building a loft in the garage

[some zilch]

here's the deal; i have 18ft ceilings in one side of my shop. I park my CTD at one end of the shop, it has an 7ft tall overhead door. i park my tractor at the other end of the shop. It has a 16ft tall overhead door. The over all size of this "bay" is 14ft wide, 46ft long, 18ft tall. I want to build a loft at the end of the shop, over the 7ft high overhead door end of the shop. It would be about 9ft or so off the ground, as to clear the tracks that the OHD rides in. I would like it to be about 16ft long, and obviously 14ft wide. I need to span that 14ft w/out having a center pole, but it can have diagonal supports, coming out 2ft or so, so i am really only spanning 10ft. I figure a beam at 0ft, 4ft, 8ft, 12ft, 16ft; then 2x6 joists on top of that running perpendicular to the large carrier beams. I will be using the said loft for parts storage on shelving, firmly braced into the walls and ceiling. Nothing extremely heavy, just shit that i want out of the way.

I was thinking (2) 2x12s w/a peice of 1/2" plywood bolted in between them, creating a "4.5x12" beam would carry that span. There will be 5 of these beams holding up the floor above it. The beams will be tied into the exposed wall studs, as well as sitting on top of beams running down to the concrete floor.

Sound about right?

[Meat Man]

Better put jack studs under the beams where you tie into the exposed wall studs.

I'm having a hard time envisioning what is holding up the other end of the beams?

Couldn't you put a pole at the front corner of your CTD and then run the 4x12 beam back to the door jam and then run the loft's floor joists perp. to the beam? You could either buy a solid post and notch it or fabricate one out of 2x8's. 1/2" ply center, two 2x8's on either side (under the 2x12's) and then another set of 2x8's that run long over the outside of the 2x12's. Bolt it all together. Throw a little adhesive between all your beam layers for a little extra stiffness.

[DRM]

Would it be possible to post up some pictures of the area? I'm having toruble visualizing the space as well.

[fastg60]

if you're putting much weight in parts + the framing + you up there walking around, i'd also recommend some jack studs at least in the corners in addition to tying in to the existing walls, mostly because the walls weren't framed with this extra load in mind. a PT 6x6 in each corner would probably be enough and not protrude into the space too much.


post some pics.

[fj40guy]

Loft "floor" is 16' x 14'

Use 2x12's across the 14' span. Most grade lumber will work, but what area are you in? What lumber and grade are those 2x12's

If you use 2x12's every 2', deck with 3/4" floor (T&G), THEN screw everything into the joist with construction adhesive, you have a pretty good floor. Nice storage area, but if you plan on putting diesel engines up there (loads of weight) might want to look at the design.

The Double up 2x12's with plywood filler would be plenty strong, but that "header" is only needed if you had another wall above it. Otherwise just space the 2x12's out for the load.

[fastbeeatch]

Don't use 2x's go to your local lumber yard tell them what you want to span and an idea of what the live load will be and they will point you in the right direction. I'm guessing a tgi 10" wide spaced 12" o.c. if you really plan on a big load. I'm not sure how your garage is framed, but from what I can picture it would be I would lag a 2x bond beam to the exterior wall,then use Simpson clips to support the tgi's. You will have to put supports under the bond beam, but it shouldn't be a big deal since it's only going to add 1.5" to the wall thickness. I don't know if this makes sense to you I'm basing this of what I picture your framing to be.

[some zilch]

i will get some pics up tomarrow

i will have jack studs holding the beams up, not just the wall studs

[fj40guy]

Also check on what wood is available in your area. Type and Grade. Price 2x10 and 2x12. (2x12 every 24" might be cheaper than 2x10 every 16".... but if your walls are studded every 16", heck of a lot easier to keep that spacing).

My loft area was only a 10' span, so I went with overkill for the weight to allow heavy storage. 40psf (pound square foot) is typical, but I allowed for 100 psf. Loading implies a constant load across the floor, but allows for lots of storage without it crashing on my head. :). In theory I could park Land Cruisers up there, if I could get them up there!

[jakazz]

I have gone 24 feet with 16 inch tji's with the full 3.5" top and bottom cord. Check GP ( georgia pacific) site for spans

yeah I know first post....damn lurkers.........