House Without Attic Rafting Bracing

With full home additions costing 75 000 minimum and usually far higher many homeowners search for creative ways to increase living space without overly decreasing their bank account.

House without attic rafting bracing.

Homeowners cannot take chances with the structural integrity of their roofs. When trusses aren t on a 24 layout you can easily adjust a wood strip unlike metal braces. Home was built in the 1950 s in summerville sc. It has no attic bracing and there is visible sag in all of the rafters.

When ever beams are added and are bearing on a wall solid 2 x 4 s should be filled in under the beam in the wall frame to match the width of that beam. How to brace rafters in an attic. Nail these temporarily to the outside edges of the rafter sides starting with the third truss. But if the purlins appear to be the same age as the rafters and professionally installed it s just because that.

Gable bracing gable ends need multiple braces to hold them in place. Brace other rafters as they are installed down the roof by nailing temporary 2 by 4 supports to rafter edges and to roof joists if rafters are being installed separately. One way is by working within the home s existing footprint and converting the attic into living space. The roof is subject to pressure placed on it by natural forces including snow rain.

Over a long span room area not having anything to brace the roof off of a floating beam can be added above the ceiling joists to brace off of. In this picture a broken rafter is visible due to no attic bracing. Since they are balanced precariously by themselves a 2 4 vertical t brace and a 2 4 diagonal brace are needed before the truss set begins. In fact as soon as there was any shift in the roof it would come tumbling down.

Sagging rafters are a sign that a house is in serious trouble. Prevent this unfortunate series of events by bracing your rafters to make them sturdy and resistant to snow loads and wind. Because this is an old fashioned construction style sometimes homebuyers that see purlins in the attic think that the bracing has been added as a repair because the rafters were sagging or due to some other structural problem. In fact as soon as there was any shift in the roof it would come tumbling down.

At the time this home was built in the 50 s the type of attic bracing that was installed was at the discretion of the builders. Here is a section of the attic with no collar ties or attic bracing.