Man Cave

DLF said:
So, I was looking at some of your pics, and I noticed something.

Your end truss is wrong, it's supposed to look like the end trusses in my garage, not like the others in the middle. Is there a story?
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Beats me. I'll admit, I'm a driller and not a carpenter. There's only a vertical strut in the middle of the end trusses, not like yours at all. That's the way they put it up?

I see you have 2 layers of insulation in the attic. That's what I have planned. Did you put in a simple access hatch or a set of attic steps? I'm thinking just an access hatch, not like I plan to go up there anytime.

Drill Bit is working 2 weeks on and 1 week off. I plan to hire him to start insulating next week on his week off. It got up to 80 plus degrees this past weekend and I'm convinced I need to get the AC unit soon before summer hits full force; lift be damned. :eek:
 
Well, they screwed up. Harder to nail the OSB sheathing and not as secure. You have large areas that aren't nailed to anything. If it was me, I'd toe-nail is some vertical 2x4's in the large open areas (like above your opener), and use a lavish amount of construction adhesive (Liquid Nails) between the 2x4's and the OSB (since you can no longer nail from the outside).

Only a single 6" layer of insulation, actually.

I have a ~ 2' x 4' access hatch over the loft at the end of the garage, with foam insulation glued to the plywood cover. You can see it at the top of this pic.
 

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J said:
Why do you have a tire rack with so many tires?
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A set of DR's for the Cobra. A set of DR's for the SC and LSC. Various spare wheels/tires. A place to put wheels/tires when I'm working on a car for an extended period of time.
 

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There is nothing wrong with JP's end trusses. Very common to build it this way from what I've seen on various job sites. I believe he has an overhang as well on the outside which might be part of the reason they chose to do it this way. Honestly though, neither yours or JP's structure offers any front to back support to that end truss. I like to build them in similar fashion to yours, but with the 2x perpendicular to the sheeting, not flat against it, spaced out typical 16" OC or 12" OC.
 
JP just make sure you don't store any weight above your ceilings as the trusses typically aren't built to handle floor loads. My pack rats (sons) were storing some of their boating gear over my garage, as I have two pull down stairs to get up there, and they caused some tape cracking on the ceiling. The stuff is gone now, but the cracks aren't.
 
steve said:
JPs were built to redneck code, it will git-r-done :D
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haha, that's kinda what my builder buddy said " they build them that way down south lol".

It's like this. A truss is $60-70 a piece builder cost. A gable end truss is $90-$100 a piece.

Sometimes projects have really strict budgets ;)

They should've had the sheeting joints on the 2x's though, not free floating like you can see in that one photo, I agree with that.
 
Apparently, I've learned I have southern Fink gable end trusses. LOL :D

Likely it would be easy to scab some verticals in place just to be assured.

So, while I know not to use the trusses for any vertical loads, what would be the best bet to install 3 foot wide lofts down the sides?

I was thinking of triangular gussets bolted to the side studs to support the joist/beam at 6 to 8 foot spacings. This would allow the storage shelf to free of support posts and not hang weight off the trusses.
 
I would strongly suggest talking to either a good architect or structural engineer. It may be possible to augment the trusses so that you could support a beam (using threaded rods every 4') running between the front and back walls along the outer edge of your lofts.

Or...

A quality 2x10 on 12"-16" centers is good for a 14' span.

See http://www.awc.org/calculators/span/reversecalc/reversecalc.asp

So, if you wanted your lofts to run completely from the front to back walls along the entire length of the 28' garage, you would only need one support in the middle of each loft. You could either use a single vertical post or an angled post tied into the foundation similar to what I built in my front garage (pic). The ends and back of the loft joists should be tied into the framing with lag bolts.

It's also possible to purchase engineered lumber beams that will span the entire 28' (properly supported on the ends), but I suspect they'd be quite pricey.

Disclaimer: I am neither an Architect nor a Structural Engineer, but I did quite a bit of research prior to constructing my garage and lofts. YMMV ;)
 

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I took some more pics today that detail the contruction of the loft and the center support.
 

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I do structural engineering...

mostly in steel, not so much with wood and/or concrete. But I can do the math.

I do not want any vertical supports. A laminated beam would do, but I think an either an open joist (aka truss) or a laminated 2x4 beam may be best and both could be built onsite.

With a 3'x28' area calculated at 50lb/sqft light storage capacity, 4200lbs is the total load and computes to 150lb per lineal foot. Presuming equal weight distribution, that would be a conservative 75 lb per foot on said beam. Across a 28' span, load tables show I would need a 3-1/2" x 11" southern pine beam and the load would be limited by deflection. Depending upon supplier, it appears a 3-1/2" x 9" LVL beam would suffice and would be much lighter but as Doug said, more costly. Quick calculations show a simple flat truss less than 24" would support the span.

The same numbers applied to a cantilever beam supported by the exterior walls yields a moment of 6,300 ft pounds. Spead across six "gussets" takes the individual gusset moment down to 1050 ft lbs.

But if built as individual units, say like a 3' x 8' "bunk bed" supported at both ends with a cantilever gusset, each end reaction load is only 300 lbs or a moment of 900 ft pounds. The down side of the individual units would be not having a continuous span, but they would be much simpler and economical to construct.
 
I'm completely dumber by your post JP.....I wish I knew that stuff! I just do the duct tape test.....

I like the attaching a "host" to the beam....imagine hot hostess....pole in garage....couches (that you don't have)...and beer.
 
J said:
I'm completely dumber by your post JP.....I wish I knew that stuff! I just do the duct tape test.....

I like the attaching a "host" to the beam....imagine hot hostess....pole in garage....couches (that you don't have)...and beer.
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Good ideas :D
 
I think steel may be out...

For a 28' span, a minimum 14" beam is recommended. The lightest 14" beam is 22 lbs per foot for 616 lbs each! You can buy a lot of lumber for what a pair of those beams would cost at today's steel prices. :(
 
J said:
I'm completely dumber by your post JP.....I wish I knew that stuff! I just do the duct tape test.....

I like the attaching a "host" to the beam....imagine hot hostess....pole in garage....couches (that you don't have)...and beer.
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And now you see why I haven't popped into this thread until now.:lol3: Hell, I wish I had a man cave even without all of that. All I have in mine is a desktop computer. You don't need strippers to work on cars. Beer, well, maybe. :p
 
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