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Removing ceiling joists to create a vaulted ceiling

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#21 ·
What Tom said, in most cases you will under-pin it instead of taking the roof apart. You will have to pack the rafters anyway to provide room for insulation and air-flow and that will take up most of the slack of the build-down ridge.
 
#23 ·
Railman said:
Maybe something like this?
Basically you just need to tie the existing Rafters together, install glulam to support existing Ridge , add two by sixes 4 insulation , then add ridge vent . View attachment 509587
Click to expand...
I’ve done this before. I would add straps over the top to tie rafters to each other if I was to do it again.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#24 ·
Yes, you end up with something like this, of course, the ridge beam will have to be calculated for load transfer, etc, straps would need to be added per design and point load bearing points supporting the beam will have to be structurally reinforced to transfer the load to the foundation, in some cases, the foundation will have to be cut and grouted solid if you dealing with hollow masonry like cinder blocks, etc. If you don't know how to make load calculations, get a professional to do it, this work will require approvals and permit anyway
 
#26 ·
reza_kr said:
Thanks so much for all of your input! It makes sense now, part of the load will be transferred through the ridge beam to the posts and down to the foundation, thus reducing the load on the walls bearing the rafters and no need for rafter ties anymore.
Click to expand...
There is downward force on the walls either way. That downward force competes with centripetal (inward) force on the ridge beam scenario and centrifugal (outward) force on the rafter tie scenario, both on the ridge axis.
 
#27 ·
hdavis said:
So, a structural engineer suggested using a ridge beam. 9 times out of 10, the guy I use would draw it to use hangers off the side of the ridge beam.

He should be good having a beam under the rafters, but it's a difference in how the connections are made.
Click to expand...
The engineer should prescribe the specific attachment method right down to the Simpson item numbers as well as show calculations used to derive the stated prescriptions.
 
#30 ·
griz said:
For a guy supposedly doing dozens of structural ptojects. How is you dont understan about ridge beams and basic methods of roof construction and means & methods involved.
Click to expand...
Griz,
I think us "older" guys, back in the day were forced to think through problems. When I was practicing carpenter 35 years ago, we were also "engineers". We have to figure out our own problems without Google, YouTube or sites like Contractor Talk. We, including myself don't think through things anymore, we deflect the responsibility to other, we want to easy answers, myself included. Heck I won't build a simple 12 X 24 garage without an engineer these days.

I really don't like to see posters asking "are you in the trades?" when it's obvious they are but may not meet the "experience standard" of some. If people are learning from a discussion, who gives a rip if they just started in the trades or have 50 years. Who cares if they are working for a client or on their own home. Just my two cents.
 
#31 ·
Tony, some of the questions you see it's pretty obvious that people are not in the trade, not to mention it seems there is a new trend here, nobody is listing their trade anymore in the profile, at least you have a GC attached to your name.
So when you see someone cannot even fill out their profile the right way and list their trade which in one way or another shows a lack of respect for the rules of the CT community and on top of that they asking stupid questions that most kids would know who took woodworking shop in school at one point or another.

Yes you're right we learned the hard way there wasn't much to turn to 30+ years ago, we used Architects to advise us when it came to structural issues, and that is where real education came from how to calculate loads, how the load is being transferred through the building, sizing floorings and beams to carry this loads, etc.
I remember going to my architect and asking him how he came up with this, he would explain to me in words and I would say show me on paper and take the paper with me and practice on different scenarios. So we did our share of leg work to the point that now we're able to find architect's mistakes or show them that a smaller beam can work in comparison to the oversized beam they came up with because "just to be safe" and show them on paper by doing all the calculations.
I have been at it for almost 40 years in the trade and I still learn new things here, and some of the guys here can make me look like an amateur when it comes to certain things when it comes to the old tricks that they use in their trade... But that's what this place is about, continued education and teaching someone we're teaching ourselves at the same time, it keeps us up on our game.

With that said, if you look at the treads and questions which are being asked you can tell right off the bat they're far from being in the trade, and they get shut down by our "distinguished security forces" @CT and they're doing a good job because 90% of the time they're right...Was gonna say 100% but I don't what that go to their head 🤣

Have a good and safe weekend to all "hacks" of the trade!(y)

P.S. By the way " I'm a Builder and I have a customer who needs a shoe molding installed, how do you take that off and how much should I charge?" 😏
 
#35 ·
greg24k said:
real education came from how to calculate loads, how the load is being transferred through the building, sizing floorings and beams to carry this loads, etc.
P.S. By the way " I'm a Builder and I have a customer who needs a shoe molding installed, how do you take that off and how much should I charge?" 😏
Click to expand...
Sounds like u need to charge toofiddy.

I had a Client in Dallas TX. Loft above the kitchen in a townhome, loft spanned the kitchen and dining room and overlooked the living room. A ridge beam and purlin beams spanned the width of the townhome. One br suite in front, one in back, atrium behind the front one, living room large and vaulted with spiral stair to the loft from the living/dinging room intersection to above the kitchen.

I was called in because there was extensive drywall damage. The firewall in the living room between this and the next townhome looked like ladder steps with 1/2 inch gaps floor to ceiling. There were tears in the drywall ceilings in the front and back bedrooms, they looked like someone tore a sheet of paper.

I asked about what was looked at and done (This area is known for its very expansive clay which wreaks havoc unless post stressed concrete slabs are used for slab foundations). She had Insurance send engineers, had private engineers, and foundations and soil engineers all inspect. I told her "they told you your floor is 1.5 inches high there (pointing) and 1 inch low there (pointing) but there were not any reasons for the problem found". "YUP".

I recognized that the front and rear walls had moved outward at the top, causing the sheared drywall. This meant that the RIDGE BEAM had to have moved DOWN. I told her "one night you were watching TV and heard a loud "pop" and wondered what it was." Her answer..."That happened".

I went to the loft and looked at the column that supported the ridge beam in the middle of the loft. I could not see an issue, but cracks at the ridge beam drywall all the way across the living room. I walked around the beam....looking. Then, as I walked away my foot landed close the the beam and turned may ankle (there was carpet on the deck) . The 3/4 inch deck had been punched through and the column had dropped several inches. There were supported purlin beams as well, and their columns had also punched through the deck. The builder had missed the load bearing kitchen wall below because the notch that connected the two halves of the beams was not aligned to the support wall. JEEZ. get the right length beam!!! There was NOTHING holding the roof up except the outer walls not collapsing and the wall between this unit and the next!

My point is that at least 3 licensed structural engineers had looked at this problem. They had come in with lasers, had probed the soil under the foundation, they had charged thousands of dollars and the insurance had eventually walked away....but a lowly tradesman who understood what he was seeing figured out the problem....and later fixed it permanently, jacked up and aligned the beams to original height, provided cantilevered support of them and increased structural support fo the entire upper deck without a wet stamp....and this one knows there will never be another problem (all for less than the cost of all the investigations and probing etc).

Architects and engineers are ok for much, but when the rubber hits the road, give me someone who actually builds the product. This is why in Germany manufacturing engineers used to work on the manufacturing floor on regular rotations every third year or so...to learn why the people who build it cuss them, so they won't do that again.
 
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