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[Shop-talk] reinforcing roof joists

Subject: [Shop-talk] reinforcing roof joists
From: tputland at charter.net (Tim)
Date: Sun, 18 Mar 2012 19:20:32 -0400 (EDT)
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?

Thanks very much!
tim


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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