# Garage Remodel



## PromethusBound (Jun 7, 2015)

I just purchased a house and the previous owner added a 18' extension to the garage.  I demoed the inside and am looking to turn it into a game room. I am planning on walling it off from the garage and then installing a patio door leading into the backyard. My primary concern is what looks like some kind of roof support in the middle of the extension. They did have a storage area in the ceiling which is what I think this support was originally for. It reduces the ceiling height and I wanted to make sure I could remove it without creating and structural problems.


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## nealtw (Jun 7, 2015)

The peice your arrow is pointing at is not load bearing put it might be holding the outside wall from leaning out.


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## PromethusBound (Jun 7, 2015)

Thanks. I was nervous about touching it, to be safe I can just raise it up to allow equal headroom across the space.


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## nealtw (Jun 7, 2015)

If you have caller ties holding the rafters from playing you are likly alright to remove it.. Your new door will require a 2x10 double for a header with 2 jack studs under each end.


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## PromethusBound (Jun 7, 2015)

So that brings up another question I had. The top of the wall is 81" under the current header which is (2)2x4s. Which supports the rafters. so it looks like a 72x80 patio door would slip right in and all I would need to worry about the studs for the sides. Is there any major problem doing it that way. There's not enough head room to replace with a larger header without raising the roof.


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## bud16415 (Jun 7, 2015)

The wall you are opening up for the door is load bearing. The reason you can now have two 2x4 is there are studs all along that wall and the span between studs is small and each stud carries the weight of one rafter. When you take out the studs for the door the span grows and the header has to be stronger. The normal way is like Neal suggested with taller 2x&#8217;s. 

In your case that wouldn&#8217;t leave you enough head room for a door. You might be able to do something with a steel beam across or move the wall back and make a bit of a covered porch outside the door. Rule of thumb is every stud you remove you have to add back in (min) outside the door to hold the beam or header. 

If you did move the door back to gain height you will have to get a footing under the new door and wall at the point where the posts sit that support the header.


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## PromethusBound (Jun 7, 2015)

Would that change at all based on the fact that its a garage roof and not a traditional one? Possibly not as heavy? Also if i used to steel to help with support what would I need to get? Could I use something like 1" x 8' square steel tubing to cover the length?


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## nealtw (Jun 7, 2015)

No, the way to do this is to remove eight ft of roof install the header and build a shed dormer over that area, Can you move the door to the back wall.


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## bud16415 (Jun 8, 2015)

You didn&#8217;t mention where you live. Reason that&#8217;s important is you need to figure in what the max roof loading you would use in any calculations and what number is required in your area. Around here we likely have 4 feet of heavy snow on our roofs and that&#8217;s is a tremendous amount of weight. 

If you go with some other method of strengthen the header the proper method would be to have a professional run the numbers and tell you what will and won&#8217;t work based around where you live. 

There are all kinds of methods to accomplish what you want to do, and I have a feeling in building this game room you don&#8217;t want to get into any huge construction projects. Maybe you could move the door to the end that&#8217;s not load bearing or go with a smaller door or French doors or something with a post in the center to cut down on span. 

Something like your 1x8 steel tubing would be quite strong if stood on edge. I was thinking of C channel.


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## nealtw (Jun 8, 2015)

bud16415 said:


> You didnt mention where you live. Reason thats important is you need to figure in what the max roof loading you would use in any calculations and what number is required in your area. Around here we likely have 4 feet of heavy snow on our roofs and thats is a tremendous amount of weight.
> 
> If you go with some other method of strengthen the header the proper method would be to have a professional run the numbers and tell you what will and wont work based around where you live.
> 
> ...



1" by 8ft should not be confussed with 1x8.


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## nealtw (Jun 8, 2015)

The way I would do it is support the roof over the door area, cut the rafters fluch with the wall for about seven ft and remove the sheeting  for that area set a header on top of the wall, cut the bottom pint of the rafters off so hangers will fit and hang them on the header, then construct a new shed roof on top of that. If it is a high snow load area it still works with a peak on the header and a valley set on top of the roof.


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## PromethusBound (Jun 8, 2015)

I think I understand what you mean but do you have any images that demonstrate it? Also if I went with a steel header option, how do I determine how much I need. An I-beam is overkill but what about steel Angle irons or channel steel


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## nealtw (Jun 8, 2015)

3 1/2 x 3 1/2 by 1/4 would fit under the double plates and in front of them. That would be simular to a brick ledger. I have no idea if that would work.


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## bud16415 (Jun 8, 2015)

http://www.totalconstructionhelp.com/beams.html

Above is a web page that will walk you thru what an engineer would do in evaluating what size beam / header you would need to add in. once you know the static load of the roof and add in the snow load if that applies.


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## nealtw (Jun 8, 2015)

Here is a picture of a shed dormer, just immagine it as only raised the height of 9 1/2 inches. You could remove some rafters or leave them and add new ones on top of the old roof.


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## joecaption (Jun 9, 2015)

Another major issue with a door on that side is the threshold will be to close to grade and waters going to come in under it.
That siding and sheathing is already way to low.
It should have been no closer then 6" to grade.
Why such a big door for that tiny room?
Use a reguler passage door and there is no header issue or having to deal with the roof.


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## PromethusBound (Jun 25, 2015)

It was a combo nation of allowing a lot of natural light into the room and creating more of an open feel but also I just thought a standard entry door would look awkward. I cant really judge a decent placement.


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## nealtw (Jun 25, 2015)

A door of any discription would work on either end without to much hasle, you could add a window.


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## PromethusBound (Jul 11, 2015)

Well after all of your input I was planning on just putting in a standard door. I started taking down the siding and found a problem. All of the wood at the bottom of the wall was completed rotted. I ended up having to take it all out. Looks like who ever put it in originally never used pressure treated wood. So now sees easier to now put in a sliding patio door. Currently there is a (2) 2x4s header in place for the wall and since i can't fit a proper wood header I was going to replace one of the 2x4s in the header above the door with a section Rolled Tube Rectangle structural steel (4.000 X 2.000 X 0.250) Its the closest size I could find to a 2x4. I am planning to locktite it to the upper header and since the door is 72" Wide I was going to get steel 78" long to include the 3" for double jack studs on each side.  After that was installed I was going rebuild the wall on either side of the door. Thoughts or suggestions?


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## nealtw (Jul 16, 2015)

I would think that will work. How many inches will you have to the floor when done?


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