Replacing a garage rafter?

[txpitdog]

My garage has an open ceiling so I have access to the rafters. The people we bought our house from stored nearly 600lbs of plywood for hurricane window protection up in the rafters. The weight cracked one and it is sagging. I'd like to just get another one and sandwich it up against the cracked one.

Is this a specialty board that I'll have to hunt down or are they fairly common at lumber yards. I believe i need 22-24ft of 2x12

[bwssr]

find out how long you need, then call around to find/order one...

[Colorado87]

You will have a hard time finding a 2x12 over 16' at most lumber yards. A small local lumber yard should be able to order one in for you, but when you order one or two at a time its a crap shoot as to whether they will be straight.

[bowhuntntxn]

You could probably get by with adding a scab to the cracked area. Get a 10 ft. board, build a jack board from 2x4s, lift the cracked rafter to straight, and screw the new piece onto it. Don't be afraid to use plenty of screws, because you don't want the weight to make it sag again.

That will eliminate the need to cut angles on the longer board to get it to fit into place.

Be very careful when jacking the rafter, and you might even want to actually screw your jack boards to the rafter so they don't shoot off. The sudden loss of support could actually cause a collapse.

If you have someone that could help you, that would be the safest route.

[bowhunterchris]

You could probably get by with adding a scab to the cracked area. Get a 10 ft. board, build a jack board from 2x4s, lift the cracked rafter to straight, and screw the new piece onto it. Don't be afraid to use plenty of screws, because you don't want the weight to make it sag again.

That will eliminate the need to cut angles on the longer board to get it to fit into place.

Be very careful when jacking the rafter, and you might even want to actually screw your jack boards to the rafter so they don't shoot off. The sudden loss of support could actually cause a collapse.

If you have someone that could help you, that would be the safest route.

I would do this except use 3-4 stainless bolts on each side of the crack. I have done this before under my dads house on a rotten beam.

[clay4626]

Try McCoys they have long boards. As other have said just scab a pretty long board on the side of the one that is broken. It would be very hard to replace the hold board.
Two many things nailed to it on each end

[dustoffer]

As bowhuntntexan said, first jack it level, then scab a piece of OSB on each side of the broken beam, running it out 4' either side of the break. Coat mating surfaces iiberally with wood glue, and clamp, then run a bunch of screws in from both sides--make sure the screws are long enough to go through the OSB on both sides of the broken rafter. Might want to put newspapers on the floor to catch any glue drips too.

[Quackerbox]

x3 on what bowhuntin said. Or overlap two 16s or 14s way easier to haul/carry two 14's or 16's than one 24. Re-did 8 of the rafters in my garage 2 years ago its 24x30. The rear 8 feet was added on and not done properly. When a home builder relative offered to help if I bought the material I jumped. We used 16s and overlapped them

[cj7zrcool]

My garage has an open ceiling so I have access to the rafters. The people we bought our house from stored nearly 600lbs of plywood for hurricane window protection up in the rafters. The weight cracked one and it is sagging. I'd like to just get another one and sandwich it up against the cracked one.

Is this a specialty board that I'll have to hunt down or are they fairly common at lumber yards. I believe i need 22-24ft of 2x12

Rafter or joist? Don't know where you're at, but we've got 2x12-24' #2 Doug Fir here in Springtown. $39.78

[txpitdog]

Replacing a garage rafter?

Rafter or joist? Don't know where you're at, but we've got 2x12-24' #2 Doug Fir here in Springtown. $39.78

(Sheepishly looks up the difference between a rafter and a joist)

Ohhhh, my mistake. It's a joist not a rafter. [emoji15]

[deerplanter]

I would do like others say and join them with OSB in between. With that said HD has 20' in the store and they can special order what ever you want.

[tigerscowboy]

You could probably get by with adding a scab to the cracked area. Get a 10 ft. board, build a jack board from 2x4s, lift the cracked rafter to straight, and screw the new piece onto it. Don't be afraid to use plenty of screws, because you don't want the weight to make it sag again.

That will eliminate the need to cut angles on the longer board to get it to fit into place.

Be very careful when jacking the rafter, and you might even want to actually screw your jack boards to the rafter so they don't shoot off. The sudden loss of support could actually cause a collapse.

If you have someone that could help you, that would be the safest route.

Good idea to start with, but apply some good construction glue/adhesive (Liquid Nail type) between the joist and the scab before you nail/screw. Leave a 2x4 T brace to the floor and under the repair until the glue really sets up. I'd go a minimum of 4 days. Good Luck.

[captainsling]

You could probably get by with adding a scab to the cracked area. Get a 10 ft. board, build a jack board from 2x4s, lift the cracked rafter to straight, and screw the new piece onto it. Don't be afraid to use plenty of screws, because you don't want the weight to make it sag again.

That will eliminate the need to cut angles on the longer board to get it to fit into place.

Be very careful when jacking the rafter, and you might even want to actually screw your jack boards to the rafter so they don't shoot off. The sudden loss of support could actually cause a collapse.

If you have someone that could help you, that would be the safest route.

You can also do this and add some plate steel between and bolt it together.

[Bisch]

(Sheepishly looks up the difference between a rafter and a joist)

Ohhhh, my mistake. It's a joist not a rafter. [emoji15]

I was tring to figure out what kind of bldg you had that would have a 2x12 rafter???

Joist makes much more sense.

Bisch

[Death from Above]

What is the free span of the ceiling joist? Is it conventional frammed or trusses?

Does the ceiling joist have roof bracing applied to it?

No repair should be attempted unless these are covered... can you snap a pick and post it?

I have seen hundreds of repairs that were overkill adn never solved the issue .

Easiest fix may be a simple scab, the length of it will be determined by the number of fasteners used (2"0.c., 4"o.c, 6"o.c...etc)