Broken garage joists

RBoncelet

Hi guys,

This is my first post. I have a two car garage in my yard. It has cynder block walls. It has a gable roof.
The people before me tried to put storage on top of the 20' 2x4s.
This must have broken and fallen down to the ground.
There are missing joists and patched ones.
The joists rest on top of the cynder block walls.
Is there any way of putting new joists on top of the cynder block walls? or is there another way to fix it?
Maybe bigger stronger ones would be better.

Roger

jamesdart

my garage was the same way. same size too. there were only maybe 3 or 4 rafter ties in my garage. all but one was busted and patched with lumber of all different sizes. they were also only 2x4s to begin, not meant for storage. i went with 20' 2x6 joist 16" on center with 1/2" plywood. i know it is not the propper size for any kind of load for a 20' span, but i now have a safer place to put things like holiday decorations and some spare car parts from my hotords. when i go up there, its kind of spongey, but as i said its way better than before. my main reason for doing this was to add more lights, insulation, and have a cieling to keep heat from my woodstove in the work area instead of up in the roof. i didnt want to spend a boat load of cash doing this, and im thinking i can just add some hangers to really stiffen things up.

RBoncelet

If I try to use 2x8s on this 20' span, I may trim the corners if it don't fit right, can I put two or three together to support a block and tackle for pulling motors once in a while?

How about 2x6s if the 2x8s don't fit?

Easy

jamesdart

i had to angle cut my 2x6's to fit.i would really recomend the 2x8s. im not sure i would use 2x6's if i had to do it again. pretty flimsy. if you are going to pull any kind of weight especially an engine, i would put at least 4 of them together. that might not even be enough. pretty big span. you can tie the joist up into the roof with some angled hangers to triangulate the area you will be pulling from. really, i wouldnt pull a motor that i like from a car that i like in this fasion. i do some dumb things from time to time, out of creativity or laziness but i like my cars too much for that stunt. maybe if it was a shorter span. just buy an enngine hoist.

RBoncelet

I was just thinking that if I'm going to do this work, it might be an addition to add. I have this thread under carpentry also. I got shut down on that side to. I can live without it with no problem.
On that side I got a response saying that less than 2x8 would require would require simple trusses on the ends. I was thinking about that also with some bridging on the joists.
Does that sound any better or sould I use those ideas with the 2x8s?
I'm not running out and doing this tomorow either. But it will be in the near future.

Easy