Putting in header in wall!

federer

UPDATE: guess what guys?

we went ahead and cut it open! pictures to come. it's crazy!

123pugsy

Now this sounds interesting. Bring on the pics!

federer

prepping: we secured 2x4s to the rafter before cutting it down

federer

taking out the 2nd stud the rafter is nailed to:

federer

rafters with the studs gone! this is where the opening is going into. time for header!

federer

header time! the rafters were cut down precisely with circular saw to be flush with the opening in the wall. we used 2x10 with plywood in the middle to get the right width. then metal brackets were screwed to secure. opening is just under 4ft wide, 6ft tall. 2x4 jack studs at each end of opening

federer

finished project! you can see also we nailed new 2x4s to the other studs that the rafters are connected to. (you can kind of see that the rafters are sistered to old 2x4s. so the new studs we put in are actually direct under each rafter cut flush for the rafter to sit on top of) total we took out 2 studs only. over a week later it looks fine!

federer

by the way i want to thank everyone who came in and took a look and offered their advice. it was greatly appreciated. basically it came down to my stubborn brother who said 'f*ck it i wanna do it" so thats how that went. what do you guys think!

federer

no comments???

kwikfishron

Fender there’s so many things wrong there I don’t know where to start.

Your biggest mistake was not following the advice of many here to hire a design professional or at least a competent contractor to do an onsite inspection and help you develop a workable plan.

It’s still not to late to do that.

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federer

can you just pick out one thing that you feel like addressing? i know there is a lot going on. so any one specific thing would help!

123pugsy

A structural engineer would probably be a good part of the plan.

I believe you are waiting for an answer from someone that says, "add a piece there" or something to that effect. I doubt anyone will give you the answer you want to hear.

federer

thanks for your reply. yea no i am not expecting that. this whole thread has been such good advice, and everyones said it needs a proper look at. its just that we dont have the funds to do it. all the engineers we called wants $500 just to take a look, then more $ to give us a plan. so thats why i am here.

edit-we actually did spend money for 2 enginners to come out. they both said it was possible. one even gave us a drawing. if you guys really want i can try to post his drawing here. it that helps you guys.

federer

i guess a better question for you guys is this:
"what in the picture is the problem that jumps out at you"? is it the rafters? the size of teh opening? the metal braces? the material used? maybe this would help narrow things down to the most essential things to deal with

Gary in WA

Two things I notice; pp.38, Fig.19; The hangered rafters are bearing in the hanger on the wrong edge for proper support. With enough load the hanger will split the rafter down the center because the hanger is not supporting the heel, which is why it is against code. On your thread page 6 picture, another problem is the ceiling joists appear to be higher up than in the lower 1/3 of rise from plate to ridge board, the rafters may be under-sized for the span/load, also; Fig 21. Are they in the upper 1/3 as in Fig.22? Pages 38-39:http://books.google.com/books?id=iwS...joists&f=false

Gary
PS. you could add a 4x4 in the crotch above the ceiling joist where the rafters have bearing in your latest pics, to help keep the rafters from splitting under snow loads. Add more nails at the ceiling joist/rafter connection.

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