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Garage ceiling too low for the 4 post lift you want?
Info for people with low garage ceiling that want 4 post lift.
I had this same problem in a house I used to own.
I determined where I needed a pocket in the ceiling for the roof of a car to fit into when the lift was raised. I then cut out the sheet rock in the ceiling to expose the trusses. I then framed upright 2 x 4s from the bottom of the trusses to the top of them making a box. Once this was done I cut out the horizontial 2 x 4s that were in the way. This actually made the truss stronger than it was previously. Then I sheet rocked the new recessed pocket walls and ceiling. I now had a recess in the ceiling to allow the lift to raise to it's maximum height with a car on the lift. You have to measure carefully to allow the garage door to open fully with the car on the raised lift so all are positioned correctly.
The only picture I have of this and it doesn't really show much. I started with the standard 10' or less ceiling height.
That is my 66 Hemi Coronet on top of my 66 small block loaded coupe in about 2007.
Having a 7' garage door in the way still makes it a big pita.
Why? A 7' door works great. Your not going to drive the raised car on or off of the lift anyway so why do you think it is a PITA?
It had no effect for me. In fact a higher door will penetrate the interior farther horizontially when raised and may hit the roof of the raised car. You have to think of all of these things BEFORE you make your first cut.
If you are not a structural engineer cutting any roof truss Web or cord is a big no no. I am not an engineer but these designed structural members should never be cut. I understand you framed it well and it seems strong but you may want to get a second opinion from someone, it will hold fine until it breaks with the right load.
I am in the process of completely redoing my kitchen and years ago my father let someone cut two truss cords to install a skylight tunnel, it was framed fine but still a big no no and I had a engineer come and effect a repair order. Ended up installing two beams (front and rear) with post on each end to load bearing floor beams to carry the load of the cut trusses.
I say to anyone thinking about this, don't do it without a professional opinion FIRST.
Did just that over 10 years ago in my last house. Had only 9' ceilings. Was a hip roof so followed the underside after carving out the hole. Did raise the track for the garage door
to less than 10" from the ceiling. Doing this I picked up 14"-15" inches on the short side. Worked for me.
[QUOTE=68hemi;1595104519]Info for people with low garage ceiling that want 4 post lift.
Unless you own a two story home with additional rooms above the garage. In your picture, it appears the garage door must be almost resting on the hood of your Dodge...No??
Last edited by leif.anderson93; 07-08-2017 at 05:59 PM.
If you are not a structural engineer cutting any roof truss Web or cord is a big no no. I am not an engineer but these designed structural members should never be cut. I understand you framed it well and it seems strong but you may want to get a second opinion from someone, it will hold fine until it breaks with the right load.
I am in the process of completely redoing my kitchen and years ago my father let someone cut two truss cords to install a skylight tunnel, it was framed fine but still a big no no and I had a engineer come and effect a repair order. Ended up installing two beams (front and rear) with post on each end to load bearing floor beams to carry the load of the cut trusses.
I say to anyone thinking about this, don't do it without a professional opinion FIRST.
I am not a structural engineer either but I have built a house from scratch done a lot of remodeling and room additions. It only makes sense that two 8' spanning trusses verses one 22' long one are stronger. You have to visualize what it is. A regular truss has a single bottom 2x4 horizontal with two angled top 2x4s to form a triangle. sometimes they have other angular 2x4s connecting the tow and sometimes not. Either way what I did was connected the top and bottom of the existing trusses and effectively made two shorter trusses.
For the record, when I sold the house the buyer asked for an engineer to approve what I did and it passed his inspection.
Info for people with low garage ceiling that want 4 post lift.
Unless you own a two story home with additional rooms above the garage. In your picture, it appears the garage door must be almost resting on the hood of your Dodge...No??
We have a Skillion (shed) roof on this room---was added on years ago. The high side was ok but the low was too close. After anchoring the high side we built a structure from the hoist to the low side. Cut the roof tin, cut the low side rafters loose then hit the UP button on the hoist. Was pretty cool! Reinforced every thing, closed it in and good to go. Think that was like 20 years ago.
Can't see much of it here----but it's a neat picture:
I am not a structural engineer either but I have built a house from scratch done a lot of remodeling and room additions. It only makes sense that two 8' spanning trusses verses one 22' long one are stronger. You have to visualize what it is. A regular truss has a single bottom 2x4 horizontal with two angled top 2x4s to form a triangle. sometimes they have other angular 2x4s connecting the tow and sometimes not. Either way what I did was connected the top and bottom of the existing trusses and effectively made two shorter trusses.
For the record, when I sold the house the buyer asked for an engineer to approve what I did and it passed his inspection.
I think you understand the point I'm making here on the forum.
In the green truss above, the bottom chord should never be cut without replacing it with another tension member to prevent spreading of the top chords. The red options are absolutely not substitutes. You are trusting drywall and plywood shear panels to hold your roof up! Imagine what happens if a load is placed on the peak - the side walls move outward.
In the green truss above, the bottom chord should never be cut without replacing it with another tension member to prevent spreading of the top chords. The red options are absolutely not substitutes. You are trusting drywall and plywood shear panels to hold your roof up! Imagine what happens if a load is placed on the peak - the side walls move outward.
the 2nd is a scissors truss, and the 3rd has a tension member to keep the top from spreading.
I am a structural engineer and I find these types of posts entertaining. I hope some of the people posting here don't touch their house and just leave them alone. There are quite a few people that think they are an engineer however can't put numbers to their solutions. Some of the most difficult concepts for people to understand are pitched roof load paths.
I am a structural engineer and I find these types of posts entertaining. I hope some of the people posting here don't touch their house and just leave them alone. There are quite a few people that think they are an engineer however can't put numbers to their solutions. Some of the most difficult concepts for people to understand are pitched roof load paths.
As a structural engineer, what would be the correct way to do this?
As a structural engineer, what would be the correct way to do this?
There are two or three types of truss designs commonly used with a horizontal bottom chord. The truss type needs to be identified before a chop and scab fix can be recommended by an engineer. The OP's house looks like it has a simple span of 20'. To have an engineer design some way to accomplish what the OP did would cost you a minimum of $1200. That was the going rate 8 years ago. A simple 5/12 truss spanning 20' could easily have the bottom chord and the webbing cut out on either side, or both, by attaching 2x8 rafters next to the truss, with collar ties. After the rafters are installed you can then cut the truss and do the framing for the recessed area.
This is most likely the truss type used in the OP's house. Pretty common truss used for a short 20' span in the Phoenix metro area.
07-08-2017, 05:12 PM
Garage ceiling too low for the 4 post lift you want?
