Removing Horizontal Beams From Hip Roof

Most interior beams need to include the roof load.

Removing horizontal beams from hip roof.

If you remove the ceiling joists its like removing the bottom leg of a triangle. King posts were used in timber framed roof construction in roman buildings and in medieval architecture in buildings such as parish churches and tithe barns the oldest surviving roof truss in the world is a king post truss in saint catherine s monastery egypt built between 548 and 565. Without it the weight on the roof will cause the rafters to flatten particularly at the center of the span and bow the wall out where the rafters connect to the wall plate and ultimately fail. It has been my experience to never use a beam smaller than a two ply 2 x 8.

Problem is the new owner wanted a cathedral look and during remodeling the contractor saw no problem in removing all the ceiling joists that basically act as tension ties and gave the owner what he wanted. A gable roof is a heavy structure and if you want to prevent your roof from collapsing you ll have to frame the structure correctly. Over time roof rafters can wear crack or rot and replacements may be in order. Without joists the walls can bow outward and the roof ridge line may sag.

I had done the structural engineering for a 2 story addition. How to frame a gable roof with no ceiling. The process of replacing existing rafters so that your roof remains intact without removing the roof to do it requires some basic carpentry skills and a few common tools. The trick in framing a vaulted ceiling is figuring out what to do with the ceiling joists.

These horizontal framing members tie a building s outer walls together and resist the outward force exerted by the roof rafters in conventional framing. This calculator matches up with 90 of the applications in the 2012 international residential code book. A structural ridge beam is a horizontal beam placed at the peak or ridge of a roof and is designed to carry much of the live and dead loads or weight of the roof structure by itself. If there is are any questions about anything else then you should contact your supplier or an engineer.