Raising The Ceiling???

nadonailer

my current job is a remodel on a beach cottage. The owner just saw a picture in a decorating magazine and she wants the ceilings raised. To stay within her budget, I can't tear off the roof and add a new ridge beam and rafters. So I'm thinkin' maybe scissor trusses, which would only give about 2-3 feet of lift, but are more affordable. Only problem there is, you can't build them on site anymore, they have to be engineered. So it's going to be a friggin bear gettin them in without messin with the roof. Anything I'm missing? I know one of you guys will have a magic solution! Right?

Any ideas welcome!

Bruce

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"History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid”.
Dwight D. Eisenhower

jmic

I don't know how big of an area you're talking about, but how about running a couple of like 6x8 beams across the top of the walls to act as collar ties then take ceiling out and make it cathedral ceiling even if you have to fir down rafters to get the insulation value you need. Just a thought!

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Joe

K2

I have a Professional Engineer that will design a truss modified from the original roof framing. It is pretty simple stuff if you get an engineer that is very familiar with truss design. They even have programs that you can plug in all the information even the species of the original lumber. Of course finding the right engineer could be the tricky part.

nadonailer

Good one, thanks Joe, I'll sleep on it!

__________________
"History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid”.
Dwight D. Eisenhower

nadonailer

I have to get an engineer out there anyway and am having problems - I wish your guy were out here! These guys are all too busy and too rich to care out here

__________________
"History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid”.
Dwight D. Eisenhower

nadonailer

Here's what ended up happening:
A 5 1/2" x 14" Lami-beam with 4 4x6 posts (spanning 50 ft) to support the load - Shear walls all around, holddowns every few feet and a Simpson strong wall, (all to take up the lack of lateral stability) This will cost more but allow the maximum headspace available.
Just for your interest, this is a 1080 sq ft house on a 3500 sq ft lot and sold for $1.5m and needs 100k plus in remodeling to make it 'livable'
thats life in SoCal

__________________
"History does not long entrust the care of freedom to the weak or the timid”.
Dwight D. Eisenhower

Joe Carola

Bruce,

I just did something like this a couple months ago but the length was only 24'. The existing rafters were 2x6's and we put a 7" x 18" laminated beam under the existing ridge clear span posted at each end down to the foundation. We nailed 2x6 collar ties directly under the beam only for hvac. This raised the new ceiling to the bottom of those collar ties 3'6" more.

We also had to nail 2x4's under the existing 2x6 rafters to fit more insulation. It's not code around here to use 2x6's for cathedral. You can see the 2x4's in the pictures.

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Joe Carola