I have friends who purchased a house that was built in 1910. It has an open attic space that they want to finish into a family room. It has dormers on each side. The rafters are the old style 2 x 4’s, 16 inches on center. There was a pony wall added later to help support the rafters. The dormers were only for dressing and the rafters run through the dormers. My question is, how do I run a header to attach to the rafters so that the dormer can be used? How do I take down the pony wall and still provide support for the rafters? I need to run a header on the attic side of the dormer to attach the rafters to, so that the dormer space can be used. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Cutter
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You probably need to sister 2x8s to the 2x4 rafters to make them strong enough to handle the load, and to create enough space for minimal insulation. A doubled 2x8 at either side of the dormer might handle the transfered loading.
Your biggest problem will be the heating/insulation/ventilation/condensation problems that make it look like you have created a leak in the roof two moinths after you finish.
What about the floor framing? If might sag if not beefy enough.
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cut the entire roof off and throw it out.
New rafters, sheathing, roofing, etc etc.. while you're at it, fix the chimney.