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Missing ceiling joist options

cudavid | Posted in General Discussion on February 19, 2022 07:46am

Hi bought an old 1 story lake cottage, and updating, had dropped ceiling, want sheet rock. Pulled ceiling, find no ceiling joists across 20 ft span!

  House is about 22 feet long, one wall iN middle,in 20 ft direction. Hodgepodge of 2×4 laid in 22 ft direction, 1/2 plywood on top, resting on the one wall and gabel ends, this is what track ceiling was wired to.

Ridge board sag visible from outside , no surprise, full basement, 2×6 floor,
Thought is jack ridge from basement, reroof, sheath with plywood, collar ties and and something to act as shallow joists, engineered 2×4 20 ft long or?

Appreciate ideas without ripping whole roof off.
Thanks

Reply

Replies

  1. eddo234 | Feb 19, 2022 11:22am | #1

    Here’s what we did with an addition, originally otherwise known as the attached wood shed, added in 1860 (yes, 18) that had a very low suspended ceiling added much later. Ripped it all out, insulated the roof, installed pickled pine boards and 2- 2x8s, boxed to look like beams.

  2. eddo234 | Feb 19, 2022 11:46am | #2

    One more thing, have you checked to see if the eaves walls are plumb? When you jack the ridge it will pull those walls in, which, depending on whether they’re already plumb, will cause a problem. And depending on whether the interior wall is parallel to the eave or gable exterior walls you could have a problem with it preventing the exterior walls pulling in when you raise the ridge.

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