a photoblog of what i did today.....

chrisinhouston · 01-15-2011, 03:57 PM

My house and garage here in Texas were built in the late 70's and at that time built under county codes which are less strict the City of Houston ones which we now fall under. My garage is 22' wide and 20' deep and the ceiling joists and rafters are all 2 x 6's!!! Most were showing signs of sagging only made worse by knots that had all but dried out and were cracking.

My man cave/ wood working shop conversion began by insulating and drywalling the walls followed by a major re-engineering of the ceiling. Replacing the sagging rafters was not an option and even if we had, the code would call for something like a 2 x 10 or 2 x 12 or some kind of laminated beam. So I used an idea from an article I read several years ago in Fine Homebuilding. We jacked up the joists as much as possible to straighten out the sag, as much as 1 1/2 inches in the center of the room in some places. Using 1/2 cdx plywood ripped into 6 inch strips my son and I heavily coated one side with wood glue, clamped in place and used drywall screws about every 8 inches in a zig zag pattern to create a sister side board, then we did the other side of the 2 x 6. After every joist was engineered with the glued plywood we attached 2 x 4's to the rafters in a truss pattern to spread the load to the roof which is a 4 sided pyramid shape.

Then we added R19 insulation and 5/8 inch drywall, damn that stuff is heavy! My son is out there now starting to tape it and float it. He was a dry waller in California before relocating here.

This is the ceiling from Wednesday top today, Saturday!

chrisinhouston · 01-15-2011, 04:13 PM

Finishing the hanging of the drywall and starting to tape the seams. My son will do 2 passes of hot mud which drys with in an hour and then a final skimming with topping mud. It can be sanded the next day and painted!

xoxoxoBruce · 01-15-2011, 04:15 PM

Well done, a lot of work but, worth it. Does it have hurricane clips?
5/8 Drywall, yikes! You must have a lot of faith in your new lam-beams.

chrisinhouston · 01-15-2011, 05:25 PM

No we didn't add clips to the existing garage but did to a shed addition I added at the back wall of the building. The garage is low and we are in a heavily wooded area of Houston so if hurricane force wind gusts ever got down to 8 ft off the ground we would be in serious trouble with our 2 story home and our neighbor's before it effected the garage.

My son recommended 5/8 as it is fire coded and is only about 18lbs heavier per sheet than a sheet of 1/2 would be and would be better for our uneven ceiling joists. We don't have snow to worry about for extra roof weight and I only plan on storing some light things in the small attic space. I thought the 5/8 4 x 8s were heavy and my son said I should try hanging 5/8 4 x 12's instead!

xoxoxoBruce · 01-15-2011, 07:22 PM

Drywall jacks are cheap to rent, and a wondrous thing to use. I had always thought they would be more trouble than they would be worth, and used the grunt & swear method. Then I was helping a guy last spring that insisted on using one, and I was very impressed... and kicking myself for the money I'd wasted on Tylenol all these years.

01-15-2011, 03:57 PM	#1
chrisinhouston Professor Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Houston TX Posts: 1,857	My house and garage here in Texas were built in the late 70's and at that time built under county codes which are less strict the City of Houston ones which we now fall under. My garage is 22' wide and 20' deep and the ceiling joists and rafters are all 2 x 6's!!! Most were showing signs of sagging only made worse by knots that had all but dried out and were cracking. My man cave/ wood working shop conversion began by insulating and drywalling the walls followed by a major re-engineering of the ceiling. Replacing the sagging rafters was not an option and even if we had, the code would call for something like a 2 x 10 or 2 x 12 or some kind of laminated beam. So I used an idea from an article I read several years ago in Fine Homebuilding. We jacked up the joists as much as possible to straighten out the sag, as much as 1 1/2 inches in the center of the room in some places. Using 1/2 cdx plywood ripped into 6 inch strips my son and I heavily coated one side with wood glue, clamped in place and used drywall screws about every 8 inches in a zig zag pattern to create a sister side board, then we did the other side of the 2 x 6. After every joist was engineered with the glued plywood we attached 2 x 4's to the rafters in a truss pattern to spread the load to the roof which is a 4 sided pyramid shape. Then we added R19 insulation and 5/8 inch drywall, damn that stuff is heavy! My son is out there now starting to tape it and float it. He was a dry waller in California before relocating here. This is the ceiling from Wednesday top today, Saturday! Attached Images

01-15-2011, 04:13 PM	#2
chrisinhouston Professor Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Houston TX Posts: 1,857	Finishing the hanging of the drywall and starting to tape the seams. My son will do 2 passes of hot mud which drys with in an hour and then a final skimming with topping mud. It can be sanded the next day and painted! Attached Images

01-15-2011, 04:15 PM	#3
xoxoxoBruce The future is unwritten Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 71,105	Well done, a lot of work but, worth it. Does it have hurricane clips? 5/8 Drywall, yikes! You must have a lot of faith in your new lam-beams. __________________ The descent of man ~ Nixon, Friedman, Reagan, Trump.

01-15-2011, 07:22 PM	#5
xoxoxoBruce The future is unwritten Join Date: Oct 2002 Posts: 71,105	Drywall jacks are cheap to rent, and a wondrous thing to use. I had always thought they would be more trouble than they would be worth, and used the grunt & swear method. Then I was helping a guy last spring that insisted on using one, and I was very impressed... and kicking myself for the money I'd wasted on Tylenol all these years. __________________ The descent of man ~ Nixon, Friedman, Reagan, Trump.

01-15-2011, 05:25 PM	#4
chrisinhouston Professor Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Houston TX Posts: 1,857	No we didn't add clips to the existing garage but did to a shed addition I added at the back wall of the building. The garage is low and we are in a heavily wooded area of Houston so if hurricane force wind gusts ever got down to 8 ft off the ground we would be in serious trouble with our 2 story home and our neighbor's before it effected the garage. My son recommended 5/8 as it is fire coded and is only about 18lbs heavier per sheet than a sheet of 1/2 would be and would be better for our uneven ceiling joists. We don't have snow to worry about for extra roof weight and I only plan on storing some light things in the small attic space. I thought the 5/8 4 x 8s were heavy and my son said I should try hanging 5/8 4 x 12's instead!

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