[Shop-talk] reinforcing roof joists

[John T. Blair]

At 07:20 PM 3/18/2012, Tim wrote:

 >Ok, I have standard trusses up there, 20ish feet long, joined by those
 >rectangular plates that are perforated for nailing purposes. I am 
pretty sure
 >this garage was a kit from Menards. The horizontal 2x4s are two pieces.
 >
 >If I spread the load out over four or five rows of trusses, will 
they support the
 >weight? Is there any reinforcement I can do either way?

Tim,

Do you have a drywall celing installed?  Is there decking over the 
joists where
you want to have this lifting thing?

To reinforce your joists for a lift, you can drill a hole in the 
joist and take some
long 4x4s and stand them up to the joist and bolt throught the hole 
in the joist.

If you have a dry wall ceiling, simply cut a hole large enough for 
the 4x4 to fit through.  You can drill the hole from the attic side 
if you don't have decking over
the area.

You will probably need something like a 3/4" piece of plywood to act 
as feet for
the posts so they are short enough for your to lift into place.

When you are done with holding what ever it is up, you can remove the vertical
supports and store them along the wall until the next time they are needed.

John





>On Sat, Mar 17, 2012 at 10:45 AM, Jim Franklin wrote:
>
>>On Mar 17, 2012, at 11:07 AM, Tim wrote:
>>
>>>A qustion for engineers here maybe?
>>>
>>>I want to hang a Datsun Roadster car body from the joists above my shop
>>>and garage space so I can start working on a frame in the shop.
>>>
>>>The joists are approx 2' apart and made of 2x4s. The roof is a 4 12
>>>pitch. The car body might weigh as much as 700 pounds but I have yet to
>>>get an accurate answer. (I thought I had read at one point that the body
>>>weighed between 400 and 500 pounds.)
>>
>>
>>It's important to get some terminology straight before answering 
>>this. Rafters
>>form the pitch of the roof; joists are parallel to the floor and stop the
>>walls from spreading out (and occasionally are strong enough to support
>>storage up there):
>>
>>http://www.carpentry-pro-framer.com/images/anatomy-of-a-common-rafter.png
>>
>>The span of the joists is important. How long are they? 2x4s will hold a lot
>>of weight but not if they're 20' long.
>>
>>Trusses are pre-manufactured as a triangle and might support a car 
>>body, might
>>not. It depends how they are held together.
>>
>>What do you have up there?
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John T. Blair  WA4OHZ     email:  jblair1948 at cox.net
Va. Beach, Va                  Phone:  (757) 495-8229

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