[miamicuse]

In one part of the house I have exposed ceiling, and the rafters and joists are reinforced by a metal horizontal member and a vertical member attached by lag bolts. These members seem to be galvanized steel piping.

House was built in 1940. The bottom of the joists are full of nail holes and the top side of the joists are full of staple holes. I believe at one point in time there was a flat ceiling but later on removed.


Are these steel members part of the original framing or added at a later time? Any idea?


Oh, the bottom larger diameter pipe is not structural, it's actually a super long light fixture, don't let that confuse you.

 

[Windows on Wash]

Roof probably would have spread out long time ago without them. Maybe not original to the build, but they have been on there a long while.

 

[Nealtw]

The industrial look. I would guess the steel is original to the build.

 

[miamicuse]

The reason I am asking is the same A-shaped rafter and joist continues past the exposed ceiling into the kitchen and bedroom in both directions. But looking into the attic in there, they didn't continue with the steel members, inside the attic at the top of the "A" is a plywood gusset across, and they used 2x6 vertically down.


If it's original, would they have done the roof framing the same all the way through?

 

[Nealtw]

The reason I am asking is the same A-shaped rafter and joist continues past the exposed ceiling into the kitchen and bedroom in both directions. But looking into the attic in there, they didn't continue with the steel members, inside the attic at the top of the "A" is a plywood gusset across, and they used 2x6 vertically down.


If it's original, would they have done the roof framing the same all the way through?

I would think the one with plywood was a later addition or the one with the metal was meant to be exposed.

 

[House Designer]

Functionally, the vertical pipe is acting to cut the clear span of the ceiling joist in half to prevent sagging. The horizontal pipe is acting as a collar tie to hold the rafters tight against the ridge board. Together they appear to be doing a good job of making a very low-slope roof work.