need collar ties and "rafter" ties ?

 

[Elginz]

You could look into something like this to replace the rafter ties. I say look into, I would do something like that, but you are not me so ask some one you know who knows. That is a disclaimer saying as every one else, get an engineer, not that I ever do.

 

[theoldwizard1]

So I need collar ties and "rafter" ties ?

No. You probably need more collar ties than rafter ties (spaced every 2 rafters vs spaced every 4 rafters). Rafter ties are usually made of 2by material.

 

[muddinguy]

No. You probably need more collar ties than rafter ties (spaced every 2 rafters vs spaced every 4 rafters). Rafter ties are usually made of 2by material.

I have no problem going balls to walls overkill on things
I would use 4x6 collar ties on every rafter if it would allow me the center ceiling height like I want

 

[readhead]

These two ties do different things. Look at the illustration again. You can raise the rafter ties and gain some height. But the important thing here is to tie the walls together.

 

[hellrzr]

My garage looks just like yours on the inside. The tops of my walls are now starting to bow out and the roof is sagging. For now I added a floor jack to help out but at some point I have to pull the walls in and add rafter ties. Make sure you fix things correctly now or you'll end up with the same problems I have. You may need a structural person to help you figure out the best plan of action.

 

[rvieceli]

Here's a link with a reasonable explanation of rafter and collar ties.

http://www.nachi.org/collar-rafter-ties.htm

With the way your roof is framed you need both and as has been suggested you need to check the wall tops where they have been removed to see if the walls have spread at the top.

There are ways to get the higher ceiling you want but they involve some expense, changing the structure some and the "E" word, engineering. Here is a link to how one of members here solved the problem.

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=263351